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Description
Wheeler Peak, with an elevation of 13,065 feet (3,982 m), is the second-tallest summit in Nevada. A glacial cirque on the north side has perennial ice and a rock glacier (a creeping mixture of boulders and ice). The Wheeler Bristlecone Pine Grove is situated on a glacial moraine downslope from the cirque. The tree on the left has been cored and is approximately 3200 years old.

Sadly, the grove once featured a truly ancient tree named Prometheus - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promethe… - that was cut down in 1964 to determine its age, which was then found to be at least 4862 years, making it the oldest tree known on the planet at that time. The researchers did not realize the age of the tree when they cut it down, and much criticism has been directed at them and the Forest Service for committing this act. The tree has been memorialized by the conceptual artist Jeff Weiss - www.latimes.com/entertainment/…

Subsequently, a 5062 year old tree was discovered in the White Mountains in California in 2012. The location of this tree has been kept secret. There are, and I kid you not, miserable excuses for people who like to go around murdering ancient trees by pouring concentrated herbicides on their roots.

Description
Wheeler Peak, with an elevation of 13,065 feet (3,982 m), is the second-tallest summit in Nevada. A glacial cirque on the north side has perennial ice and a rock glacier (a creeping mixture of boulders and ice). The Wheeler Bristlecone Pine Grove is situated on a glacial moraine downslope from the cirque. The tree on the left has been cored and is approximately 3200 years old.

Sadly, the grove once featured a truly ancient tree named Prometheus - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promethe… - that was cut down in 1964 to determine its age, which was then found to be at least 4862 years, making it the oldest tree known on the planet at that time. The researchers did not realize the age of the tree when they cut it down, and much criticism has been directed at them and the Forest Service for committing this act. The tree has been memorialized by the conceptual artist Jeff Weiss - www.latimes.com/entertainment/…

Subsequently, a 5062 year old tree was discovered in the White Mountains in California in 2012. The location of this tree has been kept secret. There are, and I kid you not, miserable excuses for people who like to go around murdering ancient trees by pouring concentrated herbicides on their roots.