The Oldest Living Witnesses

In California's White Mountains, at nearly 10,000 feet, bristlecone pines have survived for over 4,000 years. Methuselah, the oldest known specimen, was already ancient when Solomon built the temple. These trees endure where almost nothing else can — in thin, alkaline soil with less than twelve inches of rain per year, battered by winds that would topple most forests. Their secret isn't abundance.…