We did it! Jess Riddle and I, with the superb help of Dan Bryson
of Great
Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) and Appalachian Arborists
employee Will
Crow wrapped up the final climbs and plots of the Tsuga Search
Project in
the southern Appalachians. We spent three days in upper Caldwell
Fork,
Cataloochee-GSMNP to measure and survey vegetation around four
trees Jess and
I had scouted previously.
Here is a day by day report:
July 24th
The early drive to the park was in light rain, an unwelcome
feature of the
day that would end up staying with us nearly the entire trip. We
hiked five
miles up the Caldwell Fork Trail to the (now closed due to the
bears we
reported on) campsite on Caldwell Fork. From here we went
off-trail up
Caldwell Fork to the vicinity of the "Caldwell
Colossus", one of the giant
hemlocks in the area also in the Tsuga Search Project. The wet
forest, soggy
soils, steep slopes, Rhododendron and heavy packs made travel
exhausting. We
found a relatively flat base camp among soggy moss,
Rhododendron, and
dripping dog-hobble. After setting up camp and hanging food we
continued up
stream with somewhat lighter packs to climb the "Colleague
Hemlock". The
Rhododendron was THICK, wet and dirty but we made it to the tree
just in
time for another rain shower. We covered the gear with a tarp
and waited it
out for a bit. Although this plot was blissfully free of dense
Rhododendron,
stinging nettle voraciously took its place as a plant to contend
with. The
rain slackened and I set the climbing rope and ascended the tree
while the
others began the tree plots.
Photos by Will Blozan
Dan Bryson at base of Triceratops Tree
Little Spruce Ridge covered in dead hemlocks.
Picture perfect sugar maple near plot
View down Caldwell Fork-Big Fork Ridge on
mid-horizon.
"The Colleague" is named for its association with
another giant hemlock only
~20 feet away named the "Triceratops Tree". The
Triceratops Tree was
discovered in 2000 (?) on a trip with Michael Davie, and
measured to 14'9" X
162.5' tall. It had three huge tops originating from a massive
fusion
supported by a stout, untapered trunk. Unfortunately this tree
has broken up
and is now just a snag. Laser measurements of the smaller but
still standing
Colleague Hemlock indicated a height of 167', solidly joining
the top 15
club of tall hemlocks. The tape drop was 167.2' and the volume
came out to a
hefty 1317 cubic feet of trunk. So, as an added bonus this tree
joined the
top 15 volume club as well! We can only speculate about the size
of the
Triceratops Tree, as it was clearly a larger specimen. Jess and
I have never
seen such a small spot of earth with so much hemlock volume
anywhere. That
small patch of ground likely contained over 2700 cubic feet of
hemlock! What
a bummer!
Colleague- view of tree next to Triceratops Tree
Colleague- view up Caldwell Fork
Colleague- Triceratops snag
Video shot by Will Blozan. The second is a view
from atop the Colleague Hemlock.
During the entire climb a hawk was watching me and screaming
while flying
from tree to tree. Perhaps it was complaining about the core
sampler
creaking and screeching below (which broke after a few trees ;)
The extreme
emergence of this tree offered an excellent but depressing view
of the vast
hemlock forests of upper Caldwell Fork. As far as could be seen
up the
slopes of Service Ridge and adjacent areas hemlock was the
dominant tree in
nearly pure groves. All of them were already dead or well beyond
any hope of
recovery. The stone-dead Colleague Hemlock was already full of
woodpecker
holes and oozing black stuff from cracks in the bark. I find
solace in the
fact that the Triceratops Tree died a dignified death from
structural
failure and not the damned adelgids.
July 25th
The steady rains of the night finally stopped around 8:00am and
after
gathering up the gear headed back up (soggy) Caldwell Fork to
climb "The
Beast". This tree is so named due to the extreme density of
rhododendron and
downed wood surrounding the tree. It was difficult to even get
to the base
to measure the girth- let alone perform lasered shots to the
trunk for the
tree mapping. We dreaded surveying this tree from the moment of
its
discovery. Just finding a spot to throw a line into the tree to
set the rope
was a challenge.
The Beast- HUGE reiteration base
The Beast- Looking up trunk with giant reiteration
The Beast- Moss mat 14' out on reiteration
The Beast- reiteration mass
I settled for a low rope set and as the spitting clouds finally
broke up I
enjoyed an hour of dryness (except my boots, which at this point
were
quickly becoming toxic). The hawk was back, too, alighting in a
nearby tree
to watch the action. The Beast was being surveyed not for height
but for
wood volume. Monocular estimates put the volume at 1350 cubes
with a lasered
height of 151.1'. Not bad; measured volume was 1356 cubes and
height was
151.6'. This tree had a HUGE reiteration that alone scaled 52.7
cubes!
The Beast- stitch
The Beast- View down Little Bald Branch
The Beast- Will Crow at the base
In all, this hideous plot seemed to fly by and was completed in
a record 4
hours! This is partly due to no core samples being pulled. We
got back to
camp early and the thought crossed my mind to re-climb the
Caldwell Colossus
(now dead) to obtain reiteration measurements I forgot to take
on the first
climb. I choose to wait until the other targeted tree was
climbed in case
the throw line got stuck or snapped.
July 26th
This third day was reserved for the climb of the utterly huge
"Caldwell
Giant", a tree Jess and I knew would set a new volume
record. Travel to this
tree was even farther up Caldwell Fork through a gruesome, wet,
slimy
gauntlet of Rhododendron, nettle, seeps, and fallen trees.
However, the sun
did dare to come out so once we arrived we were able to lay out
gear to dry
out during the plot and climb. The hawk was back, screaming and
flying
around the Giant.
Caldwell Giant- Dan Bryson standing by for scale
Caldwell Giant- Freeze damage on birch and dead
hemlock
Caldwell Giant- Huge branche and ridge across
Caldwell Fork
Caldwell Giant- One of three snakeskins in the tree!
Caldwell Giant- Sickening view across Little Bald Branch
to Double Gap Ridge
Caldwell Giant- View up Caldwell Fork to Big Spruce
Ridge
The steep slope behind this tree offered a high, easy set for
the rope at
~95' up. At this height the tree was still 11'4" in girth
(43.3 inches
diameter)! Massive is the word for this tree! The tape drop was
two feet
less than the laser but at 152.1 feet tall this was no shorty.
Volume came
out to a record 1601 cubes! The volume was substantially less
than the
monocular estimate but we expected that due to the poor shots on
the lower
trunk which were obscured by, you guessed it- Rhododendron.
The plot and climb of the Caldwell Giant went well and we were
ahead of
schedule. Before we left the tree I suggested we haul back to
camp, pack up
while I climb the Caldwell Colossus, and head out the six+ miles
to the car.
Considering that our filthy, disgusting clothes and boots were
threatening
to leave with or without us we all agreed. I set a line in the
Colossus
while the others packed up camp. I measured three reiterations
to add to the
trunk volume data collected last year. The tree ended up jumping
from 1385
cubes to 1411 cubes.
We made it out, beat, dirty, and stinky as can be about 6:30 pm
if I recall
correctly. Certain items of clothing were banished to be buried
in the back
of the Jeep but we still needed to ride with the windows down
due to the
asphyxiation potential. It was a seriously grueling day but well
worth
avoiding another day out. I remained sore for four days after
this trip, and
my clothing was washed, bleached, and rewashed three times and
left to bake
in the sun for detox.
Here
are the final rankings of the 15 tallest eastern hemlocks.
