Seneca Hemlock Climb  04-21-2007


Will climbed the Seneca hemlock and did a successful tape drop. From up the ridge, I took two measurements of the tree via our ENTS methods. I got 144.8 feet on one shot and 145.8 on the other. The average of those two, which I felt were equally probably is 145.3 feet. Will's tape drop was 145.4 feet. Results like those allow me to feel very confident that overall, our sine-based technique is not only good, but very good. The big tree yields about 750 cubic feet of trunk volume. That is most respectable.

- Bob Leverett

 

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The final tree modeling happened the next day back at Cook Forest. This was
my climb of the Seneca Hemlock, the tallest known eastern hemlock in the
northeast US. I went up to the tree early with Carl Harting and Ed Frank to
rig the tree. My fears of a difficult rigging were unfounded as the first
set at 85' worked just fine. When the group arrived I ascended while Jess
zeroed and measured the base while Dale spotted the pole extension to the
leaning top. From the top, the view of the HQ area and the river below was
spectacular. The old pines of the Forest Cathedral could be seen emerging
from the hemlock midstory. The tape drop was 145.4' and incremental girth
measurements indicated a trunk volume of 753 cubic feet. For those
wondering, this is as much wood as is in the lower 44 feet of the largest
hemlock Jess and I have documented for the Tsuga Search.

- Will Blozan

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I have video of the climb I will post when I am finished editing the video clip.

- Ed Frank