Pisgah White Pines

Coon Branch	August 27, 2008

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TOPIC: Pay Dirt
http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees/browse_thread/thread/e0adcdc2795e5738?hl=en
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From: "Will Blozan" <tsuga173@gmail.com>
Bob,

I plan to set a new volume benchmark next week by climbing and modeling the absolutely massive “Coon Branch Pine” pine Jess Riddle reported on a few years back. 14’10” X ~150’!!!

Will F. Blozan

President, Eastern Native Tree Society
President, Appalachian Arborists, Inc.

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TOPIC: Big SC conifers
http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees/browse_thread/thread/cea43ab22aa60c0b?hl=en
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== 1 of 2 ==
Date: Sat, Nov 8 2008 4:52 pm
From: "Will Blozan"

ENTS,

In September I had the opportunity to spend two days in the Coon Branch
Natural Area on Duke Energy lands in South Carolina. I was there to treat
the hemlocks for hemlock woolly adelgid and had time in the evenings to do
some tree climbs. My business partner Jason Childs assisted on all climbs
and we modeled the volume of two huge trees. We also treated 269 hemlocks
totaling over 4,400 diameter inches.

"Coon Branch Hemlock", a.k.a. "Cora's Giant" 9/24/2008

One of the trees in the treatment area was a huge, ancient eastern hemlock
12'6" CBH and over 130' tall. The lack of taper and huge reiterations
indicated it would be a contender for the largest hemlock in the state. I
"sub-named" this tree "Cora's Giant" since I climbed it my daughter's 7th
birthday. There was a larger hemlock upstream called the "Desoto Hemlock"
but its conical form and short height would not amount to much wood. It also
appeared to be dead.

Carl Blozan and the Desoto Hemlock

The top of "Coon Branch Hemlock" was mostly dead but the full lower crown
should respond well to treatments. Starting the climb late and hitting the
ground just before dusk, Jason and I measured the 131.9 foot long trunk and
four twisty reiterations to 889 cubic feet of wood volume.

This tree was just 8 cubes shy of breaking the former volume record for the
state, a tree called the "Medlin Mountain Monarch" climbed and modeled in
2001. The MMM was a vastly taller tree at 161.8 feet and larger at BH
(13'6") but its young, conic form did not rack up the cubes like a more
columnar shape. The former giant has died leaving the "Coon Branch Hemlock"
as the largest living eastern hemlock known in the state of South Carolina.

"Coon Branch Pine" 9/25/2008

Jess Riddle posted years ago about a huge white pine in the Coon Branch
Natural Area. I had forgotten about it until I saw it towering over a small
seepage at the base of a slope near the Whitewater River. From the instant I
saw it I knew it had to be climbed. This huge tree has one of the largest
girths recorded for the species in modern times and promised to be a new
member of the "1000 Cube Club" for the species. The steep slope above the
tree made for an easy rope set and the initial ascent was up a rope dangling
in mid-air far away from the trunk due to the lean of the tree.

Top of the "Coon Branch Pine" as viewed from Cora's Giant

David Huff at the base of the "Coon Branch Pine"

The top split into three forks and peaked at 148.8 feet. "Stout" would
describe this tree well; it was large, thick, and massive. The lean gave us
a bit of a climbing challenge but we were able to model the tree to 1,035
cubes! CBH was a solid 14.8 feet and the trunk was still 7.6 feet around at
100 feet up.

Jason at ~110 feet up

Thus, the Coon Branch Pine is the second largest eastern white pine
currently alive. This giant tree has no reiterations in contrast to the
volume champion "Dyleski Pine" in Cashiers, NC, which is a highly reiterated
beast.

http://www.nativetreesociety.org/fieldtrips/north_carolina/dyleski/dyleski_pine.htm

The Coon Branch area supports other super trees on many species and is high
on my list of a winter visit. Some of the staff who accompanied us on the
climbs and treatments suggested bigger trees elsewhere in the area. We'll
see!

Will F. Blozan
President, Eastern Native Tree Society
President, Appalachian Arborists, Inc.

== 2 of 2 ==
Date: Sat, Nov 8 2008 6:16 pm
From: James Parton

Will,

Awesome stuff! What a killer pine.

JP

-AJ

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