Leaner in Rockefeller Forest.

[gf beranek]

Here's a tree in the Rockefeller forest that first caught my eye in the mid 70's. I've walked by it many times and knew that one day it would go to its lean across Bull Creek. Well, on our last walk through Rockefeller Forest Terri and I were surprised to see that the tree had met its fate. The picture of it standing was taken in Jan 2007. The images of it on the ground were captured in Nov 2013. This tree did not go down without taking at least a few others with it. The ensuing devastation was very far reaching.

 

[Al Smith]

I'll bet that big old tree made a hellva thump .Probabley felt like an earth quake.

 

[Dave Shepard]

Wow! Makes you wonder just how close any of those trees are to just flopping over.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Mother Nature taking over!

 

[Adam_P]

That is absolutely amazing to me. I've never been near a tree even remotely that big. The hollow in the flare looked big enough to take shelter in.

 

[rskybiz]

Shocking to see so little roots, and green still growing by the looks.
Instant dam for that river too should you get out of the drought.

 

[pantheraba]

I agree with rskybz...looks like the roots dissolved or something. That must have woke up the neighbors. Great pictures.

 

[Bixler]

Wow! Great to have the before and after.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Terri has some totally amazing powers to be able to do that!

 

[flushcut]

Cool! I have long wondered what those big trees sound like when they go over.

 

[Mrs.B]

Terri has some totally amazing powers to be able to do that!

Do what, Jay?

 

[woodworkingboy]

Knock over that tree without a saw!!!

 

[Bixler]

Little roundhouse kick Mrs B?

So now the log will just sit there with the rest of its fallen buddies?

 

[Mrs.B]

It's cool when you are familiar with a certain tree and you come back some day to find it fallen. It sure gives you a better idea of how big these trees are.

Yep, Bix...it'll just sit there and be habitat until it rots. Soon it will have ferns growing on it, it already has new shoots of redwood growing out the trunk.

 

[Al Smith]

I'd about bet it took several hundred years for that tree to deteriate to the point of flopping over .Fact I'd also wager it will take at least the best part of a century if not longer before it becomes potting soil for ferns .

 

[gf beranek]

As is it can persist for many hundreds of years. An then an epic flood can wash it out the mouth of the Eel River this year. Though not likely with the current drought going on.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I thought Redwoods didn't decay?

 

[rumination]

Everything decays. Redwood just decays relatively slowly.

 

[mdvaden]

I'd about bet it took several hundred years for that tree to deteriate to the point of flopping over .Fact I'd also wager it will take at least the best part of a century if not longer before it becomes potting soil for ferns .

These Leatherleaf Ferns are pretty nice looking, and often grow on them while they are still alive. Maybe they draw some moisture through the bark.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Rocks don't decay! They erode...

 

[mistahbenn]

Awesome! Saved on chainsaw gas

 

[mdvaden]

Rocks don't decay! They erode...

What about decomposed Granite?

 

[MasterBlaster]

It rocks!

 

[gf beranek]

Mario, those polyploid ferns, leather backs you called them, do not sap off the tree. They start, develop and live solely in the duff that builds in the nooks and crannies of the old trees. It's all symbiotic between them.

 

[Al Smith]

Different species of ferns than what we have .In these parts conditions have to be just right for ferns to grow .Fact I've never seen them in this immediate area .They are somewhat plentiful about 100 miles east of here where I was born .