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 

Loona:
The link worked when I posted it, but not now. Maybe server
maintenance? Anyway this link
http://www.championtrees.org/oldgrowth/articles/AmericanScientist00901.htm

is to an article by the same team and even has pictures!
John
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