The “Across the street” expedition

Hello all,

Today I went tree hunting in a grove of big trees across the street from where I live.  The area is private property, so ask first.  From a distance (my front porch) I had seen large crowns, but I was uncertain of how big the trees actually were.  So I went out to look.  The first tree I came to was the largest of the bunch, and the third largest known Ponderosa Pine in the county.  It was 17′ 3″ CBH, or a DBH of 5.53′.  It was previously measured by me (almost a month ago on my first expedition) using a clinometer for the Tangent method.  The problem with this method is that it makes the (obviously erroneous) assumption that the top is directly over the base.  The Tangent measurement was 83.4′ in height, but my new Nikon Forestry Pro laser rangefinder debunked that height and measured it out at 134.0′.  The Nikon Forestry Pro uses a Sine-based height routine and is accurate within one foot or less of the actual height.

Then I measured the other two largest in the grove.  One measured out at 15′ 8″ CBH and 132.0′ tall, and the other was 14′ 4″ CBH and 130.0′ tall.  Afterwards I got back on my bike to head home, but not before taking a picture of the bulls chewing their cud within 70 feet of me-and there were no fences between me and the bulls while I was measuring.  Yikes!  Now for the photos:

The Nervino Giant with my backpack for scale

The Nervino Pine #2 with a 5-foot ladder for scale (the ladder was there first)

The third Ponderosa with my pack for scale

Handsome and he knows it.

Duncan

The largest pine in Tehama County: the Collins Pine

Hello all,

Day before yesterday, on Friday November 6th, 2015, I got up early and left fairly early to go meet Michael Taylor, discoverer of the world’s tallest tree, and to go look for a supposed 9′ DBH Ponderosa pine, which would break the DBH record held by the La Pine Giant in Deschutes County, OR. We got to Almanor (location of the Collins Pine kept secret to respect the wishes of the Collins Pine Company, who owns the land) at about 11, and met Michael Taylor at 11:15. I got to talk to him, and he wants to send me a copy of Bob van Pelt’s Forest Giants of the Pacific Coast, which can be considered the quintessential big tree book. As it turned out, he had already found the tree, having gotten up at O’dark:30 (our joke about really early in the morning) thanks to insomnia from a toothache. He had to head back home to schedule a dentist’s appointment, but getting to meet him was amazing. After all, it makes one very happy when he or she meets one of their personal heroes.

Anyway, we set out up the road (exact location undisclosed) to find the pine. When we finally found it, we measured the monstrosity. It has an 8.36′ DBH, a 26′ 3.5″ CBH and a 147.0′ H (as measured within 0.5″ by Michael Taylor with laser rangefinder) and a volume (as measured with relascope by Michael Taylor) of 4,327 cubic feet, a number 8 for the species and one of the few 8’+ DBH pines known. Then it was back down the road to home. Now for photos:

Very nice black and white of Mom and Grandpa.

Full trunk view of the Collins Pine. Made by stitching seven photos together.

Tape wrap photo. Number reads 26′ 3.5″ CBH.

First view of the Collins Pine from afar. Tiny Me standing 5′ 4″ tall next to it.

Large burnt-out hollow near base. there are two, and both are about 3 feet wide and 2 feet high.

I’d also like to thank the following people for this expedition for various reasons:  Michael Taylor, Jennifer Kennedy, William Harnach, Jay Francis, Gregg Scott and the loggers who first spied and then saved this tree in the 1920s (or thereabouts).

Duncan