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Shutterbug
12-14-2005, 00:00
I was impressed by the large White Pine Trees near Gulf Hagas. Are they the largest trees on the AT?

Today I hiked in an area of trees that make the White Pines look like tooth pics. It is known as the Quinault Rain Forest in Olympic National Park. Here are some pictures.

The first is a Sitka Spruce. The sign says that it is the largest spruce tree in the world. The folks in Oregon also claim to have the world's largest spruce, so I will just say it is a "Big Tree."

The second is a Red Cedar. It is also a "Big Tree."

The third is a Douglas Fir. In my opinion, the Douglas Fir is the most beautiful tree in the world. This one isn't the world's largest, but it is more than 250 feet tall. The largest Douglas Fir is also in the Quinault Rain Forest, but there is no trail to it. The folks who know exactly where it is won't tell. If you know the gps coordinates of the largest Douglas Fir, I would sure like to know.

Critterman
12-14-2005, 00:52
Two summers ago we went to Vancover Island on the pacific coast and we hiked in the rain forest there. The cedars were unbelievably beatutiful and huge. We also saw an old growth forest called cathedral grove and the trees were as big as the ones in your pictures. Here in Virginia we have very beautiful forests but the temperate rain forest is a real wonderland in comparision.

Cuffs
12-14-2005, 01:30
found this info on the nps website...nps.gov/olym/invrecord.htm
Circumference: 533.5in
212 ft tall

Up Queets River Trail (ford river) 2.4 miles to Old Kloochman Rock Trail at Coal Creek, turn left at the junctions. The big fir is .20 miles along this trail. There is a sign where you leave the trail and one at the tree. The trail is on the north side of the river.

tiamalle
12-14-2005, 01:35
Franklin,NC poplar at Rock Gap is the 2nd largest poplar in the world I am
told.I can't testify to that record or story but it is a very large tree.
I have saw lots of larger trees of other types in California and Oregon.

Shutterbug
12-14-2005, 01:53
found this info on the nps website...nps.gov/olym/invrecord.htm
Circumference: 533.5in
212 ft tall

Up Queets River Trail (ford river) 2.4 miles to Old Kloochman Rock Trail at Coal Creek, turn left at the junctions. The big fir is .20 miles along this trail. There is a sign where you leave the trail and one at the tree. The trail is on the north side of the river.

Thanks, Geohabit. I will do a bit more research. If that is it, I should be able to find it easily. From what I was reading last night, it sounds like there is a larger one that is not on any trail. It was mentioned on a "Big Tree" web site.

Sly
12-14-2005, 02:08
I felt humbled walking throught the Mariposa Grove in Yosemite. As far as I know the Giant Sequoia is the largest living thing on Earth!

Not only that they're old, although not as old as Bristlecone Pine.

At MG, a 5 or 6 year old asked his dad, "How old are these trees?" The answer, "Older than Christianity." I'm not sure what that means exactly although I believe that natural world has answers religions don't, can't or won't provide.

"When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world." -John Muir

Cuffs
12-14-2005, 02:21
Thanks, Geohabit. I will do a bit more research. If that is it, I should be able to find it easily. From what I was reading last night, it sounds like there is a larger one that is not on any trail. It was mentioned on a "Big Tree" web site.

Checking back on that site, there are 2 listed... one is larger in height and the other is larger is circumference (but a few feet shorter than the other...) so I am not sure which would truly be the "largest."

Good luck in your search!

Walessp
12-14-2005, 08:00
One the largest trees that is actually on the AT is the Keffer oak tree near Newport VA. If memory serves me right, it's 26' in circumference.

Sky Rider
(walessp)

Nightwalker
12-14-2005, 08:50
Checking back on that site, there are 2 listed... one is larger in height and the other is larger is circumference (but a few feet shorter than the other...) so I am not sure which would truly be the "largest."

Good luck in your search!
Guess ya gotta cut 'em down and weigh 'em!

:D

Kerosene
12-14-2005, 09:05
You also pass the Dover Oak as you cross a road in New York State, just north of the Telephone Pioneers shelter I believe. It certainly is remarkably thick.

Cookerhiker
12-14-2005, 09:53
You also pass the Dover Oak as you cross a road in New York State, just north of the Telephone Pioneers shelter I believe. It certainly is remarkably thick.

I hiked that portion of NY twice this year and can affirm the size of the Dover Oak. The road is County Rt. 20 which is about 2 miles south of NY Rt. 22.

There's also a huge oak only slightly smaller, if at all, than the Dover about 15 miles south between NY Rt. 52 and I-84. It's within a quarter mile of I-84.

SGT Rock
12-14-2005, 10:33
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=41&catid=searchresults&searchid=1009

Here is the big poplar in NC

RWBlue
12-14-2005, 10:37
I felt humbled walking throught the Mariposa Grove in Yosemite. As far as I know the Giant Sequoia is the largest living thing on Earth!



I have walked through several Groves of Sequoia, also. We actually drove through one tree. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
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I would have a hard time cutting down a tree that was around when FDR roamed the earth, and when Teddy Roosevelt roamed the earth, and when Lincoln roamed the earth, and when Cesar roamed the earth, and when Jesus Christ roamed the earth and before.<o:p></o:p>
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I am not saying I wouldn’t do it, I just think it would be hard to cut down a tree that old. ;) <o:p></o:p>
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Seriously, They are impressive. After seeing them all other big trees are just dwarfs. I have had the urge to get a small one and transplant it to OH. If I would find a place that they would live.

kyhipo
12-14-2005, 11:11
http://www.geocities.com/jimmywinn3/pic10.JPGI I would say I love the giant oak tree in NY been buy 3 or 4 times but I kinda just get tongue twisted at these fellers or ladies:dance ky

The Solemates
12-14-2005, 13:13
keffer oak, dover oak, wasilik poplar are all on AT.

gravityman
12-14-2005, 15:32
Franklin,NC poplar at Rock Gap is the 2nd largest poplar in the world I am
told.I can't testify to that record or story but it is a very large tree.
I have saw lots of larger trees of other types in California and Oregon.

Note that the Wasalik Poplar near Franklin is DEAD! Yes, DEAD, so I don't know how it can have any record... It was a total shock to us when we walked down to it and found that out...

Gravity and Danger (http://www.trailjournals.com/gravityanddanger)

tiamalle
12-14-2005, 20:14
Note that the Wasalik Poplar near Franklin is DEAD! Yes, DEAD, so I don't know how it can have any record... It was a total shock to us when we walked down to it and found that out...

Gravity and Danger (http://www.trailjournals.com/gravityanddanger)That is true Gravity.

Dances with Mice
12-14-2005, 20:33
Note that the Wasalik Poplar near Franklin is DEAD! Yes, DEAD, so I don't know how it can have any record... It was a total shock to us when we walked down to it and found that out...Yeah, the shocking news is that a poplar tree actually died! There's a poplar grove on my property that I've harvested for many Boy Scout projects (signal towers, tarp poles, lashing practice, etc.) and the trees resprout from the roots and regrow to their former size in a couple of years. I have a poplar sapling under my porch steps that I've pruned at ground level many times, I've tried to dig it up by the roots and I've sprayed it with gallons of Round-Up over the years but each Spring the damn thing sprouts again. I guess in a couple hundred years it may die too.

Uncle Silly
12-15-2005, 08:49
Checking back on that site, there are 2 listed... one is larger in height and the other is larger is circumference (but a few feet shorter than the other...) so I am not sure which would truly be the "largest."

Naturally the largest would have the most volume! I guess finding the volume of a tree is pretty hard (that's a lot of styrofoam peanuts, and probably not so good for the environment), so we'll fake it and find the volume of an equivalent cylinder. Remember that for cylinders the volume V = pi * r * r * h, and circumference C = 2 * pi * r, so we can express V in terms of C and V = C * C * h / (4 * pi).

Tree #1:
circumference: 533.5 in = 44.5 ft
height: 212 ft
volume: 33407.7 cubic ft (~945,437 Liters)

Tree #2:
circumference: 448 in = 37.3 ft
height: 298 ft
volume: 32993.2 cubic ft (~933,707 Liters)


So there ya have it. Tree #1 clearly has more volume. Keeping in mind the assumptions, of course.

.... almost 950,000 liters each ... man, that's a lot of pack space!!

squirrel bait
12-15-2005, 11:57
I was under the impression that the Aspen tree was the largest because the way they grow. Something about the root system makes a whole hillside of these trees as one plant. But I sure do agree that the trees of the northwest are spectacular, I have a brother on Whidbey Island and spent the middle seventies in Lynden, WA. We used to cross the border into Canada by moving a cone out of the middle of the road. Those were the days and I have never forgotten the size of those trees.

Shutterbug
12-15-2005, 13:27
Naturally the largest would have the most volume! I guess finding the volume of a tree is pretty hard (that's a lot of styrofoam peanuts, and probably not so good for the environment), so we'll fake it and find the volume of an equivalent cylinder. Remember that for cylinders the volume V = pi * r * r * h, and circumference C = 2 * pi * r, so we can express V in terms of C and V = C * C * h / (4 * pi).

Tree #1:
circumference: 533.5 in = 44.5 ft
height: 212 ft
volume: 33407.7 cubic ft (~945,437 Liters)

Tree #2:
circumference: 448 in = 37.3 ft
height: 298 ft
volume: 32993.2 cubic ft (~933,707 Liters)


So there ya have it. Tree #1 clearly has more volume. Keeping in mind the assumptions, of course.

.... almost 950,000 liters each ... man, that's a lot of pack space!!

The problem with your calculations is taper. Some trees, like the spruce, are considerably smaller at the top than at the bottom. Others, like the Douglas Fir, are almost the same size 150 feet up the trunk as they are at ground level. To give an accurate representation of the volume, the calculation needs to take into account the taper of the trunk.

rickb
12-15-2005, 16:33
I felt humbled walking throught the Mariposa Grove in Yosemite. As far as I know the Giant Sequoia is the largest living thing on Earth!

I would have bet money on that, too. My favorite day hike of all time was through the giant Sequoias in Sequoia National Park. Not only were the trees beautiful, but the under-story was smoldering (prescribed burn) and we saw eight brown-colored black bear in just a few hours. Add to that ancient corn grinding pestles in the bedrock, and I felt like I was in another world.

But I digress-- you forgot the stamp thread that you started. Who would know better about these things than the USPS. :) Click the link below for their answer.

http://www.usps.com/communications/news/stamps/2006/images/woa40.htm

kyhipo
12-15-2005, 16:46
I would have bet money on that, too. My favorite day hike of all time was through the giant Sequoias in Sequoia National Park. Not only were the trees beautiful, but the under-story was smoldering (prescribed burn) and we saw eight brown-colored black bear in just a few hours. Add to that ancient corn grinding pestles in the bedrock, and I felt like I was in another world.

But I digress-- you forgot the stamp thread that you started. Who would know better about these things than the USPS. :) Click the link below for their answer.

http://www.usps.com/communications/news/stamps/2006/images/woa40.htmyes I would also agree with that theory I believe by far its the most wonderful grove of trees to wonder through, ky

RockyTrail
12-15-2005, 17:04
The problem with your calculations is taper. Some trees, like the spruce, are considerably smaller at the top than at the bottom. Others, like the Douglas Fir, are almost the same size 150 feet up the trunk as they are at ground level. To give an accurate representation of the volume, the calculation needs to take into account the taper of the trunk.

Use integral calculus...if you know the radius-vs-height function you can do it!

I hike to get away from this stuff:) so I'm not volunteering!:D

Uncle Silly
12-16-2005, 07:10
The problem with your calculations is taper.

Sure, but I did say I was making assumptions.

The data I was working from doesn't give any indications of the amount of taper, but it did give a "spread" datum for each tree which might be useful to get a more accurate figure with some o' that fancy integral calculus.

I think an earlier poster is right, the only way we'll really know which is bigger is to cut down both trees and weigh 'em.

Lobo
12-16-2005, 08:46
In some places, aspen have established themselves as a climax community, where conifers have been kept at bay by regular burning. The giant clone named Pando (Latin for “I spread”) in south-central Utah stretches over 43 ha and contains more than 47,000 individual stems, with an estimated weight of 6 million kg (Mitton and Grant 1996). The age of such clones is not known, but it is commonly assumed that they go back to the last glaciation period about 10,000 years ago. Those in the Great Basin have been estimated at 8,000 years old. Thus the aspen clone is in the same class as other clones, such as creosote (some individuals of which are estimated at 11,000 years old) and huckleberry (13,000 years old). It’s also conceivable that modern clones may be only a few sexual generations from million-year-old ancestors, whose fossilized leaves look identical (Madsen 1996).

kyhipo
12-16-2005, 09:50
In some places, aspen have established themselves as a climax community, where conifers have been kept at bay by regular burning. The giant clone named Pando (Latin for “I spread”) in south-central Utah stretches over 43 ha and contains more than 47,000 individual stems, with an estimated weight of 6 million kg (Mitton and Grant 1996). The age of such clones is not known, but it is commonly assumed that they go back to the last glaciation period about 10,000 years ago. Those in the Great Basin have been estimated at 8,000 years old. Thus the aspen clone is in the same class as other clones, such as creosote (some individuals of which are estimated at 11,000 years old) and huckleberry (13,000 years old). It’s also conceivable that modern clones may be only a few sexual generations from million-year-old ancestors, whose fossilized leaves look identical (Madsen 1996).well thats a new one on me but are their groves of them,ky is also known to have the largest oak in the states,sits out in the field all its own.

weary
12-16-2005, 12:25
Use integral calculus...if you know the radius-vs-height function you can do it! I hike to get away from this stuff:) so I'm not volunteering!:D
There is a national registry of big (record) trees, based on the following formula:

Trunk Circumference + Height + &#188; Average Crown Spread = Total Points

You can access Maine's register of big Trees,
http://www.state.me.us/doc/mfs/projectcanopy/pages/resource/pubs.htm

The National Register of Big Trees, sponsored by American Forests, can be
accessed at
http://www.americanforests.org/resources/bigtrees/

I can see one of Maine's record trees, and English Linden, from my front windows. It was planted about 1774 and towers above the steeple of a church built in 1802. It's located across a tidal bay, about a mile south of my house.

Weary