View Full Version : Waslik Poplar is Dead
I hiked down to see the old and giant Waslik Poplar from Rock Gap in North Carolina last week. Seems the old tree has been sick for several years and it now appears to be completely dead. All the limbs are falling off, the bark is missing from the lower trunk and peeling from the rest of the tree, and there are no leaves this year.
I hadn't heard anything about it. Sad to see one of the southern AT's biggest trees go! It looks like it just reached the end of it's lifespan, which I guess was at least 500 years.
Tha Wookie
06-14-2006, 20:15
I hiked down to see the old and giant Waslik Poplar from Rock Gap in North Carolina last week. Seems the old tree has been sick for several years and it now appears to be completely dead. All the limbs are falling off, the bark is missing from the lower trunk and peeling from the rest of the tree, and there are no leaves this year.
I hadn't heard anything about it. Sad to see one of the southern AT's biggest trees go! It looks like it just reached the end of it's lifespan, which I guess was at least 500 years.
It "been dead" for years. I saw leaves on it last year. You sure there's nothing up there at all? the bark was gone last year too.
No, it looked completely dead. No small limbs left at all. No leaves anywhere.
This sounds like a rumor trying to get started again. It wasn't long ago someone started a rumor saying the Waslik (Yellow Poplar) had been cut down. I do know the last time I saw it had been vandalized and didn't look to be in the best of shape, but if the 2nd largest yellow poplar in the World, or is it the Nation?, had died I believe it would have made some sort of news. I only question this info because of the Rumor of it being cut down a while back. If anybody tree experts here at WB gets near Rock Gap, stop off and take a look, let us know.
Lone Wolf
06-15-2006, 06:24
Time for a bonfire. Make room for new growth. Although Darryl Hannah is reported to be sitting in the dead tree.:cool:
I said I was just there a few days ago in person. This isn't a conjectural statment. I hiked from Springer to Franklin during the last few weeks.
And I thru-hiked the AT in '98 at which time the tree looked normal and healthy.
I searched the Internet looking for some news about what they think killed this tree. I found nothing so I came here looking for news. Nothing here, so that is why I posted. I can't believe that nobody has noticed that this magnificent tree is gone, but that is the way it appears.
The tree is not cut down, but it certainly is dead now.
If dead, I'm glad its at a trail end. People will still be able to see the remains when it falls. Would be hell to clear off any trail if and when it fell.
I think limbs have been falling pretty often, because there was apparently some concern about hikers being down underneath the tree (at least that's one thread I read about here), and they were considering closing the trail to it. You can also see the giant limbs all throughout the forest. I'll bet, though, that the trunk will stand for a long time; it's so solid and huge.
Nightwalker
06-19-2006, 10:32
This sounds like a rumor trying to get started again. It wasn't long ago someone started a rumor saying the Waslik (Yellow Poplar) had been cut down. I do know the last time I saw it had been vandalized and didn't look to be in the best of shape, but if the 2nd largest yellow poplar in the World, or is it the Nation?, had died I believe it would have made some sort of news. I only question this info because of the Rumor of it being cut down a while back. If anybody tree experts here at WB gets near Rock Gap, stop off and take a look, let us know.
No rumor. I was there Thursday last. Not a leaf on the whole tree.
It was still beautiful, however...
FWIW, I saw the old oak in Bly Gap yesterday, and it still has full greenery. I'd not been up there in the Summer before, and wondered.