A UC Davis professor's pleasure hike in the High Sierra turned into a new elevation record for California's highest tree, the ...

UC Davis professor Hugh Safford found the highest living tree in California on a recent hike through the High Sierra.

This Jeffrey pine is an older specimen, an estimated 25 years old. It is 5 feet, 3 inches tall and was found near timberline. As is common for taller specimens, it has a dead top. Jeffrey pines ...

Sandwiched between a lodgepole pine on the left and a foxtail pine on the right is the first Jeffrey pine tree UC Davis Professor Hugh Safford observed in September 2024 on a hike on the south ...

Jeffrey pine trees have been found at elevations up to 12,657 ft in California's High Sierra, surpassing previous records and exceeding the range of traditional subalpine species.

A professor's casual hike in the High Sierra turned into a new elevation record for California's highest tree, the Jeffrey pine, which wasn't formerly known to grow at extreme elevations.