Rickett's Glen, PA   
  Nov 10, 2003 19:27 PST 

Fellow ENTS:

Dale sent this message string to me. He had indicated problems with
posting it to the treelist. So I thought I would try my luck and
forward the messages.

-----Original Message-----
From: Dale J. Luthringer 
Sent: Monday, November 10, 2003 6:56 PM
Subject: Ricketts Glen State Park

Fellow ENTS,

I recently had an opportunity to visit Ricketts Glen State Park.
Ricketts Glen State Park is home to two natural areas: The Glens Natural
Area (National Natural Landmark), Boston Run Natural Area. Ricketts Glen
is home to 22 named waterfalls. It is an absolutely incredible area of
contrasting vertical and horizontal beauty in the form of its multiple
cascading falls and steep side walls and crevasse. Since I do not wish
to bore anyone in one extremely long e-mail, I intend to break my recent
two day visit into a series of e-mails to describe this natural wonder
that abounds with history and a visual testament to the Creator.



The following are excerpts from the park map which gives a decent
background on what one can find at this national treasure. You can also
get more information at the following link:



http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/parks/rickettsglen.asp



Ricketts Glen



Ricketts Glen harbors Glens Natural Area, a National Natural Landmark.
Take the Falls Trail and explore the Glens, which boasts a series of
wild, free-flowing waterfalls, each cascading through rock-strewn clefts
in this ancient hillside. The 94-foot Ganoga Falls is the highest of 22
named waterfalls. Old growth timber and diverse wildlife add to the
scenic area. Ricketts Glen State Park is one of the most scenic areas in
Pennsylvania. This large park is comprised of 13,050 acres in Luzerne,
Sullivan and Columbia counties&



Glens Natural Area
   

The Glens Natural Area, a registered National Natural Landmark since
October 12, 1969, is the main scenic attraction in the park. Two
branches of Kitchen Creek cut through the deep gorges of Ganoga Glen and
Glen Leigh and unite at Waters Meet and then flow through Ricketts
Glen, among giant pines, hemlocks and oaks. Many of the magnificent
trees in this area are over 500 years old and ring counts on fallen
trees have revealed ages as high as 900 years. Diameters of almost four
feet are common and many trees tower to 100 feet in height. The area is
the meeting ground of the southern and northern hardwood types, creating
an extensive variety of trees. In 1993, the Glens Natural Area became a
State Park Natural Area and will be protected and maintained in a
natural state.
   
A series of trails, covering a total of five miles, parallel the streams
as they course down the Glens. A shorter hike of ½ mile, the Evergreen
Trail, offers an excellent view of the final series of falls as it
meanders through a majestic stand of giant hemlocks and white pine. For
more information on hiking, see the Hiking section in this guide&

History

At the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, Robert Bruce Ricketts
enlisted as a private in the U. S. Army. Fighting for the Army of the
Potomac, Ricketts led Battery F during the Battle of Gettysburg.
Ricketts swiftly moved up in the ranks and when the war ended, was
discharged a colonel.

Colonel Ricketts at one time owned outright or controlled over 80,000
acres of land in this area. His heirs, through the Central Penn Lumber
Company, sold 48,000 acres to the Pennsylvania Game Commission from
1920-24. This left them with over 12,000 acres surrounding the Ganoga
Lake, Lake Jean and Glens area.

Although the area was approved as a national park site in the 1930s,
World War II brought an end to this plan for development and in 1942 the
heirs sold 1,261 acres, the Falls and Glens area, to the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania for a state park. Additional purchases from Colonel
Ricketts' son, William Ricketts, in 1943 and 1949, resulted in a park
nucleus of approximately 10,000 acres of former Ricketts holdings.
Additional purchases from other individuals have brought the park to its
present size.

Recreational facilities first opened in 1944. In 1950, the former
Department of Forests and Waters replaced Lake Jean Dam with a larger,
earthen dam, which combined Lake Jean with Mud Pond, creating the
current 245-acre lake. Other facility improvements and constructions
have been done over the years, like the beach house, restrooms and
cabins.



This is a place that I highly recommend to anyone who is interested in
seeing some of the finest scenery that Penn's Woods has to offer. Bring
your camera, a good set of hiking boots, and allot plenty of time to
thoroughly explore this natural wonder of old growth forest and
cascading waterfalls. It is truly one of Pennsylvania's greatest
treasures.

Dale


---------------------------------------

Will, Bob, Colby, Ed, Bruce



I just busted my right ankle falling from my tree stand & one of the steps
gave way on my way up about 15-20ft or so. I don't think I'll be able
to take you or your brother up on your offer to go Fairmont anytime
soon. I'll probably be off it at least 2 months or so. This'll really
cut into my tree measuring time. I was really looking forward to getting
into some nice spots& not to mention no deer season for venison.



&&& (pasted fm previous e-mail)



I just broke my right ankle. I fell from my tree stand. Looks like I
won't be getting any deer hunting in this year. I'll probably be off it
for 2 months at least& not good. It's the first time I've broken a major
bone in my body (pinky not included). I'm pretty sure I'll have it set
on Thursday. I walked (limped with a makeshift crutch) on it for about ¼
mile uphill before I decided I needed help to get out of the woods.
Thank God I had my radio with me. The rangers and park staff carried me
out the last 300 yards

&&&



I just came across a dandy spot within another gorge going into Lake
Erie in Erie County in what is called, Lake Erie Community Park. The
gorge is deep but not very long. It's close to 100-150ft deep, but is
only about ½ mile long. I can't even find a name for the tributary on
topo maps. It's got old Am. beech (>175) and some old sugar maples
(>200) in there. I think the sugars will make close to 120. There are
some nice tulips in here also that I'm hoping make 140+. Tics are thick
in there too.

You kept mentioning that having a spare set of knees would be a great
idea in this lifetime with all the hill/tree climbing you do. I think I
need a spare ankle.

Hope to be back at it soon.

Dale


---------------------------------

From: Dale J. Luthringer
Sent: Monday, November 17, 2003 10:44 AM
To: 'Sweeney, William'
Cc: 'Leverett, Bob'; 'Will Blozan'
Subject: RE: Ricketts Glen State Park

Bill,


Yes!!! I found that old growth white pine stand. What a surprise! I felt
like I was back home again. They had a couple of dandies in there, but
the tallest I could get was only to 10.4ft CBH x 144.6ft high. It was a
nice pine with a softball size burl on its lower trunk. The first day I
went upstream from the parking lot and explored all the way up Ozone'
Falls on the right side of the fork. I didn't get up the left fork at
all (covered about 5.5 miles).

The second day I spent mostly downstream from the parking lot in the old
growth white pine. I need a third day to make the whole falls loop'. I
think I'll start from the parking area on top of the hill by the lakes.
I'd like to see the crevice. Most of the tallest trees were either
downstream from the parking lot, to about 1 mile upstream from the
parking lot. Lots of ancient trees everywhere. The old growth sugar
maple were impressive. The largest I had was 11ft CBH x 113.5ft high.
That's the fattest forest grown sugar I've come across yet. I just was
in a nice mature stand in a trib of Lake Erie over the weekend that I
hadn't been in before. There are some impressive sugars and tulips in
there too, no data yet though. It'll have to wait another week.

I haven't made it down to the Smokies yet this year. I can see where
you're coming from in going to the old growth in the Smokies first.
Everything seems paltry when compared to that Eden. That's the same
problem I have with comparing other state natural & old growth areas to
Cook Forest. There just aren't many comparable places that hold up to
that ruler. Ricketts Glen was awesome though. Those multiple falls are
simply incredible.

Dale



-----Original Message-----
From: Sweeney, William
Sent: Monday, November 17, 2003 10:30 AM
To: Dale J. Luthringer
Subject: RE: Ricketts Glen State Park



Your welcome, some buddies of mine were telling me of their Ricketts
Glen experience last week. Did you find the old growth White Pine in
Ricketts Glenn? Most folks overlook it. Did you ever make it to the
sacred lands down south? I cut my old growth teeth in the smokies 20
some years ago so it kind of gave me a warped perspective of old growth.
Kind of like going to Alaska first to see wild areas. Hope you got to
explore down there. Bill    

Bill Sweeney, Program Supervisor
Jacobsburg EE Center
835 Jacobsburg Road
Wind Gap, PA 18091-9781
Ricketts Glen: The first day   Linda Luthringer
  Nov 25, 2003 10:35 PST 

Hi Folks,

Since recently acquiring a broken ankle, I have somehow found the time to
sit down and report on my recent trip to Ricketts Glen State Park on
11/5-6/03. As said per my earlier post, this area is an absolutely
incredible place. The watershed is dotted with waterfall after waterfall
and interspersed with some very old trees. Since I don't want to put anyone
to sleep, I figured I'd break my trip description into two different posts.
The first description will be a recollection of 11/5/03.

Equipped with knowledge bestowed upon me by fellow ENTS and other old growth
hunters, I was directed to the Glens Natural Area for my first day's
adventure of tall trees, old growth forests, and wildlife. My journey
started from the parking lot on RT 118 and headed north along the trail
beside Kitchen Creek on a rather heavy and drizzly rainy day.

I was immediately struck by the old tuliptrees and ancient sugar maples.
This was my first good look at old sugar maples. They really had me
guessing as to their ID at first, whether or not they were red maples. Old
hemlocks were everywhere in excess of 300+ years old. I believe somewhere
in here one was supposed to have been dated to over 900 years. All I can
say is that many of them had that extreme old growth Smokies hemlock look to
them. Hemlock heights were often over 115ft, but I was unable to find any
over 130ft.

I was impressed by the girths of the old sugar maples. I noted my the
personal largest forest grown sugar (not a wolf tree) at 11ft CBH which
wasn't more than about a 1/2 mile upstream.

My first quest was to find Bob's previously measured old Pennsylvania white
ash height record taken before 8/99 to 7.7ft CBH X 127.7ft high. The
closest tree I found to Bob's white ash came to 8.7ft CBH x 127.6ft. Bob,
does that seem like too much growth from when you took your last
measurement? Do you think we might have measured two different trees? It
was almost directly left of the path of the very large sugar maple that I
just mentioned above... maybe 20-25 yards off the path. There were a number
of other ash in this area, but this one seemed to be the tallest.

I then continued farther upstream noting more old growth species. The heavy
drizzle now became a torrential downpour which thoroughly drenched my ability
to effectively measure any trees. It was raining so heavy, that the laser
wouldn't register any distances at any mode.

As I continued up the watershed the downpour slowly tapered off to a steady
shower. By the time I reached 'Waters Meet', the rain had completely
stopped. Waters Meet is where Ganoga Glen and the Leigh Glen come together
to form Kitchen Creek. I was treated to some wonderful waterfalls along the
way, but from this point on, it was just one incredible waterfall after
another. It was about 1.8 miles from the parking lot to Waters Meet.

I chose to go up Leigh Glen on this trip and vowed to see Ganago Glen on my
next trip. Although there was old growth in this area, none of the trees
were exceptional in terms of height & circumference. I walked as far up
Leigh Glen as possible before I had to turn back due to lack of daylight...
I remembered to thank Benjamin Franklin for his lovely invention of
'daylight savings time'.

The farthest I got upstream was to Ozone Falls... maybe .7 miles upstream
from Waters Meet on Leigh Glen. It was a gorgeous 60ft vertical fall to the
pool below. A heavy drizzle surrounded this bowl shaped area as the mist
created from the falls actually blew upward from below.

I then decided that I had to make it back to the car before it was pitch
dark. I had about 45 minutes and figured I could make it in time, that is
if I didn't measure any more trees... yeah right. I made good time until I
decided to take another side loop that cut some trekking distance, but also
brought me past some nice hemlocks and tall tulips. It was here that I
found a very nice tulip to 8.8ft CBH x 138.2ft high. This tulip is the
tallest we've been able to document so far in the state park system. I knew
the tree had some height to it by maybe breaking 130ft, but I didn't think
that it would've almost broke 140ft. I'm still working on my scale, Bob.

I also came across 3 deer in that area that were more than happy for me to
walk directly past them. They were easily within 10 yards away. As long as
I didn't make direct eye contact, they were content to watch my antics.
Finally they had enough, and bounded away farther downstream.

It was almost pitch dark at about 1/2 mile left to go to reach the parking
lot. I had one more bridge to cross and decided to stop halfway across to
take in the scenery one last time. I resumed my hike, but just before I
stepped off from the bridge, something inside me told me to stop... I
looked up and couldn't see anything so I continued. At my next step, I was
greeted by a heavy "WOOOF !!!" from one of at least 2 small black bears.
These bears were no more than 20 yards from me. I couldn't believe I was
that close and didn't notice them. It was so dark that I could barely see
them as they, thankfully, decided to run in the opposite direction. I
didn't take much comfort in my ability to defend myself with my trusty
pocket knife, so I let out a short 'hoop' to make sure they continued on
their way.   Due to the initial burst of commotion around the 2 bears that I
could see, I believe there was a larger 3rd bear just out of site range but
within ear shot. I believe it was probably just a sow with last years cubs.

What an incredible experience to end a wet, but quite wonderful day in
Ricketts Glen.

Dale
Ricketts Glen: 2nd day   Linda Luthringer
  Nov 25, 2003 11:37 PST 

Fellow ENTS,

My 2nd day into Ricketts Glen was yet another wonderful excursion into new
unknown and unexplored areas for me. Instead of trying to get into Ganoga
Glen, a good 1.8 miles upstream from the parking area on RT118, I decided to
try to find the reported old growth white pine in Ricketts Glen. Bill
Sweeney, another old growth guru acquaintance of mine, tipped me off to old
growth white pine south of the parking area. Bruce Kershner also mentioned
this area in his recent book on PA's Natural Areas as the Boston Run Natural
Area.

Needless to say, I couldn't resist but to try and find another old growth
white pine stand that state park folks have told me had white pine
comparable to Cook Forest. I noticed some old white pines just downstream
from the parking area and decided I'd follow them and see where they'd lead
me. First off was a gorgeous waterfall with a deep hole at its base just
downstream from RT118.

I chose to bushwhack from here on out and was immediately greeted by old
growth chestnut oak and black gum! The black gum looked monstrous from my
initial angle, but as I retrieved its circumference noted evidence of it
being an old double at 8.7ft CBH.

I found my way to the white pines that I noticed from the parking lot, but
their heights weren't able to break 130ft. As I reached these pines though,
I was now making my way into the Boston Run Natural Area. It was like
hitting another brick wall of ancient hemlocks. I worked my way to Bostun
Run, about 1/2 mile south of the parking lot along Kitchen Creek, and noted
more ancient hemlock, but guess what was on the other side... ancient white
pine!

I was beginning to think that I was never going to find another stand of
truly ancient eastern white pines in PA. I've been directed to other areas
from various sources that were reported to be like Cook Forest, but these
was truly a special stand of old growth white pine. The area of very old
white pine was not that large. I'm estimating no more than 5 acres, but
there were some large pine in here that brought memories of Cook Forest's
Forest Cathedral, Heart's Content, and Anders Run into mind. The tallest
pine I could find was an impressive 10.4ft CBH x 144.6ft high. Cook Forest
is loaded with this class of white pine, but it sure was an incredible
experience to find a remnant of these ancient monarchs in another
Pennsylvania State Park.

I believe I measured every old growth white pine in this area that was over
130ft high. I ended up spending more time here than I thought, and I still
wanted to try to get back up into Ganoga Glen as I previously promised
myself the day before.

I worked my way back upstream and proceeded to make my way to Ganoga Glen,
but was stopped by one of the park's maintenance crew. He started talking
about what I was doing, and he just had to show me what they thought was the
largest hemlock they knew of in the park. It was just a short walk, so off
we went. It turned out to be a very nice single stem at 11.7ft CBH x
121.5ft high. Its trunk resembled a column as if created by the ancient
Greek architects... very little taper in this tree.

After this encounter, I knew I wasn't going to be able to make it to Ganoga
Glen today, so I figured I remeasure some of the more noteworthy trees I
shot the day before in the rain. I knew then that I'd definitely have to
hit Ganoga Glen on a 3rd trip and sample the trees that may be find in the
crevace at the top of the hill between Ganoga and Leigh Glens.

As I worked my way upstream, I thought to myself, "Self, you ought to
measure one of these yellow birches for Bob's Rucker Index... ahhh, this one
looks nice." Well, turns out that yellow birch is now the tallest we've
found so far in PA, also the fattest to date at 10.2ft CBH x 101.7ft high.
What a tree. Its trunk was so buttressed based that it resembled a
triangle. There were a number of yellow birch in the low 90's, but this one
really surprised me.

I noted the following old growth species in Ricketts Glen State Park
including the Boston Run Natural Area:

black birch
black gum
chestnut oak
cucumbertree
E. hemlock
E. white pine
N. red oak
red maple
sugar maple
tuliptree
white ash
white oak
yellow birch

Here is my tally for the two trip into Ricketts Glen:

Species                    CBH     Height     Comments

Am. basswood           5          99.1+
Am. basswood          4.9       102.1+
Am. basswood          5.4       106.6+

black birch                6.9        81.1+
black cherry              7.4        96.2

black gum                8.7 (2x) 93.1+

chestnut oak            5.8        84.1+

cucumbertree           7.8      105.7
cucumbertree           5.4      115.8

E. hemlock               N/A      116.2
E. hemlock              10.3      116.9
E. hemlock               N/A      117.1
E. hemlock               8.3      118.9
E. hemlock              11.7     121.5
E. hemlock               9.8      124.4
E. hemlock              11.8     128.9

E. white pine            9.2      112.6
E. white pine          11.4      115.5
E. white pine          N/A       121.6
E. white pine           8.3       122.6
E. white pine           9.6       129
E. white pine           8.5       131.9
E. white pine           11.3     136.1
E. white pine           10        137.2
E. white pine           10.4     144.6         41 17.863N x 76 16.313W

N. red oak               9.3       106.8

red maple                7.7       107.6
red maple                7.6       110.6+

shagbark hickory       5.1       105.9

sugar maple             11        113.5      personal largest find

tuliptree                  10.2     125.2
tuliptree                  N/A      129.2
tuliptree                  N/A      129.8
tuliptree                  8.8       138.2     tallest state park system 41
18.751N x 76 16.507W

white ash                7.6       106.8
white ash                N/A      109.3
white ash                N/A      113.4
white ash                N/A      117.7
white ash                8.4       120.6
white ash                8.7       127.6    41 18.362N x 76 16.475W

white oak                8           93.1+

yellow birch             3           90.1+
yellow birch            10.2      101.7     41 18.511N x 76 16.536W

Ricketts Glen Rucker Index = 119.85

Species                  CBH        Height

E. white pine          10.4       144.6
tuliptree                  8.8       138.2
E. hemlock             11.8       128.9
white ash                8.7       127.6
cucumbertree          5.4       115.8
sugar maple            11         113.5
red maple                7.6       110.6+
N. red oak               9.3       106.8
Am. basswood         5.4       106.6+
shagbark hickory      5.1       105.9

                            8.35      119.85


This now gives Ricketts Glen the 4th higher Rucker Index of all documented
sites in Pennsylvania. I can't read my excel files at the moment, but the
rating would go close to the following from 1st to last:

Cook Forest
Fairmont Park
Wintergreen Gorge
Ricketts Glen
Anders Run
Hearts Content
Alan Seeger
Tionesta

Ricketts Glen experienced aerial logging in response to a severe blowdown
over 5 years ago. I've been told the salvaged area was not in the natural
area and was on the hill tops mostly to the east of the Glens Natural
Area... to salvage the fallen black cherry.

Ricketts Glen also is infested with the hemlock wooly adelgid. Predator
beetles have been released and studies are being conducted. I've noticed
some crown thinning in the hemlocks, but doesn't resemble any worse damage
than what can be found in the Snyders-Middleswarth Natural Area about 80
mile west south west. I don't think it will be much longer before we find
HWA in Cook Forest.

Dale
Re: Ricketts Glen: The first day   Linda Luthringer
  Nov 26, 2003 14:18 PST 

Randy,

I'd recommend Glens Natural Area in Ricketts Glen State Park to any Ent'
that may be passing through the area. It doesn't have any falls over 100',
but they do have a nice series of back to back falls. Most are in the
15-40ft range. I think the largest drop is close to 80', but its more of a
cascade than a straight vertical column.

Ricketts Glen is located about 30-45min north of I-80 and about 1/4 the
total length of the PA from the NJ line. One needs to be able to spend at
least 1/2 a day though to just begin to see some of this place. You really
need at least one whole day.


Dale
Ricketts Glen revisited   Dale J. Luthringer
  Sep 28, 2004 17:21 PDT 
Bob,

I was able to take another trip out to Ricketts Glen on 9/15/04.

http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/parks/rickettsglen.aspx

I was interested in scanning some of the side coves that lead into the
glen off the beaten path. After talking with the park foreman, I
decided to skirt the top end of Ganoga Glen and come down the western
hilltop down into Maple Spring Run. I asked him about large tulips in
this drainage that I noticed on a previous trip where Maple Spring Run
flows into Kitchen Creek, and was wondering what it looked like farther
up slope. He said there were some nice tuliptrees in there, and that he
thought the area might be old growth. I figured the man probably new
what he was talking about since he's spent over 30 years here and said
he's been on every acre of the park. Turns out he was quite correct as
you'll soon see.

http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.aspx?t=2

I parked in the parking lot located near the top of Ganoga Glen and took
the Ganoga View Trail past the intersection with the Old Beaver Dam 
Road Trail along the Ganoga View Trail. As I hiked south
on the Ganoga View Trail, I cut off one drainage north of Maple Spring
Run ...an intermittent stream not shown on the map.  It is located about
half way between the intersection with the Old Beaver Dam Road and
Maple Spring Run.  There is a a tornado blowdown area at this point.  
The blowdown area extends from a westerly direction and extends in an
easterly direction. 

I dropped down over 
the hill to a bench and walked smack into a small sized old growth
hemlock stand (<15 acres). Large boulders and talus slope were the
norm. I then bumped back up to the ridge, skirted more large boulders
then dropped down into Maple Spring Run. This was a very steep talus
slope with various cliff drop offs as the stream quickly fell towards
Kitchen Creek 850 vertical feet below. Stinging nettle were everywhere,
and me in shorts.   let's just say I treaded very lightly. I've been
told, and now have personally verified, that stinging nettle does not
"sting" if you gently brush the plant from the bottom up.

As the % grade of the slope started to decrease, I noticed a gorgeous
white ash right before where an intermittent stream comes into Maple
Spring Run from the northwest. Turned out to be the tallest ENTS has
measured so far in PA and NY at 8.3ft CBH x 139.7ft high. What a bute.
Sitting right there on the edge of a very mature forest on an east
facing talus slope. Just downslope from here were a number of nice E.
hemlocks, Am. beech, and tuliptrees. The best hemlock was the tallest
I've found so far at Ricketts which went to 8.8ft CBH x 136.7ft high.
The kicker of a find were the soaring tulips. The best went to 10.7ft
CBH x 152.9ft! That's my personal best for PA, but Will's Fairmont
tulip at 10.9ft CBH x 159.6ft still holds the northeast record. The
Rucker Index at Ricketts now makes it to 126.29 which is a huge jump up
from 119.85 from my last trip. With a jump like that in the RI, I'd put
money that Ricketts Glen might just make 129-130 once all the
surrounding tribs are surveyed. not that I'll be able to do this anytime
soon. This big tree area is just west of the Ricketts Glen Natural Area
and right on the hunting area border. E. hemlock, Am. beech, tuliptree,
white ash, and sugar maple will all go over 150 years old here.

Once I got down to where Maple Spring Run meets Kitchen Creek, I
followed the shortcut connector just west of Kitchen Creek heading
upstream to Waters Meet. There are a number of nice white ash on this
flat. Many are in the lower 130ft class. The tallest here will again
approach 140ft. The tallest I had in this stand was 7.8ft CBH x 138.1ft
high, but couldn't explore anymore since I was running out of daylight.
Just before seriously giving up measuring anymore trees (yeh right,
thought I was done with the big stuff), I spied a decent Am. basswood
that looked like it might make it to the upper 110ft class. Little did
I know that it would be a new PA height champ at 6.5ft CBH x 123.2ft
high! That breaks the previous record located in Wintergreen Gorge by
1.5ft. I was sooo close to walking past that tree.

Once I got to Waters Meet, I decided to take the Glen Leigh side up to
the Highland Trail. Personally, I think the Huron (41') and Shawnee
Falls (30') were the most impressive out of all falls. They're not the
tallest, but they fall through a steep twisting boulder filled crevice
that really is just nothing short of breathtaking (since I was going
uphill I was already breathing heavy anyway).

I then followed the Highland Trail through the Midway Crevasse, a narrow
passageway between large blocks of Pocono sandstone conglomerate that
was deposited by glacial movements. There was a nice section of stunted
hemlock in this area, but much of the flats overlooking the glen are
second growth hardwoods.

The day's tally as follows:

Species                        CBH     Height   Comments
Coordinates

Am. basswood               6.9        116.7
Am. basswood               6.5        123.2    new PA height record
41 18.750N x 76 16.507W
Am. beech                    7.3        116.8
E. hemlock                    N/A       104.8
E. hemlock                    8.9        111.9
E. hemlock                    N/A       112.2
E. hemlock                    9.4        128.6
E. hemlock                    10.2      130.5
E. hemlock                    10.4      131.1    
E. hemlock                    8.8        136.7    tallest to date at
Ricketts            41 18.648N x 76 16.825W
Sugar maple                  7.7        108.9
Sugar maple                  N/A       110.2
Sugar maple                  8.5        115.8+
Tuliptree                        10.3      121.7
Tuliptree                        8.5        122
Tuliptree                        8.8        127.9
Tuliptree                        11.8      135.8
41 18.690N x 76 16.815W
Tuliptree                        10.7      152.9    personal best
41 18.651N x 76 16.805W
White ash                     ~8        100.8
White ash                     9.5        131.1
41 18.633N x 76 16.813W
White ash                     8.3        134.8+
41 18.810N x 76 16.472W
White ash                     7.8        138.1
41 18.936N x 76 16.416W
White ash                     8.3        139.7    new PA height record
41 18.729N x 76 16.880W

Ricketts Glen Rucker Index as follows:

Species                        CBH     Height   Status


Tuliptree                        10.7      152.9    tallest PA Bureau of
State Parks             
E. white pine                 10.4      144.6
White ash                     8.3        139.7    tallest PA
E. hemlock                    8.8        136.7
Am. basswood               6.5        123.2    tallest PA
Am. beech                    7.3        116.8
Sugar maple                  8.5        115.8
Cucumbertree                5.4        115.8
Red maple                     7.6        110.6+
N. red oak                     9.3        106.8
                                    8.28      126.29

What a day. It was a lot of work, but well worth it. Ricketts Glen
"rules"!

Dale
RE: Ricketts Glen revisited   Dale J. Luthringer
  Sep 29, 2004 05:53 PDT 
Bob,

Ricketts Glen sure is an interesting place. I was even serenaded by 2
coyotes on my way out.

Dale
RE: Ricketts Glen revisited   Ernie Ostuno
  Sep 29, 2004 20:47 PDT 

Wow, I wonder what the total acreage of old growth is at Rickett's Glen.
It must be one of the largest OG areas in PA.

Dale, do you remember which way the trees had fallen in the blowdown
area you crossed? There were two big wind events in the park while I was
in PA. One was a derecho that went through there on August 16, 1997. The
second was former Hurricane Floyd in September, 1999. In the first event
the trees were hit by west winds and fell pointing east (and there was a
fatality from a falling tree at the park campground). Floyd generated
some strong east winds that blew down swaths of trees in narrow valleys
that had an eastern exposure and the trees fell pointing west. I'm
wondering which event was responsible for the blowdown area you saw.

Ernie
RE: Ricketts Glen revisited   Ernie Ostuno
  Oct 05, 2004 15:43 PDT 

Dale,

That could have been from the 1997 wind event. There were some areas of
enhanced damage that may have been from small tornadoes on the edge of a
downburst. One of them hit the campground. Can you tell me where the
downed trees you saw were on this map:

http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/parks/maps/rickettsglen_mini.pdf

The damage was pretty bad where the campground is located on the tip of
the peninsula that juts out into Lake Jean.

Ernie