To survive, plants must cope with a short growing season, poor soil, thin air, and intense solar radiation. High winds also buffet the peaks, punishing anything that rises above the horizon- including transient visitors such as hikers. Whatever lives here must keep a low profile. Lichens cling to rocks like paint. Dwarfed plants grow tight to the ground, firmly anchored in crevices.
Shrubs appear pruned by a bonsai gardener.
Trees live in cavities or hollows. The trees found highest in the Snake Range, limber and bristlecone pines, appear between 9,500 and 11,000 feet. While both species are obviously hardy plants, bristlecone pines are stuff of legend. True masters of longevity, they endure not centuries but millennia. On rocky slopes beyond the end of the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive, you can walk among trees that have kept their grip on life for two to three thousand years - some much longer than that.