Wintergreen Gorge update    Dale J. Luthringer    Oct 15, 2004 08:58 PDT  Bob, I also got into Wintergreen Gorge to check up on a number of tall trees there that I haven't been able to measure since last year. There is more escarpment old growth here than I originally thought. The greatest extent is that which is closest to the campus near the main cliff face down into the gorge. It's generally a thin strip of old stunted hemlock that may range from only at the edge and down the escarpment, to about 75 yards back from cliff edge. Other old species include Am. beech and select N. red oak and tuliptrees. I also explored down a steep feeder ravine on the far eastern side just upstream from the main cliff face. The sides of this eastern side ravine are very steep and almost impossible to climb out of without climbing gear due to the slippery muddy shale slopes. Trees were not large here, nor appeared to be over 75 years old.   I was in amazement at the utter beauty of the place as I walked down the shallow stream at its base which was composed of steep shale ledges and small waterfalls. The valley was so steep on its sides, that at one point a log/debris jam had covered the whole span of the stream over top of one of the small waterfalls. The temperature dropped a good 10-15degrees here also. It went from a nice cool 60F to exhaling "steam" at under 50F easy in the bottom. I got a new appreciation for how 'anchor ice' can develop in small stream deep valley gorges. This side ravine empties into the main stream just below the main cliff face. The cliff face at this point just north and downstream from the side ravine confluence is close to 226ft. Decent sized 2nd growth northern red oaks can be found along the finger going back up the south side of this eastern ravine. I found no escarpment old growth at the top of this finger. I continued down the main stream, 4-Mile Creek, to check on the northeast height record red maple, the gorge's tallest tuliptree, and what is now the tallest cuke in the northeast. The red maple's top is thinning and possibly losing height, but I couldn't get a good shot to confirm with all the leaves still on. It is, along with many of the tall trees in the gorge, fairly difficult to measure. I wasn't able to confirm any change in height in the tallest tulip, but was finally able to get a decent shot to the previous co-height champ cuke in the gorge. From underneath I got a shot to 123.2+, but was finally able to find a window through the canopy to one of the top branches. I still can't see the whole top, although I think I did find the tallest sprig which I confirmed at 125.6ft. The cuke now stands at 8.7ft x 125.6ft which now puts it well over the Cook Forest cuke at 123.1ft, and makes the Wintergreen cuke the new northeast height record. On my way out, I chose to follow a trail I hadn't been on before which worked up another smaller side ravine that again comes in from the east but downstream from the main cliff face. This is where I found 2 more tree species that I hadn't seen in the gorge before, shagbark hickory and sassafrass. The new northeast sassafras height record at 4.3ft CBH x 100.5ft turned out to be quite the surprise since it was near the hilltop. I still think we can document higher somewhere in PA, my guess is southeastern PA. The day's tally follows: Species                        CBH    Height Comments Bitternut hickory           4.6       110 Black locust                  N/A     98.9 E. hemlock                   N/A     107.7   hilltop N. red oak                   N/A     89.8 N. red oak                   N/A     95.6 N. red oak                   11.2     102.1+ hilltop N. red oak                   8.5       105.1+ hilltop Sassafrass                    4.3       100.5   new northeast height record Shagbark hickory         2.4       77.4+   1st found here to date Wintergreen Gorge Rucker Index follows: Species                        CBH    Height Status Rucker Index Tuliptree                       9.5       145.4 128.53 Red maple                    7.8       136.7   tallest NE White ash                     9.9       129.8 Sycamore                     7.7       129.7 E. hemlock                   7.8       128 Cucumbertree               8.7       125.6   tallest NE Slippery elm                 8.8       123.7   tallest NE Sugar maple                 5.7       123.4   tallest PA Am. basswood             9          121.7 Black cherry                 8.8       121.3 Looks like I let the cat out of the bag a little early for the Forest Summit, but I just couldn't wait. Dale RE: Wintergreen Gorge update    Robert Leverett    Oct 15, 2004 11:44 PDT  Dale: That is an amazing sassafras. I continue to marvel at the Great Lake forests. It is very clear that the woodlands on the eastern and southern sides of Michigan, Ontario, and Erie deserve a lot of ENTS attention. They exhibit remarkable species diversity and tree dimension for the latitude. That Pennsylvania is an OG and tall tree haven cannot be denied! You continue to smoke us here in New England. You're a one man army, Dale. It's about time for another field promotion. Bob RE: Wintergreen Gorge update    Dale J. Luthringer    Oct 15, 2004 18:33 PDT  Bob, I've been finding that some of the basswoods around here are turning out to be "sleepers". I have to keep reminding myself to not just scope in on one species. I was sooo close to walking past that Ricketts Glen basswood it's not funny. With the few we have in the 120's here, I bet that there's got to be a low 130 class somewhere. Dale   Home