Widowmakers

[Knotty]

Strong storms blew through last night at my lake house in the Poconos (northeastern PA). A very healthy looking branch was laying at the base of one of my hanging trees. If I was backpacking I would have hung from a similar tree w/o hesitation. As a matter of fact, I would have been looking for a tree so healthy. We can't always avoid being on the trail in a storm but I'm starting to think heading out even when we know the weather will be bad is a questionable practice.

Around here we worry a lot about bears and sometimes rattle snakes but I think falling wood is the number one danger by far!

[Catavarie]

I just realized that this thread may scare some out of the woods. That was so NOT my intent.
...I'm hoping it gets us to thinking more about where we camp, "Just in case!"

I doubt your going to scare away anyone from these forums, but it is a very real danger that we all need to be reminded of on occasion.

We can't always avoid being on the trail in a storm but I'm starting to think heading out even when we know the weather will be bad is a questionable practice.

Agreed. I know just going on short afternoon hikes the day after a storm blows through there seems to always be many new potential widowmakers lying about. Some in places I would have hung without thought before.

Around here we worry a lot about bears and sometimes rattle snakes...

Bears and Snakes? I say be more afraid of the skunks, thats a stink that refuses to go away, and you end up having to replace your gear or your wife.

[Law Dawg (ret)]

I just realized that this thread may scare some out of the woods. That was so NOT my intent.

Nah...I'd rather get ended in the woods than to trip in front of a muni bus. Precautions just make sense but our time is our time, it was not your time.

[Strung out]

great post.

Most of us carry some extra cordage of some type.

It may be some good insurance to "store" that between our 2 hang trees when it is not being used otherwise.


I've chosen Dynaglide for my adjustable ridgline as well as my tarp ridgeline with safety in mind as well.

Life is dangerous.

[creativeKayt]

We have a little bit of a problem with this in the PNW, due to ground saturation. With all the rain we get, perfectly healthy trees go down a lot. It's usually the big, top heavy ones that go down and there are a lot of these types of trees because everything grows thrice as big here. In addition to scanning for widow makers, I usually push hard on the trunks of the trees around me to get a sense of whether the ground around their roots is spongy. I also avoid (if I can) camping in high wind situations both during and after a good soaking. But, this is the Pacific NW and sometimes these situations can't be avoided, so I just don't sleep if I can't find a safe spot and I'm worried about it.

[TinaLouise]

We don't normally get snow in my area, so when we do, the trees don't take it well. I've got pictures of my yard from a couple of years ago when I decided to hang overnight. My live oaks were bent double and ended up with quite a few broken limbs. Those limbs cracking was what woke me up. At least I learned to not hang out if more than 5 inches of snow is forcasted to fall.

This situation ended up making widow makers out of my oaks in my yard. These were perfectly healthy trees without any dead limbs. And after my husband cut out the broken limbs, I'm now still hanging from these trees.

I have hung at Tray mountain (the AT in GA) and picked a tree with a widow maker in it. The dead branch was in a position that, at least to me, looked like it wouldn't fall on me. That if it ever did fall, it would be away from me. I wish I'd known about how extreamly WINDY it is up on Tray Mt.!!! Limb didn't fall though.

Best advice, always look up before hooking up.

TinaLouise

[vitamaltz]

Vitamalz: laughed when I saw your handle. Not sure if they have that back in the States, but my wife (German) loved that stuff when we lived near Frankfurt. I tried it once.....several years later, and I'm still recovering from the taste..

I'm glad you get the reference! I love the stuff but can't stand the taste of any other soda. Usually around here I have to settle for Malta Goya, the Latin version, but occasionally a German friend will send me the real deal.

[vitamaltz]

I maintain a trail in SNP with a variety of forest types. It gives me a chance to observe blowdowns on a continuing basis. My observation is that healthy trees almost never come down without severe weather (including heavy snow or ice). In a two-mile stretch of the trail, I probably have two new blowdowns blocking the trail every month. The rest of the forest through which the trail passes was hit hard with gypsy moth caterpillars in the early 90s. That killed all the old trees, which have long since fallen over. In the newer healthier forest that replaced those trees, I've never had to cut away a blowdown. Maybe the trick to avoiding widowmakers is just to look for trees that are too young to marry?

Sorry, that joke was painfully bad.

[vitamaltz]

great post.

Most of us carry some extra cordage of some type.

It may be some good insurance to "store" that between our 2 hang trees when it is not being used otherwise.

Cannibal can tell you about Trail Days a few years back. I think he had just purchased his spinn tarp from Brian. Those things pitch tight and strong. A limb came crashing down and basically bounced off of his tarp. He's pretty grateful for that.

At this year's Trail Days, Cannibal bought a Cuben tarp from Brian. As far as I know he hasn't fended off any trees with it yet...

[Oms]

Sometimes it is not always a big tree falling. Down on the Hoosier Hang I set up under a couple of large pines. After setting up I looked around and noticed the area around me. What I saw made me nervous. There were multiple large sticks protruding straight up from the ground. Basically there were spears dropping from above . Well I stayed there, but next time I'll choose a different site.
On the flip side, up in the Porkies I stayed on the wind swept top of a ridge. All the trees were short and well cleaned out. Figured if it made it through the winter it was probably just fine for the season.