Will, Going out west to see the redwoods have been a dream of mine for years. One of these days I hope to make it out there.
Wonderful post. I think those are taller than the " Boog "! ~Laughing~! James P. On Nov 16, 9:08 am, "Will Blozan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > ENTS, > > In October I was invited as a guest speaker to a corporate meeting in Santa > Clara, CA. I was honored to be paid to fly out (with my wife too!), get > picked up in a limo, three nights in the Marriott, gourmet food and drink. > Well that part is over, unfortunately. BUT I was able to spend a day on > "free time" to meet for the first time the superlative coastal redwoods. > From our hotel we could look to the west and see the redwood spires on the > Santa Cruz Mountains, and to our east the mountains were bare and covered in > scrub and grass. The fog influence was very pronounced and we dried up > quickly in the arid 15% humidity of Santa Clara. What a difference a few > miles and elevation make! > > I was a bit embarrassed as a big tree hunter to have never seen the > redwoods- and the tallest I have ever personally measured being a twig on > the Montpelier Estate in VA. Well, I bumped up my personal best to a hair > under 300' tall. My wife Heidi and I spent several hours in Big Basin > Redwoods State Park, CA which was the first park in the state. Although much > of it appeared to have been selectively logged many fine trees remained > which had over 100 years of growth since park establishment in > 1902.http://www.bigbasin.org/ > > Heidi and a "big" redwood > > I was immediately struck with the height and density of trees but also with > the low diversity of canopy trees. The canopy was mainly composed of two > species, redwood and coastal Douglas-fir. A mix of tanoak (Lithocarpus > densiflorus), Pacific madrone (Arbutus menziesii), and various shrubs filled > out the bulk of the mid-canopy and understory. The ridges made for a quick > forest transition to unimpressive (as in small trees) dry site species of > oak and twisty madrone. Well, they could have been impressive but I had no > idea what species I was looking at. The visitor's center was surprisingly > lacking in useful guides to trees, unless I purchased a book. The madrones > were awesome and looked like huge rhododendrons. > > I was truthfully more impressed with the Dougies and tanoaks than the > redwoods. I knew I had no chance of any new records for any species, > specifically redwood so my interest was drawn to other species. I roughed > out many heights all day and was impressed my laser battery did not die. I > focused on the Dougies but soon took notice of the tanoaks. I had never seen > the species before and was interested in them because they were not conifers > and likely have not been intensively sampled due their obvious sub-canopy > stature. Several quick shots indicated that these slender members of the > beech family were in excess of 120'- which is admittedly pretty impressive > for this family in NA. I spotted one that although winding its way beneath > the redwood and Dougie canopy reached 144.3 feet. Their wood must be > seriously strong since this tree was only 6'10" in girth! > > Tallest tanoak > > My goal for the day was to find a tree over 300 feet tall. I know, an > arbitrary number but it was a goal nonetheless. As Heidi and I traversed > several trails and explored small coves and ravines I measured and measured > and measured. The website I looked at before the visit indicated trees up to > 329 feet tall in the park. As the day went on I had a hard time breaking 240 > feet. Near a campground we came across a small, sheltered cove with really > impressive redwoods towering above huge cut stumps. I figured the remaining > trees would have bolted to the sky- and they looked it. The packed redwoods > were very dense and had burned bark up to 120 feet up the trunks. The > charcoal contrasted beautifully with the red unburned bark and the green > foliage. Beautiful and thrifty as they were an hour of searching and > measuring a dozen trees or so did not yield a single 300 footer. I hit > 294.6' and 296.7'. Perhaps elsewhere in the park a 300 footer can be found- > maybe closer to the ocean. After all, there are 18,00 acres of forest and I > only saw a tiny bit. > > The tallest redwoods measured > > Also near the campground grew what to me was the most impressive tree of the > day. It was a Douglas-fir that shot like an arrow from the side of a small > stream. I shot the laser to the top and thought it was reading erratic. Holy > moly! this tree was roughed out to be over 250 feet tall! Few redwoods had > been seen all day that tall so it deserved some more detailed attention. > Heidi helped with a basal target and the impressive tree turned out to be > 22'4" cbh and 269.1 feet tall. This one tree was worth the trip! > > Huge Douglas-fir > > Upon returning to the visitor center to meet our ride we discovered that the > 329 foot tree- listed as the tallest in the park- was right by the parking > lot. We quickly found it and in true ENTS style I set about measuring it as > carefully as possible. I used a repeatable trunk flare spot as a reference > to base all shots upon. I found two solid sightings very close to 180 > degrees apart so as to provide a good replicate for height determination. > This giant tree, 15.3 feet in diameter is called the "Mother of the Forest". > I don't think it is the biggest tree by volume that we saw but it is a huge > beast with a straight trunk and no obvious reiterations. The top appeared > well formed but due to the relatively short distance I was able to move away > from the tree and still see it I could have missed the highest point by a > few feet (see photo below). I explored the top intently for a long time with > the laser and the two shots yielded heights of 287.4 and 287.7 feet. There > is no possible way this tree could be 329 feet tall- even with the "tangent" > method :-). I'd like to know how this tree was measured but needless to say, > not accurately! > > The "Mother of the Forest" taken from the first laser measuring point. Maybe > in a century or two the sign will be correct. > > After we were picked up by our gracious hosts- my dad's cousin and family- > we drove to Santa Cruz to see the Pacific Ocean and watch seals and surfers. > The placid scene was accented by the gnarly Montezuma cypress dangling over > the cliffs. An awesome day! > > Will F. Blozan > > President, Eastern Native Tree Society > > President, Appalachian Arborists, Inc. > > image010.jpg > 94KViewDownload > > image009.jpg > 94KViewDownload > > image008.jpg > 33KViewDownload > > image007.jpg > 104KViewDownload > > image006.jpg > 94KViewDownload > > image005.jpg > 88KViewDownload > > image004.jpg > 66KViewDownload > > image003.jpg > 97KViewDownload > > image002.jpg > 45KViewDownload > > image001.jpg > 72KViewDownload > > image012.jpg > 18KViewDownload --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
