If a tree falls in the forest...

[riverkeeper]

When a big tree falls in the woods it makes a heck of a racket and shakes the ground and if alive and evergreen it creates a delightful pungent smell.

The Olympic National Park is mostly old growth forest and has some real old whoppers .. a few specsis size records and many near record.

We we scared out of our minds about 5 ears ago as 2 huge (4.5' & 5.5' dia) Douglas Firs fell down a 35* slope after winter rain thoroughly soaked the ground ... these suckers were long too ... 150' or so. Bears and cougars are nothing compared to falling trees.

We were scared because we knew what was happening but could'nt see they were falling to our 3 o clock until they were almost horizontal but still had a ways to fall down the slope. If they had fallen to our 5 o clock, a ranger station and work shed would've been flattened....believe we would've escaped a direct shot - but just barely. They've been providing firewood & raw material for Trail Crew and will continue to do so for another 10 yrs or so.

During 2 separate wind storms we've been near and well within range during the day as 2 trees fell both about 3' dia. Windstorms can be scary cuz the trees are whipping around and the leaners are moaning and cracking so it is hard to quickly pick up which one is going down.

Most blowdowns here occur during the fall - spring rain and related storms. Soaked ground, age and wind and often gravity on a slope. People are amazed to learn how shallow the root system is for these monsters ... usually only 2-3 feet deep, but the system may range to 3 times the foliage width! The group protects the individual.

We counted almost 200 blow downs (over 6" dia) in a 17 mile stretch early one spring.

Gotta go ... 98 yr old mother in law's got problems and spousette is in the mtns.

[guySmiley]

Refer to my location. Compare inherent danger of big city to the threat of a tree falling on me. Wash, rinse, repeat.

I think I'll take the dangers of the outdoors any day of the week.

I know well from experience what you're talking about. We've got our problems up here too.

[Cannibal]

Maybe someone else knows the shelter name, but on the road to Damascus (maybe 30 or 40 miles shy) sits a shelter on a nice bouldered ridge. Water source is straight down into a gully, complete with loose gravel near the bottom. Probably 1/4 of a mile down; seemed like a mile! Anyway, there is a nice saddle at about the half way mark. After getting water Genuine Draft, Leftfield, and myself decided we were now tired and decided to camp on the saddle. In the morning as Genuine Draft and I were finishing breakfast, there was a very loud 'SNAP!' We turned to face the noise in time to see what had to be a 100 footer come crashing down not 200' away from us. It tore through the canopy of trees landed on a fairly severe slope and started sliding/bouncing down the hill. It came to a rest about 50' from where we were sitting with spilled coffee.

We were never in any danger, but all I could think about was that if you were in the path of one of those, you'd be very lucky to escape. Happened very quickly with zero warning. No winds and the tree looked healthy other than the fact that it was horizontal when we went to look.

Some scary stuff out in those woods!

[kwpapke]

Kurt, you should have called my cell! Even though I couldn't get there early enough to hike with you on Saturday and had the wife and dog with me, I was in the neighborhood (only minutes away) and had TWO hammocks with me - my new BB and a Clark NA. I would have GLADLY lent you either for your trip, had I known of the issue! You didn't happen to invite the reporter back for the June trip, did you? I may have to be on my best behavior.

Didn't think of calling you. I talked about our hang with the reporter from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Paul Smith, see his blog here: http://www.jsonline.com/sports/outdoors/), but I think one trip up there is all he'd do. Busy guy.

--Kurt

[Ramblinrev]

How big are the bugnet tears... there are patches that can be used. Some are self sticking. Some you need to stitch on. Some are both. Nylon screen door patches will work as well. If the rips are too big replacing the bugnet light be in order. In that case I wopuld contact 2Q/ZQ and isee if they could oblige. It may a bit out of their normal service but who knows.

[BillyBob58]

Man, glad there were no injuries. This is my only real fear in the woods.

I just got done reporting a tree at a backcountry site from this weekend. I was laying there and I kept hearing a light popping sound. I traced the sound to a tree nearby and upon close inspection, saw the bark starting to tear on one side about chest level. The tree is going to fall square on the fire ring. It's about a 50 footer and as big around as a 5 gallon paint bucket. If someone is cowboy camping by the fire and this thing falls; they're dead, no two ways about it.

Was it a pine? Man, there is so much pine beetle damage in the west following so many years of drought. Last time I was in the Wind Rivers, it was tough to find places where a widow maker was not a danger.

[BillyBob58]

Riverkeeper:When a big tree falls in the woods it makes a heck of a racket and shakes the ground and if alive and evergreen it creates a delightful pungent smell.

The Olympic National Park is mostly old growth forest and has some real old whoppers .. a few specsis size records and many near record.

We we scared out of our minds about 5 ears ago as 2 huge (4.5' & 5.5' dia) Douglas Firs fell down a 35* slope after winter rain thoroughly soaked the ground ... these suckers were long too ... 150' or so. Bears and cougars are nothing compared to falling trees.

I agree, I worry all the time about the tree I am attached to as well as nearby trees and limbs( hammock OR tent/tarp). I am very paranoid about it. I have been in the process of hanging my hammock in MS when a large (75 to 100 foot) nearby tree suddenly fell to the ground, on a calm sunny day! KABOOM! There are a lot of damaged trees around here since an ice storm in the 90s. And then there was this sight a couple of years ago in the Olympics:



And this was an EMERGECY shelter!

All you have to do is look at all of the dead fall in any woods to realize major caution is in order, and that a bunch of caution does not mean a tree( or large limb) can't still fall on you. This applies to tents also, unless you camp way out in clearings all the time.

When a big tree falls in the woods it makes a heck of a racket and shakes the ground and if alive and evergreen it creates a delightful pungent smell.

The Olympic National Park is mostly old growth forest and has some real old whoppers .. a few specsis size records and many near record.

We we scared out of our minds about 5 ears ago as 2 huge (4.5' & 5.5' dia) Douglas Firs fell down a 35* slope after winter rain thoroughly soaked the ground ... these suckers were long too ... 150' or so. Bears and cougars are nothing compared to falling trees.

We were scared because we knew what was happening but could'nt see they were falling to our 3 o clock until they were almost horizontal but still had a ways to fall down the slope. If they had fallen to our 5 o clock, a ranger station and work shed would've been flattened....believe we would've escaped a direct shot - but just barely. They've been providing firewood & raw material for Trail Crew and will continue to do so for another 10 yrs or so.

During 2 separate wind storms we've been near and well within range during the day as 2 trees fell both about 3' dia. Windstorms can be scary cuz the trees are whipping around and the leaners are moaning and cracking so it is hard to quickly pick up which one is going down.

Most blowdowns here occur during the fall - spring rain and related storms. Soaked ground, age and wind and often gravity on a slope. People are amazed to learn how shallow the root system is for these monsters ... usually only 2-3 feet deep, but the system may range to 3 times the foliage width! The group protects the individual.

We counted almost 200 blow downs (over 6" dia) in a 17 mile stretch early one spring.

Gotta go ... 98 yr old mother in law's got problems and spousette is in the mtns.

[fin]

Didn't think of calling you. I talked about our hang with the reporter from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Paul Smith, see his blog here: http://www.jsonline.com/sports/outdoors/), but I think one trip up there is all he'd do. Busy guy.

--Kurt

Hey! I just read that Turkey story on Sunday. He sounds like he likes a good adventure. Bow hunting turkey, still hunting them and wading/swimming through a river in April with all his gear to get to them - that's a real hunter.

I have some primo bug netting that I just picked up over the weekend, if you need some for patching. Real nice stuff. Got it for .50 at a resale shop - they didn't know what they had! There *just* might be enough to redo the entire bugnet, but it is *real* close. PM me if you want it or part of it, Kurt. Otherwise, part of it is scheduled for a couple of "windows" on my BB, fore and aft.

[Cannibal]

Was it a pine? Man, there is so much pine beetle damage in the west following so many years of drought. Last time I was in the Wind Rivers, it was tough to find places where a widow maker was not a danger.

Yes it was. To say it's a sad sight, would be an understatement. The beetles are enjoying a buffet and they say it's not likely to stop until there is no more food.

[BIG-E]

We were at scout camp a few summers ago when a fairly large 9" at it's widest tree limb fell on 3 of our tents @ 3 am.Fortunatly, the only tent to take major damage was occupied by a leader. it was a platform tent with a metal frame, he heard the cracking of the limb, had time to rollover and hunker down. the limb came all the way down the frame on the army style cots that the camp supplies. i was laying in a HH about 20 feet away. The boys in the other 2 tents didn't even wake up. After we extricated the leader from the branch pile, we had to call "central" about the event. It was kind of funny to get a 15 year old kid on the other end of the walkie (obviously sound asleep) who asked if this could wait to morning. We looked at each other, kind of shrugged and laughed it off. The next morning at breakfast we asked the camp director when the rangers would be showing up at our site to clean up the mess, repair/replace the tents. by his expression, we figured out pretty quickly that the kid on the other end of the walkie had promptly gone back to sleep without writing this up. needless to say, when we got back to the campsite the rangers were hard at work.
Just another great Adirondack experience. No blood,no foul!
yis,
Erin