Dale,
We worked hard to get 130 out of that Norway, but alas, we couldn't do it. Bob ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dale Luthringer" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, November 17, 2009 3:32:42 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: Re: [ENTS] A Great Day with John and Andrew Nice ash, Bob. Can't even come close to that so far down here. Your Norway is very impressive. I think we've only broke 130 once here in PA. Dale On Fri, Nov 13, 2009 at 8:26 PM, < [email protected] > wrote: ENTS, Today saw John Eichholz, Andrew Joslin, and yours truly out stamping around in the Trout Brook Cove of Mohawk Trail State Forest. We had several objectives in mind. We accomplished most of them, plus the trees added a real sweetener for us. We first remeasured the Trout Brook white pine. It grows low in the cove and has heretofore has had the distinction of being one of the two tallest trees in the cove and the tallest of the white pines. What was the status of the tall, slender pine? That was a question in need of an answer. Well, it is now around 152.5 feet in height. My measurement was 152.8 feet. John can post his measurement separately, which is very close to mine. Our measurements are usually within +/- 0.3 feet of one another. John then took its girth, which is 8.5 feet. The pine next two the champ is very close to 150, but we didn't take the time to remeasure it. At least I didn't. As we moved up the cove John checked on several hemlocks in the low to mid-120s. But we didn't spend much time fine tuning the measurements. We had a very specific objective. Farther up the cove, we reached the super site, our planned destination. The super site has 3 height champions, which we wanted to reconfirm: a sugar maple, a red maple, and a white ash. John spotted a very tall sugar maple and we measured it. We settled on 129.5 feet. The sugar maple's girth is a very slender 5.5 feet. The significant heights and slender trunks of the site we were at led Lee Frelich to call it a super site in his Oct 2008 visit. An objective at the super site was to remeasure the champion red maple that John had previously found. It was the first tree of the 3 listed to be reached. Alas, the red maple has lost height. Today, we measured it to 125.5 feet. Its girth is 6.4 feet. It had been 128.0. That left the champion sugar maple and the white ash to reconfirm. We first located the champion ash, which John had originally measured to 151.5 feet. That was a number of years ago. But, on the last measurement, I could only confirm 150.3 feet. However, my view of the crown was obstructed. I think both John and I feared that our champion would be under 150, possible even be on the ground. The stand has taken several hits from the weather of the past 12 months. There are lots of downed trees and an inspection of the crowns, shows lots of breaks. Well, the good news is that we found the ash standing and in apparently good shape. That is especially significant. The ash is not just a state or New England champion, but the northeastern champion. Today's measurements confirmed that our champion has grown. I got 152.0 feet and John got 152.3 feet. The ash's girth is a very modest 6.6 feet. The first two attached images show the champion ash. Andrew is in the second image getting a vertical perspective on this remarkable tree. Afterward finishing with the champion ash, John relocated the champion sugar maple and remeasured it. It has lost height. But I think its top height was 134.4 feet. It is now around 132.8 feet, if I recall what John said. I'll let John tell the full story. After leaving the super site, we walked back via a stand of tall Norway spruce that were planted in the 1930s. I had measured one tree to 127 feet several years ago, but had failed to relocate the tree in subsequent visits. This time we found it. After measurements by all three of us, we settled on 129.2 feet. The champ has grown. Long live the champ. Its girth is a very modest 4.6 feet - another pencil tree. The last attached image shows John in the process of measuring the tree's girth. Mohawk's trees are taking some hits, but there is still plenty of good news. Oh yes, John measured several significant black birches, but I'll turn the microphone over to him and let him finish the story. Also Andrew has a surprise to show every one in an image. John and Andrew? Bob -- Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org Send email to [email protected] Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] -- Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org Send email to [email protected] Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] -- Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org Send email to [email protected] Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en To unsubscribe send email to [email protected]
