White Mountains (California)
The White Mountains of California are a small mountain range that runs along the eastern side of the upper Owens Valley, just across from the Sierra Nevada. It is about 100 km long and 15 km wide; the northern end of the range extends slightly into Nevada, and its southern end is near Big Pine, where Westgard Pass separates it from the Inyo Mountains.
The highest point is White Mountain Peak, which at 4,342 m (14,246 ft) is the third-highest in California. 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, nicknamed 'Methuselah', is the oldest known tree in the world, about 5,700 years old.
The entire range is within the Inyo National Forest.
External links
Referenced By
Bristlecone pine | Limber pine | List of mountain ranges | List of mountains and mountain ranges of the United States | List of mountains of the United States | Owens Valley | Pinus flexilis | Southwestern white pine | White Mountains (disambiguation)
|
