A few miles outside Bishop, California on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevadas, in the Inyo National Forest, there's a place called the Schulman Grove, which is the site of some of the oldest living things on planet earth - the 4000-year-old Great Basin Bristlecone Pine trees.
The oldest known one (which is not marked, to protect it) is nearly 5000 years old. At about 10,000 feet altitude, look for the Schulman Grove visitor center, about an hour's drive outside Bishop.
Without a doubt, this is the most magical place I have ever been in my life. If you stay for sundown and don't camp, be prepared for a really windy, dark drive down the mountain.
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