ENTS,
Yesterday Monica and I drove up to the Coal Bank Pass (altitude
10,660 feet on the maps and 10,640 on the sign ). I wanted to
measure some of the stately, pencil-straight Englemann spruce in the
vicinity of the pass that I'd seen on our previous. I especially
wanted to remeasure the tall Englemann that I had found. So far as I
know, that noble spruce sets the height record for trees in the
Rockies above 2 miles high, at least until someone comes forward
with a taller one. However, in my previous measurement, I had not
determined where the base of the spruce was due to obstructions, and
I suspected my measurement was conservative. It was. Yesterday, I
climbed down to the spruce, no easy task, and put a reflector near
its base and then determined where a horizontal line through the
reflector intersected the trunk. That allowed me to determine a
basal correction. I used both the Nikon Forestry 550 and the Laser
Tech TruPulse 200 hypsometers to cross-check the values I got, both
to the crown above and to the reflector below.
Okay, folks, here come the numbers. Ready? The statistics for the
Englemann are: height = 130.5 feet (+/- 0.5 feet), girth = 8.3 feet
(DBH=31.7 inches). Wheeee! That is a 130-foot tree growing at 2
miles above sea level. The San Juans rule. They absolutely rule.
Monica and I then went across the highway and onto the trail to
Engineer Mountain. Large and tall Englemann spruce were everywhere.
I was like the proverbial kid in a candy shop, first running to one
tree and exclaiming and then running to another. I was on overload
the whole time and exhausted my fool self climbing up to one tree
and down to another. Rocky the dog kept herd on me and made the
climbing look easy. It helps to have 4-paw drive. The following
table summarizes the significant measurements I took. They are
listed in the order taken.
Species
Height
Girth
Englemann
130.5 8.3
Englemann
100.5 9.5
Englemann
125.5 10.1
Englemann
126.0 10.0
Englemann
116.5 9.4
Englemann
99.0 13.4
Englemann
101.0 10.3
Englemann
119.5 9.7
Englemann
121.5 5.8
Englemann
117.0 9.9
BTW, a Navajo lady was at the pass selling necklaces she made. I
bought my beautiful wife a Navajo necklace - THEN asked her to climb
the ridge going to Engineer Mountain and help me look for great
Englemann spruces. Sneaky, huh? Where there is a will, there is a
way.
I have attached 4 images. The first is of the fabulous scenery near
the pass. The high peaks are those of the 13,000-foot West Needles.
The second image is of the 13.4-foot girth Englemann spruce - a
very, very old tree. I had to wade through currant bushes to measure
the girth of the big Englemann. Ouch! It was not an easy task. The
third image shows Monica next to the 125.5-foot tall, 10.1-foot
girth Englemann, and the fourth image is another shot of scenery
around the pass. My photos do not do justice to this marvelous
country. I wish I were a better photographer.
In searching for big and/or tall spruces, Monica and I climbed to
approximately 11,000 feet. We would have gone farther, but afternoon
thunderstorms became a consideration. I have been caught in the past
on high peaks during thunderstorms. It is a terrifying experience,
to say the least, and can turn deadly.
I am amazed at how tall the Englemanns are at such altitudes here in
the San Juans. In central Wyoming, you would be well above timber
line at 11,000 feet. I have little doubt that the San Juans are the
big tree-tall tree region of all Colorado, and I haven't scratched
the surface, and couldn't in an entire lifetime. But I've rattled on
about trees enough. I'll now turn the keyboard over to Monica.
From Monica : It was a new experience to be in the alpine regions.
We saw globeflower, marsh marigold, kingsroot, parsley, and lots of
hellebore which some animals had eaten. We passed small patches of
dirty snow, and a snowmelt pond at the edge of the trail. At the
beginning of the trail, white-crowned sparrows sang from the bushes.
Rocky, as usual, galloped over logs and through plants with the
greatest aplomb. His coordination is a joy to watch.
Back to old Bob : Well, Sweetie Pie was duly impressed with the
high country stroll, but I need insurance. Guess there's going to be
more jewelry in Monica's future because I haven't made a dent in the
tall spruce population around Coal Bank. Psst. Please keep my
nefarious strategy for coaxing Monica back to Coal Bank Pass a
secret.
Bob
Continued
at:
http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees/browse_thread/thread/554ac00930941535?hl=en
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