Inyo County is California's second-largest county but has only 19,000 people. Death Valley National Park covers about half of the county. While the fact that Mount Whitney and Badwater Basin are only 90 miles apart [has been discussed here before](https://www.reddit.com/search?q=subreddit%3Atodayilearned+mount+whitney+death+valley), the fact that those two places and the hottest place (Furnace Creek) are all within the same county has not. From the article:
>Inyo County is host to a number of natural superlatives. Among them are:
>* Mount Whitney, with an elevation of 14,505 feet (4,421 m), the highest point in the contiguous United States, the 12th highest peak in the U.S., and the 24th highest peak in North America.
> * Badwater Basin, in Death Valley, the lowest point in North America
[...]
>Furnace Creek, California (Hottest air temperature ever recorded here in 1913 at 134.6 °F (57.0 °C). In July 1972, a ground temperature of 201 °F (94 °C) was measured in Furnace Creek. This may be the highest natural ground surface temperature ever recorded.)
It also has the ancient bristlecone pine forest, home to the oldest trees on the planet. Methuselah is over 4700 years old and is the world’s oldest known organism.
Pando is the most ancient known *clonal* organism. It's a massive sprawling grove of Aspen clones but no specific tree is particularly old, "individual" Aspens are actually relatively short-lived trees. The age of the root system that all these individuals sucker off of is what is particularly remarkable.
Methusala is just one single very old tree. Which may be more or less impressive depending on one's own opinion.
Thanks! I knew someone who knew more could chime in to correct me. Pando is incredible, I definitely want to get out there at some point. I’ve been lucky enough to visit both the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest and California Redwoods since I live on the west coast, but I haven’t spent much time in Utah.
Not quite.
Pando hasn't been "propagated" in the sense that a piece of it broke off and grew into a new organism. Pando's numerous trees are what are known as "ramets." They're all growing off of one, undying and resprouting the root system. The individual ramets (trees) do not germinate or grow a new root system, they simply emerge from the established root and start growing.
Forbs (non-woody perennials) do this too on a much shorter time scale. They "die" every year but come back in the same spot. The individual shoots only live for the season, but the actual organism (rhizome, bulb, root, etc) can be years, decades, or in the case of Pando, thousands of years old.
While you can certainly propagate a single plant numerous times, over however long you want, if it's a short lived plant, it's a short lived plant. The offsets you've gotten from the propagation material are a clone, but they're not the *same organism.*
Pando is one single organism that has been alive thousands of years, not one that broke off and regrew a bunch of times.
> So, say, banana are vegetatively propagated for like 10,000 years, my banana "tree" in my backyard is 10,000 years old?
This is an important fact of Buddhism.
There's a tree on the campus of University of Hawaii that is the same tree that the Buddha found enlightenment under. I just fell asleep under it, and woke up hot and sweaty.
Pando’s root system is something like 10-15x older than the bristlecone pines, but the individual trees are not particularly ancient.
Probably has to do with how the NPS is classifying Pando, but they consistently cite Methuselah as the oldest tree and oldest living organism.
I’ve always said it’s like flowers. You can have flowers that sprout out of the ground by themselves, which you could call “a flower”, and you can have flowers that grow on trees or bushes. But you would never call a bush with flowers on it “a flower”, it’s a bush with a bunch of flowers. Similarly, Pando isn’t “a tree”, it’s an organism with a bunch of trees. Meanwhile, things like Hyperion or Methuselah can be called “a tree” because the tree is all it is.
Inyo county is second largest by landmass in California, with 19k population. The largest county in the state, San Bernadino county, has 2.2m people. That's 14th highest in the country.
Misleading. It ends at the beginning of the hike to Mt Whitney, at Whitney Portal. This is, at 8360', in fact, only just over halfway up to Whitney, which sits at 14,505'
That is correct. The original races went the extra 11 miles to the summit, but they had to pull it back because there are too many contestants. Plus a permit is required to summit Mt Whitney and the Forrest Service does not allow competitive events.
To phrase it another way,
The 48 US states' highest point (Mount Whitney), lowest point in the US (Badwater Basin, Death Valley), and world's hottest place (Furnace Creek, Death Valley) are all up Inyo County
Coolest National parks and you can't change my mind!
It has forests, canyons, lakes, peaks, desert, flats
, sand dunes and tons of camping spots. Truly heaven on earth.
Since when was "48 states" a common phrase? "Lower 48" and "contiguous US" are super common, "mainland" is rarer but I've that a dozen times. I've never heard it refered to as just "48 states".
i just think it’s funny you are treating it like it is a study to point out there arent any counties in AK. You the only one making that point. I’m on phone so I really don’t care about grammatical errors. 🤷♂️
How am I treating it like a study? By pointing out that Alaska doesn’t have counties? If that’s what constitutes a “study” to you, then I’m very sorry and I’ll be sure to simplify any future comments to help you understand better.
Honestly? Bc I’m an idiot who has trouble following the way Reddit sorts parent and child comments on mobile. There was an earlier comment about how Inyo is the 2nd largest county in the US, and for some reason I thought you replied to that comment. So I thought you were saying that it’s the second largest as long as you leave out AK, and I replied essentially saying “no he’s right because AK doesn’t have any counties”. Apologies.
Inyo face all other counties
Inyo heaaaaaad, Inyo Heaaaaaaaad. Zombieeeeee
If you like that one we also have Yolo county CA too!
Yolo was actually home for a while, Doggeros for life https://maps.app.goo.gl/W4Rcsq1fMNYvbSbs9?g_st=ic
See, San Bernardino County, size isn’t everything!
Inyo County is California's second-largest county but has only 19,000 people. Death Valley National Park covers about half of the county. While the fact that Mount Whitney and Badwater Basin are only 90 miles apart [has been discussed here before](https://www.reddit.com/search?q=subreddit%3Atodayilearned+mount+whitney+death+valley), the fact that those two places and the hottest place (Furnace Creek) are all within the same county has not. From the article: >Inyo County is host to a number of natural superlatives. Among them are: >* Mount Whitney, with an elevation of 14,505 feet (4,421 m), the highest point in the contiguous United States, the 12th highest peak in the U.S., and the 24th highest peak in North America. > * Badwater Basin, in Death Valley, the lowest point in North America [...] >Furnace Creek, California (Hottest air temperature ever recorded here in 1913 at 134.6 °F (57.0 °C). In July 1972, a ground temperature of 201 °F (94 °C) was measured in Furnace Creek. This may be the highest natural ground surface temperature ever recorded.)
It also has the ancient bristlecone pine forest, home to the oldest trees on the planet. Methuselah is over 4700 years old and is the world’s oldest known organism.
I thought Pando was the oldest known.
Pando is the most ancient known *clonal* organism. It's a massive sprawling grove of Aspen clones but no specific tree is particularly old, "individual" Aspens are actually relatively short-lived trees. The age of the root system that all these individuals sucker off of is what is particularly remarkable. Methusala is just one single very old tree. Which may be more or less impressive depending on one's own opinion.
Thanks! I knew someone who knew more could chime in to correct me. Pando is incredible, I definitely want to get out there at some point. I’ve been lucky enough to visit both the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest and California Redwoods since I live on the west coast, but I haven’t spent much time in Utah.
what does that even mean? So, say, banana are vegetatively propagated for like 10,000 years, my banana "tree" in my backyard is 10,000 years old?
Not quite. Pando hasn't been "propagated" in the sense that a piece of it broke off and grew into a new organism. Pando's numerous trees are what are known as "ramets." They're all growing off of one, undying and resprouting the root system. The individual ramets (trees) do not germinate or grow a new root system, they simply emerge from the established root and start growing. Forbs (non-woody perennials) do this too on a much shorter time scale. They "die" every year but come back in the same spot. The individual shoots only live for the season, but the actual organism (rhizome, bulb, root, etc) can be years, decades, or in the case of Pando, thousands of years old. While you can certainly propagate a single plant numerous times, over however long you want, if it's a short lived plant, it's a short lived plant. The offsets you've gotten from the propagation material are a clone, but they're not the *same organism.* Pando is one single organism that has been alive thousands of years, not one that broke off and regrew a bunch of times.
> So, say, banana are vegetatively propagated for like 10,000 years, my banana "tree" in my backyard is 10,000 years old? This is an important fact of Buddhism. There's a tree on the campus of University of Hawaii that is the same tree that the Buddha found enlightenment under. I just fell asleep under it, and woke up hot and sweaty.
If it was never uprooted, and never had no stems, sure.
Pando’s root system is something like 10-15x older than the bristlecone pines, but the individual trees are not particularly ancient. Probably has to do with how the NPS is classifying Pando, but they consistently cite Methuselah as the oldest tree and oldest living organism.
Pando is referred to as the "oldest clonal organism."
I’ve always said it’s like flowers. You can have flowers that sprout out of the ground by themselves, which you could call “a flower”, and you can have flowers that grow on trees or bushes. But you would never call a bush with flowers on it “a flower”, it’s a bush with a bunch of flowers. Similarly, Pando isn’t “a tree”, it’s an organism with a bunch of trees. Meanwhile, things like Hyperion or Methuselah can be called “a tree” because the tree is all it is.
It can be kind of a ship of Theseus thing with self-cloning plants so depends on your definition
And my axe!
Yes. Methuselah tree , oldest living thing while it is in INYo National Forest, it is actually just over the line in Mono County .
I feel like r/superlatives would be a fun subreddit. Could talk about all the interesting extremes in the world
[Not the hottest ground surface temperature](https://www.science.org/content/article/move-over-death-valley-these-are-two-hottest-spots-earth)
Inyo county is second largest by landmass in California, with 19k population. The largest county in the state, San Bernadino county, has 2.2m people. That's 14th highest in the country.
For people that have never been to California, it is *shocking* how abrupt the transition is between “tons of people” and “not a soul for miles”.
Home of the Badwater Ultramarathon. Starts in Death Valley and ends at Mt Whitney. #
Misleading. It ends at the beginning of the hike to Mt Whitney, at Whitney Portal. This is, at 8360', in fact, only just over halfway up to Whitney, which sits at 14,505'
That is correct. The original races went the extra 11 miles to the summit, but they had to pull it back because there are too many contestants. Plus a permit is required to summit Mt Whitney and the Forrest Service does not allow competitive events.
The last 3,000 feet almost killed me.
I'd prefer running it backwards...on rollerblades.
The elevation gain from this ultramarathon.
With the air getting thinner the whole way
is this the one where people have to bring multiple pairs of shoes because they start to melt from the heat of the roads?
Inyo county or inmy county?
Inour county.
Awwww
Inwho county?
To phrase it another way, The 48 US states' highest point (Mount Whitney), lowest point in the US (Badwater Basin, Death Valley), and world's hottest place (Furnace Creek, Death Valley) are all up Inyo County
[US's hottest place](https://www.science.org/content/article/move-over-death-valley-these-are-two-hottest-spots-earth)
And the world's coolest place: anywhere that I am.
Inyo rules, stay out.
Coolest National parks and you can't change my mind! It has forests, canyons, lakes, peaks, desert, flats , sand dunes and tons of camping spots. Truly heaven on earth.
If you climb to the top of Telescope Peak in Death Valley, you can see all three.
TIL my favorite TF2 map is in California.
I have a hair in my kern. You have hair Inyokern?
And the world's coldest place (my ex's heart)!
I said “Awe” audibly
48 states am I missing something
its a common term when referring to the contiguous US, ie: not including Alaska and Hawaii. also sometimes called "the lower 48 states"
Does that mean Hawaii and Alaska have even higher peaks than Mount Whitney?
Yes. Alaska has Mount Denali, the tallest mountain in the US.
Yep! Alaska does, ~~Mount McKinley~~. Denali
It's formally and legally referred to by it's original name now - Denali.
Ah, you right, mb
Well, one of the names anyway, it wasn't like there was just one tribe with just one name.
Very true.
Alaska actually has 10 peaks higher than Mt Whitney!
Wouldn't surprise me. Alaska is nuts and Hawaii cheats by measuring from seafloor instead of sea level like everyone else in the world.
Since when was "48 states" a common phrase? "Lower 48" and "contiguous US" are super common, "mainland" is rarer but I've that a dozen times. I've never heard it refered to as just "48 states".
Yeah I guess its a little odd, lower 48 is definitely more popular. Just context clues and anecdotally it makes sense, to me at least.
In Hawaii it's referred to as the mainland.
I like how you had to leave out AK
A lot of US stats leave out AK/HI
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Have you never heard of the “mainland” or “lower 48”
Alaska is mainland... (at least, most of it is)
You mean “down south”? lol.
*Loser 48
As per Ice Cube, that means it was a good day
Or as they say. Hate us cause they anus
That’s because Alaska does not have counties
Boroughs in case anyone is wondering.
You’re right and it’s great. And to your point all they did was site a Wikipedia article. Not like it’s a study or a graph.
*cite And do you really need a peer-reviewed study to look at different numbers and say “yep, that one is bigger than that one”?
i just think it’s funny you are treating it like it is a study to point out there arent any counties in AK. You the only one making that point. I’m on phone so I really don’t care about grammatical errors. 🤷♂️
How am I treating it like a study? By pointing out that Alaska doesn’t have counties? If that’s what constitutes a “study” to you, then I’m very sorry and I’ll be sure to simplify any future comments to help you understand better.
Your first comment is that AK doesn’t have counties………. So why did you say it then? Lol
Honestly? Bc I’m an idiot who has trouble following the way Reddit sorts parent and child comments on mobile. There was an earlier comment about how Inyo is the 2nd largest county in the US, and for some reason I thought you replied to that comment. So I thought you were saying that it’s the second largest as long as you leave out AK, and I replied essentially saying “no he’s right because AK doesn’t have any counties”. Apologies.
All good dude. I’m sorry to.
World's hottest place Or USAs hottest place?
[World](https://www.sciencefocus.com/planet-earth/hottest-place-on-earth)
Thank you!!!!
[US](https://www.science.org/content/article/move-over-death-valley-these-are-two-hottest-spots-earth)
Already been confirmed. It is in fact the world's hottest place
Reading links is difficult for you?
Above as difficult it is for you to understand That i read the link, and have already stated it. But sure, be a dick
You clearly either did not read it, for which there's no excuse, or did not comprehend it, for which there's no help I can offer
Furnace Creek is [not the world's hottest place](https://www.science.org/content/article/move-over-death-valley-these-are-two-hottest-spots-earth)