On 1/9/2017 2:09 PM, JOHN DUGGAN wrote:
Just found an article on the BBC website. Storms have toppled the Pioneer Cabin
Tree in California. I always thought it strange that anyone would want to cut a
bloody great hole through a living tree!
Kinda dumb, but boys will be boys . . . And - you may be unfamiliar with the natural history of Redwoods and Giant
Sequoias. They actually require fire to reproduce. Their bark is highly fire resistant, but not always perfect. As a
result, there are many, many large, old trees that have burned through the core at the bottom, leaving at least one
entry point into the center of an otherwise healthy, living tree.
I'm not aware of anyone starting from scratch to tunnel through one of these trees. I believe all are widenings of
existing openings. The picture here shows that most of the opening in this tree was natural.
<http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Historic-Pioneer-Cabin-Tree-toppled-in-California-10844206.php#photo-9495500>
I don't know if there are more such Giant Sequoias with road/paths through left. There are several Redwoods. We've
driven through at least a couple. I've walked through this now fallen one several times. Carol claims I proposed to her
in this park, although not in one of the Sequoia groves. My recollection is more of opening a discussion into the
subject around the campfire one evening. After all, we had been together 10 years, and I still quite liked her. In any
case, we did end in agreement. :-)
Still not the first strange idea to come from the USA.
Far more destructive in the same grove; men stripped all the bark from the largest Sequoia, killing the tree, mounted
the pieces on frameworks, so it could be re-assembled to show how huge the trees were to often disbelieving audiences in
NY and London.
<https://books.google.com/books?id=lv7TazHZFAIC&lpg=PT52&ots=8QXN8Xs_Db&dq=father%20of%20the%20forest%20paul%20hawken&pg=PT51#v=onepage&q&f=false>
As noted in the news story, this tree shattered on impact. This isn't because it was old, injured, diseased. It's what
they do. When first "discovered" by white folks, there was much excitement at the money to be made from such huge
sources of lumber. Imagine the frustration when the first one felled by hand methods shattered into unusable pieces!
Several other attempts were made, and I've heard that some were felled in sheer frustration and spite. Unlike their
cousins, the Coast Redwoods, they are not timber trees.
Big Trees Moose
--
What if the Hokey Pokey *IS* what it's all about?
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