Will, Awesome stuff! What a killer pine.
JP On Nov 8, 7:52 pm, "Will Blozan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > ENTS, > > In September I had the opportunity to spend two days in the Coon Branch > Natural Area on Duke Energy lands in South Carolina. I was there to treat > the hemlocks for hemlock woolly adelgid and had time in the evenings to do > some tree climbs. My business partner Jason Childs assisted on all climbs > and we modeled the volume of two huge trees. We also treated 269 hemlocks > totaling over 4,400 diameter inches. > > "Coon Branch Hemlock", a.k.a. "Cora's Giant" 9/24/2008 > > One of the trees in the treatment area was a huge, ancient eastern hemlock > 12'6" CBH and over 130' tall. The lack of taper and huge reiterations > indicated it would be a contender for the largest hemlock in the state. I > "sub-named" this tree "Cora's Giant" since I climbed it my daughter's 7th > birthday. There was a larger hemlock upstream called the "Desoto Hemlock" > but its conical form and short height would not amount to much wood. It also > appeared to be dead. > > Carl Blozan and the Desoto Hemlock > > The top of "Coon Branch Hemlock" was mostly dead but the full lower crown > should respond well to treatments. Starting the climb late and hitting the > ground just before dusk, Jason and I measured the 131.9 foot long trunk and > four twisty reiterations to 889 cubic feet of wood volume. > > This tree was just 8 cubes shy of breaking the former volume record for the > state, a tree called the "Medlin Mountain Monarch" climbed and modeled in > 2001. The MMM was a vastly taller tree at 161.8 feet and larger at BH > (13'6") but its young, conic form did not rack up the cubes like a more > columnar shape. The former giant has died leaving the "Coon Branch Hemlock" > as the largest living eastern hemlock known in the state of South Carolina. > > "Coon Branch Pine" 9/25/2008 > > Jess Riddle posted years ago about a huge white pine in the Coon Branch > Natural Area. I had forgotten about it until I saw it towering over a small > seepage at the base of a slope near the Whitewater River. From the instant I > saw it I knew it had to be climbed. This huge tree has one of the largest > girths recorded for the species in modern times and promised to be a new > member of the "1000 Cube Club" for the species. The steep slope above the > tree made for an easy rope set and the initial ascent was up a rope dangling > in mid-air far away from the trunk due to the lean of the tree. > > Top of the "Coon Branch Pine" as viewed from Cora's Giant > > David Huff at the base of the "Coon Branch Pine" > > The top split into three forks and peaked at 148.8 feet. "Stout" would > describe this tree well; it was large, thick, and massive. The lean gave us > a bit of a climbing challenge but we were able to model the tree to 1,035 > cubes! CBH was a solid 14.8 feet and the trunk was still 7.6 feet around at > 100 feet up. > > Jason at ~110 feet up > > Thus, the Coon Branch Pine is the second largest eastern white pine > currently alive. This giant tree has no reiterations in contrast to the > volume champion "Dyleski Pine" in Cashiers, NC, which is a highly reiterated > beast.http://www.nativetreesociety.org/fieldtrips/north_carolina/dyleski/dy... > ine.htm > > The Coon Branch area supports other super trees on many species and is high > on my list of a winter visit. Some of the staff who accompanied us on the > climbs and treatments suggested bigger trees elsewhere in the area. We'll > see! > > Will F. Blozan > > President, Eastern Native Tree Society > > President, Appalachian Arborists, Inc. > > image007.jpg > 87KViewDownload > > image006.jpg > 106KViewDownload > > image005.jpg > 71KViewDownload > > image004.jpg > 85KViewDownload > > image003.jpg > 114KViewDownload > > image002.jpg > 65KViewDownload > > image001.jpg > 108KViewDownload --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org You are subscribed to the Google Groups "ENTSTrees" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
