# The wild trees?



## wood junky (Sep 25, 2007)

I built a house for an author and I knew that he was a climber but have any of you guys read this book.

I just got my copy and he apparently climbs the tallest trees in the world and wrote about it. I will let you know if it is any good.


Kevin

The Wild Trees- Richard Preston.


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## DonnyO (Sep 25, 2007)

*yup*

It has been discussed here before. The illustrator of that book posts here often. It is a great book I have a copy autographed by both the author and illustrator.


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## wood junky (Sep 25, 2007)

Richard and I had been speaking about trees and the such-then he sent me a copy to my office. I thought it was a really nice gesture. I am just starting to read it today. 

I am sure that I could get some authgraph copies for folks if they want. PM me and I will ask. I see the author on a daily basis.

kevin


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## Adkpk (Jan 24, 2008)

I'll let you know, it was very good. This Preston guy can really write well. Several years ago before going on a road trip I picked up "The New Yorker", much to my surprise it had an article about the redwoods in it by Preston. It was quite long but I could not put the magazine down until I finished it. I found this the same with his book, "The Wild Trees". 
Is he working on anything now?


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## M.D. Vaden (Jan 24, 2008)

wood junky said:


> I built a house for an author and I knew that he was a climber but have any of you guys read this book.
> 
> I just got my copy and he apparently climbs the tallest trees in the world and wrote about it. I will let you know if it is any good.
> 
> ...



*Yes, I've read his book.

*My story of discovering the SECRET location is on this page:

M. Vaden locates Secret Titan Redwood Grove

*Let Mr. Preston know his book enabled me to find the secret grove.*

I had read one chapter already, posted online, before I bought the book. If you *Google this:* 

*Orion Day of Discovery Redwoods*

You should notice the Orion article.

*Preston the author freely disclosed too many details* in the book about tree locations. Not THE locations, but descriptive information including the nature of the trek through the rainforest. Certainly unintentionally. I just emailed Dr. Sillett, the main character, this month, about how I was able to use the book's clues to find the trees. The book in itself, will not get you to the trees. It will just get you lost. But what's in the book, coupled with other leaks, can get someone to the trees if they know the park well enough. The sense of time and progress in the book won't mean anything, unless someone first tries to get through that forest - the dense part. If someone penetrates the forest for a few hours, they would be a step closer to doing something with clues.

*I found the Grove of Titans last week*, and am going back there next weekend. I was primarily interested in the challenge, like a treasure hunt. We did a 6 hour deep exploration of the dense rainforest last week, and located them as we proceeded on the return leg of our small expedition.

The reason I could find them, was due to my hiking experience in Jed Smith Redwoods, plus a few missing clues found elsewhere online. Some of the extra clues are seemingly insignificant, as small as 3 words among 15,000 words of text in a document.

Odds are, the extra online clues are either gone, or a matter of days from vanishing from the internet. I sent the few URLs to Dr. Sillett, so he could arrange for text edits.

Anyhow, about Preston's book, it's choppy reading, due to the subject transition occuring so abruptly. But his descriptions are excellent. And for the more part, it's a book that can be read without putting it down much at all. The abrupt transitions may be intentional. But other reviews online have noted the same thing. It may be an effect the author added to keep readers on their toes.

My mother is from the same place in Ontario where Sillett's wife is from, so I gave her the book to read - she's 90 years old. And she enjoyed reading it.

I've written my full review in the Forest section of my own Bulletin Board already.

In short, I think the book would be a good one for the average person to read and enjoy.

If anyone plans to explore for these trees, be sure to carry an emergency kit, food and compass. In the book, you can see how the discoverers may have been a few hours shy of getting stuck in there and getting hypothermia. They were as unprepared to enter the woods as someone could be. Maybe that's one good part of the book, is it does not conceal some of the bad choices these people made over the years.

The forest is loaded with poison oak from shrubs, to monster steroid poison oak with trunks over 3" DBH and stems up to 180' high. You must know winter and summer ID for poison-oak to enter the rainforest on a quest. Sillett wrote to me that he has seen poison-oak over 200' tall / high.

We got as many welts, bruises and swollen joints as they probably did in 6 hours worth of exploring. And it is true, that you can fall among debris where you can't get out. Single logs on their sides can be 12' tall or higher - let alone piles of this stuff. We found dead-ends, just like they did, although different ones I'm sure. We had a rope with us, and I don't think they did. How far into the redwoods the bears go, I'm not sure. We carry a sidearm and pepper spray, so we were preparted. And we moved slow too, to avoid startling animals by surprising them.

Almost anyone who likes trees will like that book.

*He may hear about it from Dr. Sillett, but since you talk to him, let him know that an outdoorsman arborist 2 hours from the Grove of Titans, found them within 2 weeks of reading his book, using it for about 1/2 of what was needed.

That may really help him learn to keep his "lock box" sealed in the future.
*


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## lxt (Jan 24, 2008)

M.D. Vaden said:


> In short, I think the book would be a good one for the average person to read and enjoy.



So you didnt understand a thing you read!!

LXT.........


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## Adkpk (Jan 24, 2008)

lxt said:


> So you didnt understand a thing you read!!
> 
> LXT.........



Um, really. 
Slight bit of pompous there MD. Phew!


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## M.D. Vaden (Jan 24, 2008)

lxt said:


> So you didnt understand a thing you read!!
> 
> LXT.........



Well, since I located a grove that only a handful of botanists and folks know about, via using the book, I'd say that if you plan to go in the woods, use wool.




Adrpk said:


> I'll let you know, it was very good. This Preston guy can really write well. Several years ago before going on a road trip I picked up "The New Yorker", much to my surprise it had an article about the redwoods in it by Preston. It was quite long but I could not put the magazine down until I finished it. I found this the same with his book, "The Wild Trees".
> Is he working on anything now?



Not sure if that's the same as in Orion, but I think I read that one too. Good reading.

Was it the one with B&W images?

____________________


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## Scots Climber (Jan 24, 2008)

A brilliant read, and as already said very well illustrated. I found it very useful.


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## lxt (Jan 24, 2008)

Adrpk said:


> Um, really.
> Slight bit of pompous there MD. Phew!



Have you went to his poll thread? pompous is an understatement!!

You located a grove a handful know about......LOL, PA is a big state you should be able to locate it with no trouble, I mean a man of well versed intellect such as yourself, still waiting for you to man up!!

this guy talks in circles, now he`s a critic on what to read "average person" like you`re so far above?

Your felacious embellishments are like the flying fodder from the horses back side!!!

LXT................


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## OTG BOSTON (Jan 24, 2008)

*good stuff MD*

Info on the location of those giants could be worth alot of $$$$ if you were to start giving tours Maybe LXT could be your lead climber.....

Seriously though, I am told that Dr. Sillett is dead set against anyone else climbing these trees or even getting close to them. I understand his concerns but still call bs on it. I would gladly pay thousands of dollars to get a chance to climb one of the tallest trees in the world.


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## lxt (Jan 24, 2008)

OTG BOSTON said:


> Info on the location of those giants could be worth alot of $$$$ if you were to start giving tours Maybe LXT could be your lead climber.....
> 
> Seriously though, I am told that Dr. Sillett is dead set against anyone else climbing these trees or even getting close to them. I understand his concerns but still call bs on it. I would gladly pay thousands of dollars to get a chance to climb one of the tallest trees in the world.




Id be your lead climber OTG, ohh heck......even MD`s.

I refrain on bustin his chops here, Ill see how he answers on his poll thread, oops I meant doesnt answer! LOL.

LXT.......


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## M.D. Vaden (Jan 24, 2008)

OTG BOSTON said:


> Info on the location of those giants could be worth alot of $$$$ if you were to start giving tours Maybe LXT could be your lead climber.....



*OTG BOSTON...

What you wrote is an exclamatory statement.
*

Very true indeed.

I sort of had a dilemna on this. I make at least $100 a month from Google for my web pages.

By the middle of next week - even tomorrow if I wanted - I could make a webpage GROVE OF TITANS showing the exact spot.

But it would not be the right choice, and I told (emailed) Dr. Sillett that I won't post the location of the trees, nor the complete method about how I found them.

So I'm passing on the opportunity to glean the potential Google Ad income from starting the first page of a kind.

For now, I plan to make a webpage about the Grove of Titans, but not with any information pin-pointing where they are at.

I'm just going to get an general page established and let it sit dormant until someone else possibly lets the cat out of the bag someday, whether it's a year, 5 years or 30 years. It's impossible to know. I think that Hyperion, the tallest, down south, may be the hardest to find, and the one most likely to remain undisclosed from what I've read about difficulty of access. The access sounds severely hard.

I don't think I'd even want to try to find Hyperion. One heavy duty bushwhack was tough enough, and within a two hour drive.


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## OTG BOSTON (Jan 24, 2008)

*sooooooo*

does that mean you won't show a fellow arborist for a fee?


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## lxt (Jan 24, 2008)

Earendil & Elwing........ring a bell MD?, so you have personally spoke to Steve? If what you say is true????? then you have surely seen one of Gods wonders & are blessed indeed.

LXT..........


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## M.D. Vaden (Jan 24, 2008)

OTG BOSTON said:


> does that mean you won't show a fellow arborist for a fee?



Unless I set up a guide service, I'd do it for free, if at all.

Although, it had crossed my mind to start a guide service. Not for hunting, but for taking people on hikes in parts of Oregon or north CA. Like people who are mainly tourists from overseas or the east coast, but are not packing day hike gear, nor regular hikers. That way they could hike nice trails, learn about native plants, and the lightweight ministoves and freeze dried meals would already be taken care of.

Some of the Hollywood folks who want to escape the Paparazzi, ought to call some of us outdoors folks, and find a few days of relaxation with a short 4 to 5 mile hike per day. I wonder how often some of them ever get a chance to enjoy some quiet and the forest.


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## M.D. Vaden (Jan 24, 2008)

lxt said:


> Earendil & Elwing........ring a bell MD?, so you have personally spoke to Steve? If what you say is true????? then you have surely seen one of Gods wonders & are blessed indeed.
> 
> LXT..........



Not via phone. I found the earlier post and added "emailed" after "told" for clarity. We communicated via email several times over the period of a week. Once initially, when I wrote that I was sure I could find them, and why. Then later after I found them, a bunch of emails back and forth about how to remove leaked comments that popped-up online.

None of the leaks were really very foolish, and may not have amounted to much as single leaks. But the whole collection of leaks after a period of time let the cats head stick out of the bag. From what Dr. Sillett wrote, they started to discover the potential of the leaks, like a year ago. So I just emailed the ones I found for them to add to their list.

We found the trees when it was even darker than when Sillett and Taylor found them, so I've only clearly seen 2 trees. Until I could measure them, I'm not sure which will be which. Screaming Titans will be one of the easier ones to match a name to a size, and Lost Monarch, since the dimensions have been published and it's virtually the largest of the grove.

I think the trunk diameters of a few others were available, and that's about the only way I think I'd know which tree is which in the grove. Whether a tree in the area is a titan or not, could be figured out. But I don't recall if enough was published to know which ones belong to which names.

Although some clues were leaked, Sillett, Van Pelt, Preston, Taylor and others, were still quite effective about keeping a lot of stuff secret.

It's not exactly an easy thing to describe, but all I can say, is if anyone finds them and sees them in person, they would understand why so few images exist, and why someone would not really say which tree they saw first and why or how expansive the grove is. About the only way to convey learning the location, is to state that the "grove" has been located.

If anyone wants to find them, I say best wishes to them, as long as they keep it secret. If they want to find them, and bushwhack their way to the grove, they have sort of earned their recreation.

The book does not exaggerate the severity of what it's like to go through that forest.

Actually, it's the only forest I've ever been in, where landmarks where virtually useless. That's why I understood the comment from Sillett in The Wild Trees about not being able to return the way they came. They had no compass. But we did have one. So I returned via compass only.

We tried to lock images in mind of old dead stumps and stuff, but there are too many that are similar in some ways, to be able to use them for landmarks. Only two logs of all that we passed eased our passage rather than slowing us. One log enabled us to span over a deep chasm and then get over 100' more of broken debris. And one other log allowed us to bridge through about 200 feet heavy underbrush. I always went in the lead, because I know how to spot poison-oak in winter. Several times, we came up to logs so high we could not begin to climb over them, and had to go up steep hills for a couple of hundred feet to get around the stumps, providing merely 15' of directional progress once all the way around and back - or in other words 400 feet of hard work travel for 15 feet of progress.

That's why I figure, if someone can find them, go for it, and enjoy the forest.

It's still a very cool forest, and I think that most people who would go there and never find the trees, would still enjoy the adventure. It's definitely thicker than north Oregon coastal forest. And the person with me was expecting the forest density and bushwhack to be similar to what we went through in north Oregon - this exceeded their expectations. For me, I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was thicker than what I would have imagined. Primarily the mixture of forest floor debris mixed with undergrowth. Legs punch through the debris into cavities, similar to walking in deep snow - that's about the only way I can describe it. But snowshoes won't work in the redwoods since it's not an even surface.


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## Lawnmowerboy48 (Jan 24, 2008)

My roommates uncle wrote the book and I still haven't had a chance to read it.


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## M.D. Vaden (Jan 26, 2008)

Lawnmowerboy48 said:


> My roommates uncle wrote the book and I still haven't had a chance to read it.



Cool - the author has builders, nephews and readers. And kids !! I'll bet his kids sure enjoy that climbing he's got them started on.

Hey, here's the tree from today's exploration - a bit more bushwhacking. It was rainy and grey out, so this is as clear as it gets this week.

Our quick measurement was 23.55 feet diameter. So it should be the Del Norte Titan.

What I found listed for Del Norte Titan was 23.6 - so that sounds close enough.


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## Scots Climber (Jan 26, 2008)

Some size of tree that one!


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## clearance (Jan 26, 2008)

Whens the logging start? Whats the holdup? Git at 'er. Log it or lose it, log it, burn it, pave it.


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## M.D. Vaden (Jan 26, 2008)

clearance said:


> Whens the logging start? Whats the holdup? Git at 'er. Log it or lose it, log it, burn it, pave it.



Hey... there are some saw-smooth stump tops in that park, not much smaller.

Someone was busy once.

But maybe just to clear for the road and trails. Every now and then while hiking, I see initials and dates carved in ends of logs by chainsaws, signatures of the maintenance sawmen

(Just letting us remember they are still there)


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## oldirty (Jan 27, 2008)

clearance said:


> Whens the logging start? Whats the holdup? Git at 'er. Log it or lose it, log it, burn it, pave it.



hey clearance i heard the Del Norte Titan was a cull. lol


on a more dead serious note, i need to see these redwoods before i die man. touch them feel them smell them. i neeeed to see one in person. they dont have to be the ones in the book mind you but any of these monsters you guys have out on the more northern west coast.

i want to know what it feels like to be 200+ feet up and nowhere near the top. that would be quite the moment i think. at the very least it would be nice to find out if i had the intestinal fortitude to get to the top.


at the risks of sounding like i am in tune my harmonial being, how insignificant do these trees make you feel when you stand next to them and look up?

i got to find this out.


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## lxt (Jan 27, 2008)

Olddirty Im with ya, Ive been planning on seeing these marvels for along time, just that renovating a house can be very expensive & take along time!!!
Not to mention putting the kid through college.......whew..im broke. LOL

Me & the Mrs have three places we wish to go, Greece, Alaska(to see the brown bears, another wonder) & to yellowstone(grand canyon & the redwoods). I hope I make it before building this house kills me!!!



LXT...............


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## oldirty (Jan 27, 2008)

lxt said:


> Olddirty
> 
> Not to mention putting the kid through college.......whew..im broke. LOL
> 
> ...





it oldirty.


and about you putting your kid through college. your a tree guy. get a maul and collect firewood from your jobs. point at the maul and say "there is your scholarship".

lol

whens the house all done? make sure you dont take anything else on after that house until you do that redwood trip. that way you can make sure it happens. 

stay safe


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## lxt (Jan 27, 2008)

sorry about the misspell.....Oldirty!! didnt mean to offend!

I would point to the maul & tell "Her" to get busy!! But somehow I dont think Daddy`s Lil girl is gonna do it & she would be the one LOL!!

House should be 90% done this year, depending on the economy & ability to make, $$$$ been at it since 9-03, the hard part isnt making the money to pay for things but getting certain key contractors to start what they bid!!!!! I when possible do most the work, Prep, demo, materials delivered, etc... its the Hvac, Plumbing & electrical you really wait on!! oops forgot the Stone mason been waiting on him for 6 months.

When done or close me & the wife are goin on a well deserved vacation, Im gonna try to talk her into the Redwoods/ grandcanyon trip 1st, her pick is Greece & we both wanna see the Brown Bears of Alaska.

Take care Be safe.......all I can do right now is read about the big trees!!

LXT..........


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## B-Edwards (Jan 27, 2008)

I went thru the avenue of the giants . The pictures Vaden posted are wonderful but if he posted 100k of them it still wont be like when You actualy see them in person. I recomend anyone who does tree work to one day go and see them. You will #### your pants when you do.


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## ROLLACOSTA (Jan 27, 2008)

great thread


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## oldirty (Jan 27, 2008)

lxt said:


> sorry about the misspell.....Oldirty!! didnt mean to offend!
> 
> I would point to the maul & tell "Her" to get busy!! But somehow I dont think Daddy`s Lil girl is gonna do it & she would be the one LOL!!
> 
> ...



no offense taken lxt. 

i forgot that you mentioned you had a daughter. lol. i'm thinking she would frown upon the callouses and permanent dirt ground into her hands. 

and about knowing plumbers and hvac guys and the rest of the tradesmen. thats why you need buzzards in your life man. all the dudes i hang with do that stuff. 

cant wait to buy my own place. i'll be trading work left and right. lol. 
i got a trade in the works for pipes on my truck from lou's coming soon. thats the barter system at its finest!

to be dead honest i dont know too many suit wearing people. i dont think i would be able to have a conversation last to long with em. some how some way i usually end up near the chipper in a conversation. IE f bomb here and there... 

my ol' lady loves it. she comes from a family of suits. i think thats the only reason she likes me, she has never met anyone as "out of line" as me.
i dont know what she's talking about though. i think i'm normal, its everyone else who needs some help. lol

anyway, LXT let me know if you want a third wheel on any one of those trip you are planning. dont worry about me bud, i travel light. lol


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## M.D. Vaden (Jan 27, 2008)

oldirty said:


> hey clearance i heard the Del Norte Titan was a cull. lol
> 
> 
> on a more dead serious note, i need to see these redwoods before i die man. touch them feel them smell them. i neeeed to see one in person. they dont have to be the ones in the book mind you but any of these monsters you guys have out on the more northern west coast.
> ...



See what B-Ewards wrote in post 27. And I think you will find that these trees may affect you much differently that expected. In many ways, I enjoy the variety in there as much as the size. It's the "entire forest" experience that's so much fun. Sometimes, I go on parts of two trails on the same day.

One relatively easy to walk on trail - 2.8 miles each way - that you may enjoy in Jed Smith Redwoods is the Boyscout Tree Trail. It has all kinds of big single, double and multiple trunks and a lot of greenery and ferns.

People who really like trees, or work with them, may want to plan several days so they can explore several trails in several parks - especially if they may not return to the area.


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## M.D. Vaden (Jan 27, 2008)

B-Edwards said:


> I went thru the avenue of the giants . The pictures Vaden posted are wonderful but if he posted 100k of them it still wont be like when You actualy see them in person. I recomend anyone who does tree work to one day go and see them. You will #### your pants when you do.



Everytime I go into the redwoods, which seems to be every 3 weeks on average, I always find something new and unusual too. Yesterday, we found this burl / canker on the side of a tree along Boyscout Tree Trail, that vaguely resembled an alligator head. But we nicknamed it the Tree Scrotum.

Wish this one has focused more clear.


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## oldirty (Jan 27, 2008)

M.D. Vaden said:


> But we nicknamed it the Tree Scrotum.




i probably wouldve went with "the tree with E.D."


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## B-Edwards (Jan 27, 2008)

Lmao, great picture but again my point exactly is guys who havent seen these trees in person could not/cant imagine how big that thing is until you stand beside it. Keep posting Vaden, I go west everytime you do atleast in my mind. And thanks for the pictures btw.


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## Adkpk (Jan 27, 2008)

I'll take back what I said back there if you keep posting pics of these forest.  Thanks, MD, cool pics.


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## M.D. Vaden (Jan 27, 2008)

Adrpk said:


> I'll take back what I said back there if you keep posting pics of these forest.  Thanks, MD, cool pics.



A couple were not crystal clear focused, but I still saved them. This is our daughter standing in the tree / tree cluster. I took a photo of this tree hiking in, but figured the tree image would look better with a person, and took a second image on the return.


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## M.D. Vaden (Jan 27, 2008)

This is one log I get a kick out of. About all I can guess, is that the log's bark vanished via decay. Because those long 25' to 30' long branch-looking things, are roots from a medium size hemlock behind our daughter. You can sort of tell where the trunk is in the background. This is along Mill Creek Trail.


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## M.D. Vaden (Jan 27, 2008)

This is one of my favorite logs in the park. It's a fallen log from a huge redwood. The top of the log is as high as the top of the image, but hidden behind the foliage. It's 3 times higher than my mother at the stump end. Even 50 feet from the stump end, the log is near 14' above the ground. Basically, a fully loaded garden.


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## lxt (Jan 27, 2008)

Nice pic`s MD, WoW!! your little girl right in the middle of those monsters, in some ways it shows how small we really are, I hope to get my wife & daughter out there to take it all in......... one day anyhow!!


LXT............


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## M.D. Vaden (Jan 27, 2008)

lxt said:


> Nice pic`s MD, WoW!! your little girl right in the middle of those monsters, in some ways it shows how small we really are, I hope to get my wife & daughter out there to take it all in......... one day anyhow!!
> 
> 
> LXT............



"Little girl" in a figurative way - she's near 30 years old.

 

Our youngest of 4 children is 14 years old.


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## ronnyb (Jan 30, 2008)

Great pics. Now I can bring it into perspective when in your previous posts you mentioned how long it can take to hike a short distance, or how a way can be blocked by a tree trunk.


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## oldirty (Jan 31, 2008)

i was lent a copy of this book.

kinda looking forward to reading it.


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## M.D. Vaden (Jan 31, 2008)

oldirty said:


> i was lent a copy of this book.
> 
> kinda looking forward to reading it.



I'm sure you will enjoy it. Be sure to let us know your favorite parts.

For anyone who does not have a copy, they can share one chapter's worth of reading with you with this link...

http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/234/

That's what I found and read first, then ordered the book a couple of days later for a more complete reading.

I can't believe how quick my mom got through it - in like 3 days or 4. Must not have put it down.

Seems that Wood Junky who started this thread might be ready for a review by now - if he started reading the already.


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## oldirty (Feb 27, 2008)

oldirty said:


> i was lent a copy of this book.
> 
> kinda looking forward to reading it.





and i have just finished it up.

a very gooooood book if you want to learn a little about those big dogs out west. while reading this i actually found myself getting as excited as the characters were in some of their discoveries. not too excited mind you but enough to keep turning pages.

sometimes i wish my ADD wasnt mine. i'm pretty sure i wouldve been one of the best natural scientist of all time. it wouldve been steve and i up in them trees!!!!! lol 

anyway

an easy read with some drawings thrown in. perfect! (nice work moss!!!!!!)

i recommend this book to anyone who can read.


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## lxt (Feb 27, 2008)

whats funny I am re-reading it, forgot all about that book untill I saw this thread, it does make you feel like you`re part of it in some way..uhh?

I got 2-3 chapters to go & Ill be finished too, any body have a favorite chapter? 


LXT..............I dont know if I would have been able to sleep in a tree in a storm like they did!! only later to know it fell over!!!


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## oldirty (Feb 27, 2008)

not that they could hear the tree going over but more they could feel it. that is crazy. i think i wouldve prefered not knowing that it went over. i cant really say any one chapter was better than the other but i did like how the author helped you get to know the characters almost intimately.


now that i think about it i really enjoyed the author's family getting into it with him and their discoveries of the oldgrowth in scotland.


just a good book. dude i work with lent me that book. in a show of my appreciation i am going to lend him "high climbers and timber fallers". 

i would offer him the tree work bible "fundamentals" but i read from that book almost everyday.


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## lxt (Feb 28, 2008)

They sure liked greek names for trees, some of the names I had to read a couple times just to pronounce them!!

I agree that was pretty cool the author & family getting involved the way they did, I guess Im not the only sick person out there always looking up & when hiking if I see a big tree...I run over checking it out!! wife thinks im goofy, was a good enjoyable read!!


LXT..............


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## M.D. Vaden (Feb 28, 2008)

Even though I read the book in January, I've reread several chapters in the past few weeks. Probably 1/2 the book once more.



oldirty said:


> and i have just finished it up.
> 
> a very gooooood book if you want to learn a little about those big dogs out west. while reading this i actually found myself getting as excited as the characters were in some of their discoveries. not too excited mind you but enough to keep turning pages.
> 
> sometimes i wish my ADD wasnt mine. i'm pretty sure i wouldve been one of the best natural scientist of all time. it wouldve been steve and i up in them trees!!!!! lol



You might well be good at it. I'd probably jump on forest research myself, if I did not have a family to support while going to college. I tend to like the forest floor level as much as the canopy science part.

Is that profession something you still have time to squeeze into your life? You might make a fine asset.

So .... was camping several days again. Stayed at the beach 1/2 hour away, and explored the redwoods again. It takes hours and hours to explore, so that's why I decided to camp in the area. This one big redwood below provided a really cool panoramic photo stitch. The big leader on the left appears to grow out of a bigger version of what you called an "E. D." growth, in an earlier image I posted.







Below, is the bottom section to show size.

Its remarkable how long it takes to reach various trees, just to photograph them. Basically, in about 5 days of exploring and bushwhacking, I gathered a handful of images. Although every moment was enjoyable.

So one thing I learned from these excursions, is how much work the Taylor, Sillett, Atkins or Van Pelt must have invested to explore for and climb these trees. They have been at this for years. I suppose they could fill a small dumpster with worn clothes and boots. Seems that Atkins and Taylor may have endured the most amount of terrain.


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## DonnyO (Feb 28, 2008)

oldirty said:


> i recommend this book to anyone who can read.



I guess that leaves out wll..........:hmm3grin2orange:


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## moss (Feb 29, 2008)

M.D. Vaden said:


> Let Mr. Preston know his book enabled me to find the secret grove.



It seemed inevitable that people with local knowledge, enough persistence or both were going to find these trees even without Preston writing his book. Well before publication of 'The Wild Trees' Outside magazine sent a team to find and climb Hyperion. This was shortly after the announcement in September '06 that Hyperion had been located, climbed, measured and crowned "the world's tallest tree" by Sillett's team. The hired guns from Outside magazine failed. It's possible that they were actually standing under the tree but didn't have the skills to measure it and verify from the ground. Hopefully the difficult bushwhack will prevent these trees from being overrun by "Wild Trees" tourists. There have to be enough interesting big trees in northern California and the PNW to go discover without having to focus on the trees mentioned in the book.

Maybe it's just dumb pride but I really enjoy being the first person in a tree, it's not as much fun following someone else's footsteps in the woods. That sense of discovery is available for every climber in the woods in their own areas. Even if they're not the world's tallest trees there's something special about climbing up to the top of a big tree and not seeing the evidence of a climber before you.






-moss


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## M.D. Vaden (Feb 29, 2008)

moss said:


> The hired guns from Outside magazine failed. It's possible that they were actually standing under the tree but didn't have the skills to measure it and verify from the ground. Hopefully the difficult bushwhack will prevent these trees from being overrun by "Wild Trees" tourists. There have to be enough interesting big trees in northern California and the PNW to go discover without having to focus on the trees mentioned in the book.
> 
> -moss



I read an article online about that attempt, or another search by another writer. Whoever it was, the story mentioned that they got pretty beat up by bumps and bruises. In the end, it seems that they wrapped it up mentioning the beauty of the entire forest.

In one way, the book has me just as interested to see the Olympic National Forest now. Not any champion trees. Just the established forest. I've never been up that far northwest.

Hey... did someone say you did some drawings? Anyhow, very detailed.


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## OTG BOSTON (Feb 29, 2008)

M.D. Vaden said:


> Hey... did someone say you did some drawings? Anyhow, very detailed.



I probaby did. One of moss' many talents


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## moss (Mar 3, 2008)

OTG BOSTON said:


> I probaby did. One of moss' many talents



Jack of all trades, master of none, it's more interesting that way.
-moss


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## OTG BOSTON (Mar 3, 2008)

ever try to cut 4'' ash limbs out of a fence at 25'? :monkey:


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## moss (Mar 3, 2008)

OTG BOSTON said:


> ever try to cut 4'' ash limbs out of a fence at 25'? :monkey:



You finished with that already? Vhat a pain in the $ss. Not exactly "wild trees" but interesting to watch you working on that earlier today. I was tempted to just climb up the chain link and take them out, but then again I'm not union, would've been free climbing, no helmet on etc. ...might have caused some trouble.

I like that trick where you were using the baseball nets above the fence to catch branches, oops! 
-moss


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## OTG BOSTON (Mar 4, 2008)

moss said:


> You finished with that already? Vhat a pain in the $ss. Not exactly "wild trees" but interesting to watch you working on that earlier today. I was tempted to just climb up the chain link and take them out, but then again I'm not union, would've been free climbing, no helmet on etc. ...might have caused some trouble.
> 
> I like that trick where you were using the baseball nets above the fence to catch branches, oops!
> -moss



Can't get any more wild than those! No cage can keep me in!


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## oldirty (Mar 4, 2008)

oldirty said:


> it wouldve been steve and i up in them trees!!!!!



by the way i meant this in the most heterosexual way possible.


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## DonnyO (Mar 4, 2008)

oldirty said:


> by the way i meant this in the most heterosexual way possible.





suuuuuure ya did........


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## M.D. Vaden (Mar 5, 2008)

Haven't decided which days I like better for taking pictures - sunny, or cloudy. The cloudy days seem to illuminate the understory better for some trees. The sun is better in other places, but the lit and shady spots change every 30 minutes or so.

Here's one more titan, with a few feet of a second tree's trunk behind it.


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## moss (Mar 5, 2008)

M.D. Vaden said:


> Haven't decided which days I like better for taking pictures - sunny, or cloudy. The cloudy days seem to illuminate the understory better for some trees. The sun is better in other places, but the lit and shady spots change every 30 minutes or so.
> 
> Here's one more titan, with a few feet of a second tree's trunk behind it.



Great photo. One thing that strikes me is the lush ground cover around the tree. This is the definition of a wild tree. Often when you see photos posted of climbers at well known big redwoods the ground is bare around the base of the trunk. It might as well be a parking lot. I hope that these trees don't end up the same way.
-moss


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## moss (Mar 5, 2008)

oldirty said:


> by the way i meant this in the most heterosexual way possible.



I tried to imagine Oldirty in a wedding dress inching out to the middle on a 200'+ high traverse for Wild Trees style nuptials but it just didn't work for me.

If that doesn't make sense read the book.
-moss


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## lxt (Mar 5, 2008)

moss said:


> I tried to imagine Oldirty in a wedding dress inching out to the middle on a 200'+ high traverse for Wild Trees style nuptials but it just didn't work for me.
> 
> If that doesn't make sense read the book.
> -moss




Ha! yeah marriage that high up you gotta love each other!! I like the part about him getting kicked outta the tree boat naked, I dont want to imagine oldirty in that scenario!!

LXT..........


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## M.D. Vaden (Mar 5, 2008)

It may have been posted earlier by someone...

But here's a video link of Preston talking about the subject:

http://fora.tv/2007/04/20/Wild_Trees

Other than a hard to hear question or two from someone, most of the video sound is quite good.


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