White Mountains (California)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The White Mountains of California are a mountain range that runs along the eastern side of the upper Owens Valley, just east of the Sierra Nevada. They extend for approximately 60 miles (100 km), and are approximately 10 miles (16 km) wide. The northern end of the range extends slightly into Nevada, creating that state's highest point, Boundary Peak. The range's southern end is near the community of Big Pine, where Westgard Pass separates it from the Inyo Mountains.
The highest point in the range is White Mountain Peak, which at 14,252 feet (4344 m) [1] is the third-highest in California. The peak is located at approximately . There is a four-wheel drive road that reaches the summit from the south, and services the "Summit Laboratory" of the White Mountain Research Station. The west face is a scramble.
Ecologically, the White Mountains are like the other ranges in the Basin and Range Province; they are dry, with relatively few trees, but the upper slopes hold open forests of mainly Great Basin Bristlecone Pine with some Limber pine and Lodgepole pine, and of Single-leaf pinyon and Utah juniper on the middle slopes. One of the bristlecone pines is the oldest known tree in the world, about 4,700 years old, nicknamed "Methuselah" after the Biblical figure who lived to be 969 years of age, reportedly the oldest human ever.
The entire range is within the Inyo National Forest.
