Joyce Kilmer would have gone bonkers if he had been able to spend the time to explore the far reaches of California.
There is no place in the United States — or likely any geopolitical boundaries carved out on Earth — that has such a variety as well as unusual extremes — when it comes to trees.
Anyone who has spent any time in the San Joaquin Valley may already know California has the largest concentration of almond trees on the planet.
And with that comes the endless pink and white blossoms bursting as almond trees awaken from their winter slumber accompanied by nature’s sweet elixir that makes Chanel No. 5 seem like cheap dime store perfume in comparison.
The Golden State also now has the largest concentration of pistachio trees.
All of that, however, is pedestrian compared to what Mother Nature on her own decided to bless the 163,696 square miles with that we call California.
* The world’s oldest tree. Methuselah, a bristlecone pine in the White Mountains of Eastern California, is considered Earth’s oldest living thing at 4,853 years.
* The world’s tallest tree. Hyperion, a coastal redwood tucked in the heart of the Redwood National Park in Northwestern California, soars 380.1 feet.
* The world’s largest tree. General Sherman, a sequoia in Sequoia National Park on the western slopes of the Sierra, is a massive 52,508 cubic feet.
General Sherman’s title is based on volume. It stands 275 feet with a diameter at the base of more than 36 feet.
There are other trees that either are unique only to this state or else existing here in larger numbers than anywhere else on the planet.
* Monterey cypress. The coniferous tree shaped by ocean winds that peaked in numbers during the last ice age, are now confined to two areas — Cypress Point in Carmel and Point Lobos.
The most famous of them all is the “Lone Cypress” near Monterey in the Del Monte Forest near Pebble Beach.
* Jeffrey pines. The world’s largest stand of Jeffrey Pines that soar up to 135 feet is just south of Highway 120 east of Mono Lake on the way to Benton.
They’re mainly found in California and are considered to be among the largest coniferous evergreens in the world.
They might just also be the sweetest smelling.
Get close to a Jeffrey pine tree and sniff its bark. You will catch a distinct smell of butterscotch although some say it is vanilla or even pineapple.
* Joshua trees. Well, OK. They’re not really a tree; they’re succulents that are tree-like in habit.
They are found primarily in California in the Mojave Desert although you will find a few scattered about in Utah, Arizona and Nevada.
I’ve been fortunate enough to see all of California’s unique trees — including the wanna-be tree known as Joshua tree.
And while I’ve craned by neck skyward at the stunning mass that is General Sherman, I’m not too sure I’ve seen Methuselah and I know I’ve never seen Hyperion.
The location of the oldest bristlecone pine and the tallest redwood are kept secret for obvious reasons.
That said, the only tree that has piqued my interest to the point that I planned a hiking trip specifically around them are the bristlecone pines.
The first time I came across a bristlecone pine I was near the roof of Death Valley — Telescope Peak’s summit at 11,049 feet. I thought the tree was dead.
It was a gnarly mess that looked like a gigantic piece of twisted driftwood tortuously contorted in the middle of nowhere without a single visible sign that it was alive.
Subsequent research — and a side trip several years later to the Schulman Grove and Patriarch Grove during a hiking trip to White Mountain at 14,252 feet — I came to realize I had the privilege of seeing some of the oldest trees in the world up close.
Somewhere amid those twisted trees in the White Mountains that have more exposed roots than a shallow planted mulberry tree could ever produce, stands the tree researchers have determined is the oldest tree on earth that’s been dubbed Methuselah.
It is 4,853 years old. It is deep in the White Mountains of the Inyo National Forest somewhere around the 11,000-foot level just like the bristlecone pines some 40 or so miles away on Telescope Peak.
To give you an idea of the age, Methuselah was 2,800 plus years old during the Roman Empire years of 27 BC to 476 AD.
It is one of many remarkable extremes nature has created within the geographical boundaries that were carved out to make California a state 172 years ago.
The Golden State is blessed with the tallest tree on earth, the biggest tree in terms of mass on the planet that is also considered the largest living thing based on mass, the lowest point in North America, and the highest point in the 48 lower states. And they are all reachable within a day’s drive or less from the Northern San Joaquin Valley.
The ancient bristlecone forest that includes a visitors’ center at Schulman’s Grove is 23.8 miles northeast out of Big Pine (on Highway 395 south of Bishop) via Highway 168 to White Mountain Road. The drive takes 48 minutes as the highway at one point goes down to one lane through a narrow gorge and the road you turn on — while paved — is twisty with incredible views. There are Inyo National Forest camp sites on the way to the visitors’ center that is only open in the summer.
The trails at the Schulman’s Grove are fairly easy.
The Patriarch Grove is 12 miles north of Schulman’s Grove via a dirt road that eventually leads you to the “trailhead” for the slog up White Mountain.
White Mountain is much easier to ascend and descend than Mt. Whitney across Inyo Valley in the eastern Sierra that is the tallest peak in the 48 states at 14,508 feet and some 256 feet higher. There is an actual dirt road that serves as the trail. The only vehicles allowed are forest service vehicles and those involved with university research. It is a slog but there are no drop-offs like on Mt. Whitney and there are a lot less people as in almost no one.
And unlike Mt. Whitney you don’t have to pay to hike it or get into a lottery to do so.
If you want to do a two-for in terms of 14,000 foot peaks you can summit without special climbing and mountaineering skills in one trip, Mt. Whitney and White Mountain are the perfect combo. It is predicated, of course, on when you can secure a Mt. Whitney permit. Due to road closures White Mountain can be hard to access at certain times of the year.
There have been more than a few who have done the hike in winter as the snow isn’t overwhelming but the wind and open exposure can be rough. I’ve also talked to people who have been caught in rare lightning storms on the exposed mountain who have said it redefines the concept of heart stopping. That said, the White Mountains are in the rain shadow of the much higher Sierra.
You can stay in Big Pine and easily drive to the trailheads of both mountains.
You are also near the lowest point in North America — Death Valley’s Badwater Basin at 278.9 feet below sea level. Death Valley along with Mt. Whitney and White Mountain are all located in Inyo County.
Most people walk out to the Death Valley salt pans just off the visitors’ area off the Badwater Road. It is an impressive sight to look up to the east right behind you and see the extremely sharp upward thrust of the Funeral Mountain that looks as if it goes almost straight up for a mile. You can drive to the ridge overlooking Badwater — Dante’s View at 5,475 feet.
But to get a good idea of how amazing the geology is you can see a large marking on the nearly straight up and down portion of the Funerals directly across from the Badwater parking lot that reads “Sea Level” some 278 feet above.
The actual lowest point is well over a mile to the west. There is a geological marker that even with GPS is a basically akin to looking for a needle in the haystack to find.
My efforts to do so were futile.
You don’t have to venture far to walk among redwoods and sequoias.
You can take in redwoods nearly as tall throughout the Bay Area with Big Basin Redwood State Park in the mountains to the northwest of San Jose being the most accessible and arguably the most impressive.
The closest sequoias — they are kissing cousins to the redwood — are Calaveras Big Trees and three groves in Yosemite National Park.
