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A ranger in the Sierra Nevada told me the best campsites are found by looking for flat spots under the biggest trees, not by the water.
We were at the Tuolumne Meadows permit station last August, and she pointed to a spot on my map, saying 'everyone crowds the lakeshore, but you'll sleep warmer and see more stars if you hike another half-mile into that old growth.'
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simonl116mo ago
My buddy and I found a spot like that in the White Mountains. We camped under a huge bristlecone pine at about 11,000 feet. The wind was howling on the ridge, but it was totally still and quiet in that little grove. Woke up to the best sunrise of the whole trip.
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dakotas546mo ago
I used to think bristlecones looked dead, but @simonl11, your story changed my mind.
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ryan1836mo ago
Yeah, that quiet spot @simonl11 mentioned is the real deal. I got caught in a surprise hailstorm up near that same area once, and the only shelter was under the twisted branches of an old bristlecone. Felt like the tree was just shrugging it off after a thousand years of worse.
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