| Niagara
River Gorge, S. Ontario |
NR,
Cook Forest |
| Apr
15, 2002 14:43 PDT |
| Bob,
Colby, et. al.,
Just finished a great vacation with my wife to Niagara Falls
last week. She
was nice enough to let me take some time to measure trees
downstream from
Niagara Falls. Most of my records were taken in the Niagara Glen
Nature
Area (43 07.805N by 79 03.584W), with some at the beginning of
the Niagara
Escarpment at the base of Lake Ontario... all measurements were
on the
Canadian side using the laser range finder/clinometer/2 triangle
method on
4/11/02. Here goes:
specie CBH Height
white oak 10.9 65.3
black willow 10.4 66.8
quaking aspen 7.6 71.3
quaking aspen 11.4 62.1 (double)
Eastern hophornbeam 3.6 41.3
Eastern hophornbeam 3.6 53.5
white ash 7.5 84.1
white ash 7.6 68.8
black oak 4.5 68.7
sugar maple 4.6 73.1
sugar maple 6.0 84.6
Northern white cedar 5.3 66.4
tuliptree 7.9 105.5
butternut 4.44 53.5
I barely scratched the surface here, but I believe future visits
would
rarely find a tree other than tulip or white ash that would
surpass the
100ft mark. I was just trying to document as many different
species of
trees as possible in about 2 hours. There were Northern red oak
and white
birch that I wasn't able to document do to time constraints.
White oak bark
characteristics there gave me trouble in identification.
Niagara Glen Nature Area was a large boulder field, the taller
trees were at
the bottom of the slope as would be expected. A very dry site,
except for a
small intermittent stream where the 105' tuliptree stood. The
rapids that
shot through this tight stretch of river at the bottom of the
site produced
hydraulics in excess of 10ft, some surges would come close to
20ft. The
river was moving at close to 25-30mph... I think this would
easily be
classified as a Class 5 rapid, Class 6 if you count the
whirlpools and
associated undertows.
For me, the most incredible find was the northern white cedar.
It may be
common for many of you, but I've never walked through any
Eastern forest and
come across such a tall cedar (Pine Barrens in NJ a
possibility?). I've
observed some fat ones around the greater Lake Placid area, but
none of any
considerable height. The only cedar that survives in Cook Forest
are the
ones that were planted in the backyards of the lumber tycoons.
Hope to see everyone at the spring rendezvous!
Dale J. Luthringer
Environmental Education Specialist
Cook Forest State Park
|
| Niagara
Gorge, Ontario |
Dale Luthringer |
| Jul
02, 2003 15:24 PDT |
Bruce,
Thanks again for your hospitality over the weekend. It was a
treat to be included on your trip into the Niagara Glen Friday.
Here are my results for Niagara Gorge:
Species CBH Height Comments
quaking aspen 11.4 64.2 double by parking lot
butternut 3.1 68.8
black walnut 6.1 87.1+
tuliptree 11.7 126.3 43 7.780N x 79 2.921W
tuliptree 10 ~130? couldn't measure/low light
sassafras 5.1 74.3
sassafras 5.5 70.7
Dale |
| RE:
Setting the bar for ancient Eastern trees |
John
Eichholz |
| Mar
02, 2004 17:30 PST |
Randy, Lee:
Following your lead I found this article, which was fascinating.
Thanks.
http://www.escarpment.org/leading_edge/LE99/le99_s4/kelly.pdf
John
Lee E. Frelich wrote:
| |
Randy:
There are several articles by a research group from
Ontario including
D.W.
Larson, P.E. Kelly, from the Univesity of Guelph. The
growth rates of
northern white cedar on rocky terrain are comparable to
bristlecone
pines. It is not clear whether white cedar or cypress
will turn out to
be
the oldest trees in the east. Kelly had a 1650 year old
white cedar on
one
of his study sites on the Niagara escarpment on the
Bruce Peninsula,
Lake
Huron.
Lee
|
|
| RE:
escarpment |
John
Eichholz |
| Mar
04, 2004 06:41 PST |
| Re:
Good News - Bad News |
djluth-@pennswoods.net |
| May
08, 2006 16:28 PDT |
Bob,
Just got off vacation with my wife up at Niagara Falls. Hey, if
any Ents ever
get a chance to get an up close and personal look of the
whirlpool and its
associated rapids, they will not be disappointed.
There is a HUGE wave that dumps into the Whirlpool at the very
end of the
Whirlpool Rapids. It is the last of a large series of waves that
travel
through the section of the Niagara Gorge that spans from the
Falls' to the
Whirlpool. I've been told it's the largest continuous free
standing wave in
all of North America. There is another section of treacherous
rapids from the
Whirlpool downstream past the Niagara Glen and down to where the
river widens
out before emptying into Lake Ontario.
I've been trying to view this huge wave from river level for
many years, and
finally got the opportunity on Saturday. The trail to it can be
dangerous when
wet. One slip, and you have the possibility to take a tumble
into the Whirlpool
Basin below.
The power of the Niagara River is absolutely incredible (the
flow of 4 Great
Lakes makes its way through here). Especially at its edge at
river level just
before it empties into the Whirlpool. The standing wave is
easily 10-15ft high
if not higher. The river level was actually down about 10ft from
a previous
higher flow event. You can feel the rocks rumble as the river
roars through at
near 30mph! The river is deep here. I was told near 40ft. So
most wave action
is not from submerged rocks but from shear volume of flow.
Just off the flat rectangular section of rock on the rivers edge
(I was on the
Canadian side), is a huge "hole" in the river. It is
probably a good 6-10ft
deep and maybe 20ft across. The hydraulic sucking power
associated with this
feature of the river is absolutely breathtaking. This river is a
Class VI
river, which briefly translated means "certain death"
if someone tries to
navigate it. It has been done, but is now illegal. I believe the
last time
the government allowed anyone to float this section of river was
back in the
1970's. It was done by expert white water rafters. I was told
that 8 of them
died in the process and that it hasn't been allowed since. There
are two helo
pads, one just above the giant wave and one in the Whirlpool
Basin, that attest
to the danger associated with this place.
I'm still in awe of the experience. The river roars through with
one last
massive wave which in turn powers the counter-clockwise eddy
which forms a
churning whirlpool where the fast current of the river and slow
current of the
eddy meets. I watched a ~16ft x ~12inch DBH log get sucked down
right before
my eyes. The river stood it right up on end, then spit it right
back out.
Absolutely incredible...
After watching this process for about a 1/2 hour, I was actually
dizzy and
disoriented when I went to stand up. Hopefully I'll have some
nice pictures
when I get the film developed.
I sure needed the batteries re-charged. Rivers and old growth
have a way of
doing that for me.
Dale
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