Had 8 or 9 hours on the road over Thanksgiving, plenty of time to listen to the story of the “discovery” of the coastal redwoods over the past 35 or 40 years. It is a fascinating story! Look at the book cover, you’ll see men climbing big trees. Turns out the the canopy of a redwood forest is a fascinating place, and there are a variety of ways to get there; all of them will make your stomach churn and wonder again and again if these people are suicidal. The tree they’re most interested in are the oldest and/or largest trees, most over 325 feet tall. The canopy is another world with its own sense of time and its own ecology, this is a contemporary story of scientists exploring part of the environment never seen before; the discovery of a world we could see but no one ever understood what they were looking at.
I downloaded the book from Net Library, available through the library system to anyone who has a library card. Free, just like any other book in the library. Check with your local library for availability.
Mr. Preston has a web page, but it’s much more fun to visit after you’ve read or listened to the book and know the characters.
I am currently reading this book, very close to the end. It truly is fascinating to read about the explorers and their discoveries. I have also learned a lot about the ancient forests and dream of seeing them myself now. The author did a wonderful job of taking the reader there.
I got my copy from a local library but am happy to learn of a net one too!
Richard Preston has a website with photos of some of the people and trees from the book. http://www.richardpreston.net/books/wt.html
If you enjoy camping, I recommend Jed Smith State Park. National Redwoods is across the street. Being in a redwood grove is an awesome experience, do it! I’ll stick to the floor, looking up with even greater awe knowing what’s up there.
I’ve read the book myself – a good read.
No photos though. But I assembled a page and albums with photos of many of the redwoods mentioned in that book, including Atlas Tree and Grove, Grove of Titans, Adventure Tree, Terex Titan and Iluvatar to name a few.
See:
http://www.mdvaden.com/grove_of_titans.shtml
The book either implies or states that the redwood canopy was not seen before Sillett went up there.
Recently, I explored the redwoods with another author, who started climbing the 300 footers in the early seventies, and reached the upper canopy by the mid-70s, probably when Sillett and Antoine were in Junior High school. This other author and climber has lived his life among the redwoods.
Preston was probably not aware of this, being newly introduced experientially to our local Pacific forests and arborist trade.
Regardless, he did a good job writing, and his selection of phrases, though a bit extra-juicy sometimes, help people remember passages of the book and stuff about the trees.
Thank you for your comments and the link. Richard Preston now has a video on TED as well, and is bringing much needed exposure to the importance of our forests. It was the first I’d heard about the death of the Eastern Hemlocks.
He obviously has a great deal of respect and admiration for Steve Sillett, and feels part of “the group”. I remember hearing years ago the John Muir rode out a storm in the top of a redwood; it would be foolish to think that loggers didn’t climb into the canopy. Thing is, they didn’t understand what they were looking at.
It’s possible that much of what was seen previously in the canopy or in the forest was not reported because it did not jump out as something newsworthy.
From what I can tell, Grove of Titans and Atlas Grove have had about 50,000 people in them since th 1920s, and I can only imagine how many people had looked at Atlas Tree or Lost Monarch.
I heavily down-played the actual numbers on the page link provided above.
I think a lot of people recognized the gigantic size of those redwoods, but just are not part of the group that tends to wrap a tape.
Much of what Preston described is typical growth from forest floor to upper canopy. Like the “bonsai” trees for example. Take the popular Big Tree at Prairie Creek. The epiphyte huckleberry bushes on it’s top are in plain sight.
The fusions, or natural grafting are common to many trees.
Aside from the few rare species found in the upper redwoods, I think many examples have not been written about, because observerers would have assumed the plants and growth habits to be common knowledge to woodsmen and naturalists.
Odds are that’s why so little has been written. I have scratched my head wondering who the scientists would have been that assumed redwood canopy to be like barren. If that’s the case, it’s likely that naturalists have recognized a lot more in the redwoods than scientists.
To reiterate quickly – 50,000 was not a typo …
Pretty impressive number of people for an “occassional bushwhacker” isn’t it ?
Keep that number in mind, when I mention that maybe more was understood, but was not reported.
There are some interesting secrets about these groves, that can only be understood by actually finding them.
Cheers,
MDV