High in the windswept mountains, the ancient bristlecone pines stand—gnarled, resilient, and older than civilization itself. Join us as we journey into the heart of this legendary forest, uncovering ...

as is the case with the Methuselah Tree, a bristlecone pine more than 46 centuries old. But it's truly baffling to learn under what conditions it has accomplished this extraordinary feat.

"There is something a little fantastic," wrote Edmund Schulman in the March 1958 National Geographic, "in the persistent ability of a 4,000-year-old tree ... tallest bristlecone pine is but ...