Not many big ones left

[fearofpavement]

Was out at Mt. St. Helens yesterday and saw and heard evidence of how many of the big growth Douglas Firs got blasted by that event in 1980. Was at a park today in SW Washington and there were some old Firs there that had escaped the axe. It was really awesome to see those and visualize what the forests must have looked like 100 years ago... My brother in law, who I was walking with, said that there are very few mills anymore that will even accept old growth trees as their more modern equipment can't handle the large diameters. I was picking his brain about trees the entire time we were walking as it was fascinating to me seeing I'm from the other end of the country. I'll post up a couple pics.

 

[fearofpavement]

Fissures in bark nearly five inches deep.

 

[fearofpavement]

Groundie in front of old tree. She's quite a ways in front of it because it had "spider webs" on it. so the tree is actually wider than her outstretched arms.

 

[jrocket]

absolutely beautiful country out there, was out snowmobiling west of Yakima several years ago and was in complete awe of the trees and the country! saw a couple of firs that were around 4ft in dia!

 

[fearofpavement]

These trees are really tall and I would just love the opportunity to hear one crash to the ground. Probably would have been frowned upon by everyone else. Especially since my bro in law works for the USFS.

 

[old-cat]

Per chance, did you stop at the Kid Valley restaurant? My good friend and neighbor owns it. He's an old logger and grew up here, I hear many stories from him!

 

[o8f150]

Not many big ones left x wife said the same thing years ago

 

[fearofpavement]

Nope, didn't eat anywhere local to here. My bro in law is the director of the Mt. St. Helens National Volcano Monument. He's been here several years. It's nice to tap his brain for cool info. We'll be spending one more night with him and then heading to Canada in the morning.

 

[cgraham1]

I worked at our local mill for five years and we ran a lot of old growth Doig Fir through the Head Rig saw. The largest log we could cut was 60", but it was a waste of time. It took so long to saw up the big logs that it was actually bad for production. And the middle of those large trees were often rotten, and full of ants. Huge logs were just a huge PIA.

 

[John R]

Not many big ones left x wife said the same thing years ago

 

[Firewood Fanatic]

I cut one up for firewood just last week, it was 42" 8' up from the stump. It took only 5 rounds to fill my shortbox truck!!!

 

[cutforfun]

Nope, didn't eat anywhere local to here. My bro in law is the director of the Mt. St. Helens National Volcano Monument. He's been here several years. It's nice to tap his brain for cool info. We'll be spending one more night with him and then heading to Canada in the morning.

Any chance you saw grown ass men climbing to the summit of st Helens in dresses today? I think its a tradition. Nice pics of the trees , looks like my back yard.

 

[fearofpavement]

I didn't go to the monument today because I knew that would be happening and despite the reasons for them doing it, I can't bring myself to watch a bunch of "men" skiing in drag. There were also some paragliders jumping off the rim and my bro in law got a phone call about that this morning. He said that was against the law. I asked him if it was specifically prohibited? He wasn't sure. So maybe they'll get away with it this year...

 

[XPLRN]

Thanks for sharing those pictures!! That first one especially, with the almost 5 inch deep bark, was pretty impressive!!

 

[nmurph]

We had some 5.5-6' DBH 100' Loblolly pines on my Grandmother's estate until my uncle insisted they be cut.

 

[RandyMac]

If you want to see the best of what is left, you need to head to the NW corner of California.
When you are coming over here, shoot me a message and I'll make sure you see the good stuff.

 

[pioneerguy600]

This tree is located not far from where RandyMac lives, I have dozens of tree picts from the Redwood groves out that way.

 

[pioneerguy600]

If you want to see the best of what is left, you need to head to the NW corner of California.
When you are coming over here, shoot me a message and I'll make sure you see the good stuff.

I have yet to make it to your place to see what`s left of the good stuff but I have been more than blessed to have had the chance to walk/hike many of the valleys from San Fran to Oregon. The trees I have seen .....................!

 

[pioneerguy600]

 

[RandyMac]

Del Norte and Humboldt counties have the best, between Garberville and Crescent City on US 101, is all you need to see.