Discussion of W. Warshington Old Growth at 4500' or so Elevation--Defect

[slowp]

Went on a walk through real Old Growth with The Used Dog. Took pictures for discussions. This is a trail that goes fairly close to the blast zone of St. Helens. I do not know the age, but I would imagine it is around 300 years or less and was a stand that grew after an eruption or fire. You can dig in the soils here and find layers of pumice, then organics, then pumice...

So, here's some pictures of what we used to call a "decadent old growth stand." It is overripe and an understory of hemlock and silver fire is coming up.

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[slowp]

There was a discussion of cutting punky snags. A lot of these have rot in the heartwood, in fact I'd say most do--especially the hemlock.

In the picture below, is a conk and parts of a dog.

The base of the recently broken tree.

The top

This tree is still alive.

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[slowp]

More...you fallers can discuss how you'd fall them and the practice of long butting.

Saw this. I'm wondering if it was an old bearing tree? The tag is unreadable.

The numbers carved in it are getting grown over.

This is on the same tree--a sign board with nothing on it.

And an X on the other side.

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[slowp]

An artsy picture of patterns on an old snag.

Is this the secret bucking trail cut?

The chunk the boys cut out...they carry a peavey and used to ride trail bikes. They've been working together for 20 something years...

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[promac850]

Cool pics.

That one tree... I'd say it's a marker, probably one used as a sign post pointing to logging camps or mills or the like, or possibly a historical marker of some kind, maybe to tell some history about the area.

Obviously, it's somewhat useless now that you can't read anything that may have been on there.

It's been quite some time since I've romped around the forest... hmm... might have to visit a friend of my dad's... he has a lots of forest to himself... out in the sticks, so to speak. I'll probably bring a truck, mix, oil, food, drinks, and saws...

 

[madhatte]

I'd forgotten how thin the bark on true firs is. It's been awhile since I worked up that high.

 

[slowp]

No logging camps, mills, or the like in an old growth (not logged) stand. I'm thinking section line or bearing tree because it is near a section line.

The volume per acre would come out pretty low after deductions for all the rot. That's probably why it wasn't logged. The trees are widely spaced. There are plantations that come up to the trail. That's where I took my volcano picture.

I was on The Boundary Trail, which is an old trail that followed the boundary between the Columbia and Rainier National Forests, which no longer exist. That area is now the Gifford Pinchot N.F.

 

[Rounder]

That defect doesn't look like any fun at all. We've been stuck in that kind of stuff the past couple months....past it's prime. The guys can yard it a lot faster than we can cut it by the time we get done screwing around cutting the rot out. Not much good left for all our efforts. (Not having a pulp mill anymore kind of ####s us too). Always have a yarder, or eight, crawling up our ass, lol.

Cool pics, you can dig down and find that St. Helen's ash here. Unreal how far that stuff traveled- Sam