The Buddhist in Me

This week's episode of The Raconteur takes us to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest high atop the White Mountains of Eastern California, where author and photographer Craig K. Collins mediates among 4,000-year-old bristlecone pines, the oldest living things on earth.

The Sentinels in the Schulman Grove atop the White Mountains of California spindle skyward, appearing to intertwine with the Milky Way. These bristlecone pines were saplings together some 3,500 years ago. The tree on the right died about 500 years ago; the one on the left is still living. (Photo: ©Craig K. Collins)

The Sentinels catching the final rays of another day. Together, they have experienced nearly 1.3 million sunsets. (Photo: ©Craig K. Collins)

The Sentinels cling to a slope of red quartzite, which was once the floor of an inland sea before being pushed up to 10,000 feet by volcanic and tectonic forces. The quartzite has a burnt sienna coloring due to the presence of iron flecks that have rusted from sitting for millions of years beneath the sea. (Photo: ©Craig K. Collins)

This Sentinel, though dead for over five centuries, dances with the Milky Way. (Photo: ©Craig K. Collins)

The Discovery Trail through the Schulman Grove takes hikers through an ancient grove of bristlecone pines that is home to the oldest living things on Earth. Several trees in this grove are between 4,000 and 5,000 years old. The 10,000-foot-high trail pictured here, provides visitors with views of the Owens Valley below, as well as the 14,000-foot-high Sierra peaks across the valley to the southwest. (Photo: ©Craig K. Collins)