[pct-l] Watch for falling trees

[The Incredible Bulk]

My brother and I saw a tree fall when we were backpacking the Northville to
Lake Placid trail in New York in the 1970s.  They do make noise when they
fall!

I will never forget the owl.  We arrived late at the trailhead the first
evening, and hiked in about one mile and setup cowboy camp.  The next
morning, lying in my sleeping bag, I looked up into the trees, and almost
directly overhead was the largest owl I have ever seen, even to this day.  I
think he sitting there trying to determine if we were to be breakfast or
not.

That is/was(?) a wonderful trail, in case anyone needs a diversion from the
AT and Adirondack High Peak region.  I don't know the trail's status today,
but if I am ever back east, I will hike it again.

On Wed, May 13, 2009 at 7:37 AM, <Trekker4 at aol.com> wrote:

> On the AT in Georgia, in 1980, I heard that  cracking sound at night, in my
> tent, in a storm. I instinctively put my arms  over my head. The next
> morning there was a tree across a dirt road about a  hundred yards away,
> and
> slightly above the shelter which I was tented near (no  room in the inn).
>    Another time on the AT, I was walking along, head  down and minding my
> own business, heard that cracking sound, and looked up to  watch a 5 inch
> branch crash just off the trail, about 15 feet ahead of me. There  was no
> wind, and had been no rain; it was time for that branch to fall.
>    In 2005, on the PCT, I was sitting on a break,  heard a loud cracking
> sound, and looked up to see one trunk of a two trunk,  medium size tree
> very
> slowly (at least ten seconds) topple to the ground,  hitting no other
> trees.
> Again there was no wind, and had been no rain; it was  just time - that
> last microbe ate through the last wood molecule holding the  live trunk up;
> the
> dead trunk was the one that remained standing. It was a  wonderful
> experience in the sense that I instantly knew it was no danger to  me; one
> sees
> thousands of trees across the trail, but that one just missed the  trail.
> Last
> summer I reported hundreds to the PCTA, including the  multi-hundred pileup
> on the N side of ?, just before Sisters Mirror Lake. One  never sees one
> fall; I had the camera up, turned on, and the lens cap off in  that ten
> seconds,
> but missed the photo by 2-3 more seconds.
>
> Bob  "Trekker"
> Big Bend Desert Denizen, and...
> Naturalized Citizen - Republic  of Texas
>
>
> In a message dated 5/12/2009 2:43:40 P.M. Central Daylight Time,
> asabat at 4jeffrey.net writes:
>
> Speaking  of downed trees, one of my scariest moments was a short break
> while climbing  the snow up Baden Powell. We heard a small crack, then a
> small
> creak, then a  few louders ones until we noticed a large tree about al1 100
> yards away fall  to the ground.
>
>
>
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-- 
Tom KI6ASP
The Incredible Bulk
pctaddict.blogspot.com