Bristlecone Pine Trail

After hearing all about the Bristlecone pine from the park ranger, Friday night, Ben and I knew that we had to hike and see one up close. On Sunday morning we packed up and on our way back through Cedar Canyon we stopped to walk the Bristlecone pine trail. We were able to see the Great Basin bristlecone pine on our walk (Pinus longaeva) which is the longest-lived species of the bristlecone pine.

This year Ben and I have seem some of the tallest trees on the planet. Now we can say we have also seem some of the oldest living trees in the world! Pretty neat!

I would not call the Bristlecone pine the most beautiful tree! However, with its highly branched, shallow root system it is quite a site to behold.

The lookout railing needs a little bit of maintenance, but aside from that it was a neat little hike. All those years Ben and I lived in Cedar City just a short distance away and we had no idea all the neat things we could have explored! I minds were set on getting us through school I guess.

On the walk back to the car, Bridget had to point out almost every "broken" tree. She was so concerned for the trees! Then she would point to a healthy tree and excitedly let me know that it was a "fixed" tree. After the hike we drove home so I could get a nap before heading into work that night. It was sad to see the weekend come to an end. We had such a wonderful time exploring this beautiful world we live in.