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After the long drive on lonely roads, there's a surprisingly large parking area for the visitor center and trailhead. There are 3 trails that leave from here - the one we were doing (a 4 mile loop), another loop of about 2.5 miles, and a shorter loop of 1 mile. You could combine part of the 4 and 2.5 mile hike.
We paid for parking ($6 per vehicle, or $3 if you're by yourself) inside the visitor's center. There's a guide book here for sale, which corresponds to numbered posts on the 4 mile loop hike. I decided against it, though, as it seemed fairly generic.
We started off on the hike a bit past 3pm. It was overcast, though the sun would pop in and out occasionally for the first half of the hike. The trail starts right from the back of the visitor's center. After a short mostly flat stretch into the forest, the loop part begins. The ranger had said to do the hike counter-clockwise, so we turned right here. We would only see one person doing the hike the "wrong" way.
The trail climbs into the forest on steep hillsides. There are some views across the valley, but nothing spectacular. After about a half mile, the views open up and you can see the surrounding mountains in many directions. After a short descent we came to anther intersection where the trail intersects with the Discovery Trail. We stayed on the main trail to the left.
Mountain
Tree next to the trail
Climbing the steep trail
View from the trail
Looking out at the tree-dotted hillside
The trail climbs again to more views of the surrounding mountains. There are also benches at several places along the trail where you can rest. At one such bench was a nice view of the desert below to the east. The trail then enters an area with mostly low brush. Soon we started to see what I assume are Bristlecone pines, though I was never good at identifying different types of conifers. Maybe I should have gotten that booklet. In any case, the trees dotted the hillsides.
View from the trail
A little color on the trail
One of several benches with a view
View of the desert
The Methusaleh tree is the oldest in the world, but its exact whereabouts aren't identified. Still, you can marvel at the fact that some of the trees you see here are thousands of years old. I'm not sure what it was, but while we we walking through the pines it was very quiet. The sky was overcast and there was no wind. It reminded me of hiking in Bryce Canyon for some reason. In any case, after a long stretch of trail through the pine forest, the trail ends up at the start of the loop. From there, it's a couple minutes to the trailhead at the visitor's center.
Pines
Pines along the trail
Pines along the trail
Pine tree
Pine tree
Tree-dotted hillside
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