Mohawk Trail SF #67   dbhg-@comcast.net
  Aug 14, 2004 16:14 PDT 
Hi Everyone:
     Well, the infamous burl-belly returns, albeit a somewhat slimmer version of the one who headed west on July 22nd. Yep, I'm back from the Rocky Mountain west.
      On my return trip I had a stop-over at Cook Forest State Park in western PA to see Dale Luthringer and Anthony Cook. Cook Forest re-grounded me in the East. Dale shared his 140-foot tall, 11+ foot circumference black cherry with me and my traveling companion, Phyllis Silvers. Awesome! Simply awesome - the tree that is (so is Phyllis).
     I'll relate plenty of western big tree stories in the coming weeks (Black Hills spruce, ponderosa pine, englemann spruce, white fir, Rocky Mountain juniper, etc.), but I'm pleased to report that I now have my feet firmly planted back in the eastern forest domain. And to prove it, today, I visted MTSF, my forest Mecca, to begin the reconnection and resume the scientific work.
     Despite the great places I visited in the American West, Mohawk had not lost its magic for me. As I reached the headquarters, by chance, a couple visiting Mohawk from Hampden was asking the Park people for directions to big trees and old growth. I was immediately waved over by the Park staff to rescue them, since their knowledge of where the trees are is limited. I ended up escorted the couple on a personalized tour of big trees and some OG. Needless to say, I was in my monstrous glory, able to spout tree statistics with reckless abandon - hadn't forgotten a one. Besides, I had a lot of making up to do. Numbers. Numbers. Numbers.
    When I left the couple to wander about on their own, their heads buzzing with numbers galore, I returned to my car by the trail around little Thumper Mountain and through the Encampment zone that includes the ENTS grove. Man, I could smell a new 150-footer. I just knew I'd confirm another. I was almost through the grove and then it happened. YES! That's #67. A mere upstart, it is - barely 100 years old. But its statistics are a solid 152.1 feet in height and 8.1 feet in girth. Devil of a tree to measure though. Why hadn't I confirmed it before? On an earlier occasion I had measured a couple of pines on the periphery of the stand it is in and just broke 140 on one and the high 130s on the other. I then stuck my nose up into the air and stalked off. Yes, I blew off the remainder of the stand - an obvious mistake. Well, this afternoon I atoned for my blunder. The new tree is named the Southern Sentinel, until we choose an ENTS member to name the tree after. I suggest the "Riddle Pine", in honor of that indefatigable boy wonder, big tree aficionado, old growth sleuth, and explorer from South Carolina. Do I hear any seconds? BTW, Jess has a pine named for him on Laurel Creek in the Chattahoochee NF. It was about 178.6 feet tall when we measured it in 1996, if I remember correctly. Will Blozan climbed the tree and in a feat of athletic prowess, swung from one of its major trunks to the other. That was quite a sight.
    Well, it is great to be back and I see the list survived very well in my absence. Wow, what a deluge of great e-mails! I'm psyched.

Bob
#68   dbhg-@comcast.net
  Aug 22, 2004 19:00 PDT 
Dale, Will, Lee, et al:


     After Lisa Bozzuto and Susan Benoit tagged 22 pines in the Cherokee-Choctaw grove, Susan and I headed around Thumper Mtn and into the ENTS Grove where we bagged #68. Yes, that's the 68th white pine in MTSF confirmed to 150 feet or more in height. Dimensions of the tree are 151.1 feet in height and 7.2 feet in girth. I named the tree the Susan Benoit pine - actually the second for her. I now have to find another 150-footer for Lisa, who has a 150 named for her. Believe me, folks, these two splendid ladies deserve two pines each, given all the work they've done in MTSF.
    I actually now think there might be one or two more 150s lurking about, and if not presently, in one or two more years for sure.
    Susan's second tree is between 95 and 110 years old. Yes, another fast growing Mohawk pine.
Bob   
#69 and #70   dbhg-@comcast.net
  Sep 06, 2004 20:03 PDT 
John:
   ...It looks like Mohawk is not yet through revealing her treasures to us.
    I continue to confirm members of the 150 Club. The ENTS grove comes through again. Numbers 69 and 70 were confirmed, but I couldn't locate any more pockets of tall pines. If there isn't another 150 lurking in the Trout Brook area or the Pocumtuck Grove, I think we've finally exhausted the possibilities. Next year will probably see another 2 or 3 join the ranks, but I'm mighty satisfied with 70. Incidentally, the names of the trees are:

      The John Eichholtz Pine

      The Lisa Bozzuto Tree #2.

    The growth rates for the ENTS Grove has been phenomenal this season. There are 14 to 18 inch growth candles up there on some of these trees.

Bob
Saheda Pine   dbhg-@comcast.net
  Sep 12, 2004 13:52 PDT 
ENTS:
      My end of growing season measurement of the Saheda Pine in the Elders Grove of MTSF showed no growth from the spring. In all probability, my spring measurement was slightly high. I suspect that Saheda has grown 3 to 6 inches. Regardless, its official height stays as 163.6 feet. Its girth is now 11.5 feet. Its big tree points are 312. Saheda's age is around 170 years.
     Saheda has the potential to grow somewhat taller, maybe to 166 feet tall and could reach 12 to 12.5 feet around. I somehow doubt it will go beyond these numbers. Its crown is exposed and appears to be flattening out.
Bob