Wow, I never thought about having two kinds of Bristlecone pines. Thanks for pointing that out.
I have a little one growing in the ground for 7 years, and it is still only eight inches tall. The growth is unbilievably slow, comparable to a Kingsville boxwood. But it is very compact and healthy. It looks like the needles last for a long time, since I have yet to see one single dead needle on that tree all these years.
So, I looked at my plant list, and what I have is a Pinus aristata. I wonder what are the differences between the two.
Yenling,
Now that you've mentioned your trip, it occurred to me that I have to do one myself, since it was 7 or 8 years ago since I was there. That time it was difficult to drive very deep in the park, since I only had a sedan to drive. Now that I have a new truck designed for off-road, it would be a different story.
There is a strange thing that happened to me on that day in the White Mountains. It was a grey and gloomy November day, and there was nobody at the visitor center, but myself. Not a single human in the Park. I parked my car and hiked for about 6 hours. Halfway though the hike, it came out of the blue: altitude sickness. I got dizzy and disoriented, breaking in cold sweat. I could barely walk, and I got so lost that it took me a long time before I've found the parking lot, on the way back. I've never had this condition before, or after the trip, even though I have been hiking in high mountains all my life. It was very strange, but the trees and the whole area is amazing. The trees are so beautiful, that one is compelled to take a picture of every single tree, if one is a bonsai enthusiast. I can't wait to do it again, hopefully this time without the altitude sickness.