4700 Year Old Pine

The oldest tree on this earth is a 4700 year old pine that people have named, "Methuselah. " Can you imagine what this tree has seen in 4700 years? Back when this tree was "born" or planted, there were no computers, no cars, no airplanes, not even any cowboys in the old west.

This is so long ago I can't even comprehend it. Where would you think the 4700 year old pine tree would be located? I would think somewhere like Egypt or Israel or Africa, some country that is old anyway. But surprisingly, this tree is in a town called Bishop in California. I've been to the giant redwoods in California. They are amazing.

You stand next to them and are awe struck by the size of them. But I have never seen the oldest one, the 4700 year old tree, and apparently, not many have. It's location is kept secret to protect it. There was an even older tree named "Prometheus" that was cut down. I don't know the details, but they don't want it to happen again so not many people know where Methuselah is, except that it is located in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest which is in the White Mountains outside Bishop, California.

Bishop is in Inyo County which is in Southern California. It is a town of about 3,575 people and is the Mule capital of the world. They even have a festival each year called Mule Days to celebrate all that mules have given to us. Yes, mules. They can tell the age of trees by measuring the ring count, which each represents a year. They bore out a little segment to test for age.