9-30-17

Another in my collection of enormous junipers growing anomalously at high altitude. This is one individual in a sparse grove off the Pacific Crest Trail in the Granite Chief Wilderness, Sierra Nevada, California. The elevation here is about 7400 ft/2256 m. The inset shows another tree that, despite appearances, isn't dead yet!

Another huge juniper growing anomalously at high altitude. There's still some living bark left!

Whiskey Creek Camp, Granite Chief Wilderness, Sierra Nevada, California. See adjacent photo for more information.

Whiskey Creek Camp, Granite Chief Wilderness, Sierra Nevada, California. See adjacent photo for more information.

A Basque sheepherders' camp from around the turn of the last century, now in the middle of the Granite Chief Wilderness in California's Sierra Nevada. The buildings are being preserved for their historical value--that's why they remain in the wilderness! This is the bunkhouse. The left inset is a storage building; the right inset is a large oven for baking bread, constructed as a small free-standing building in its own right. Note it's all stone, brick, and mortar. Many Basques emigrated to the mountain West in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and have left their own cultural imprint. In fact, the first Basque-English dictionary was published by the University of Nevada, Reno, in the mid-90s, and AFAIK UNR is still the only place where you can learn Basque in English.