September 14, 2019 Baker, Nevada

In the 90's and sunny where we are camped in Baker, Nv, just 5 miles from Great Basin National Park. We drove up 17 miles and 5,000 feet and it was in the 70's and very pleasant.

Aspen trees near the trailhead. We hiked to the ancient bristlecone grove. These trees live up to an average of 5,000 years and  are some of the oldest trees in the world.The dead ones do not decompose, they weather like rocks. Some of the dead ones are 10,000 years old. Here are a couple. 

Gnarled tree, that is still alive, it has one branch of needles. Weathered branch, pentestamens and asters. After the  bristlecones we hiked up to the glacier in the cirque below Wheeler peak, which is 13,000 feet. John is a dot in the middle of this photo. 

The glacier. Some of the alpine wildflowers still blooming and bristle cone cones. They are shiney with sap. 

The ancient bristlecone trees on the ridge, 5,000 feet below is the desert floor. Great Basin is a tree island far above the desert.  Some of the aspens are starting to turn yellow for fall, a bicycle sculpture in Baker, a sign in Baker saying  Remember Owens valley, fight the Las Vegas Water grab. LA secretly  bought up all the water rights in the Owens Valley on the eastern Sierras. It was a valley full of orchards and very lush, but LA drained all the water in the valley in a canal to LA and it is now an arid valley and the lake is mostly just a salt pan. A hoodoo on the ridge above the glacier. 

Ancient bristlecones.  

John and I in front of an ancient bristlecone tree.  

Art made from kitchen utensils in downtown Baker. Beautiful historic downtown Baker, Nevada. Population 400. 

We stopped at Kerouac's restaurant for a drink and nectarine wrapped in prosciutto appetizer after  hiking all day. Sunset from camp tonight.