800 and 1000 year old cedars | SouthernPaddler.com

800 and 1000 year old cedars

Steve

Well-Known Member
Yesterday, Susie and I took a drive up on the local mountain and found this grove of cedars everyone knew about but it seemed no one could remember where it was. . . 37 acres of protected cedar. . . talk about a peaceful place

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I even managed me a National Geographic style pic of the cedar tops. . .

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Afterward, we drove further up to an old forest service lookout point, but the tower had been torn down for years now. . . Sitting there on the rocks, you couldn't help yourself if you ended up with a contemplative moment. . .

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While on the mountain, I missed a shot of a bald eagle flying overhead. . . the sucker wouldn't land and I couldn't pan my shot well enough to get him. . . but I did get a shot of this lovely little lady. . . she didn't give me much choice in composition, she kept moving on me. . . .

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and these fine fellas. . .

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Steve

Well-Known Member
Yeah, Jimmy. . . it's a shame the really old growth trees like these cedars aren't protected. . . thankfully these are. . . I'd hate to see these old guys turned into fence rails, siding, OR even our favorite topic here. . .boats. . . . :wink:
 

Kayak Jack

Well-Known Member
Aug 26, 2003
13,976
171
86
Okemos / East Lansing Michigan
Steve sez: "Sitting there on the rocks, you couldn't help yourself if you ended up with a contemplative moment. . ."

I've often thought about this type of thing. How the landscape we live in affects our thinking, and our deeds. A dirty city scape can't help but shape thoughts in directions different than looking out over miles of forest, plateaus, hills, mountains, plains, etc. Or watching a river flow past like a stream of time.
 

crkdltr

Well-Known Member
Mar 3, 2009
114
0
Awesome pictures! Nevermind, I just saw a harness on one of the horses. I had thought they were wild at first.
 

jdupre'

Well-Known Member
Sep 9, 2007
2,327
40
South Louisiana
Beautiful country and those trees are impressive. We have a few old cypress trees around here that are close to that size. The only reason they are still around is because they had no commercial value- hollow , diseased, split, etc. Great pictures too.

Joey
 

Steve

Well-Known Member
Joey, Yeah, they get that big that usually tends to happen but from what I learned, there's a conservancy group up here that works with the Forest Service and they've tested the health of these old boys and they're as healthy and as solid as their great-great-great grandkids the mills cut down today. . . So I see it being a good thing these old guys are protected. . .

Crkd. . . most of the folks around here use the mountain as free range so it's not unusual to see horses and cattle roaming free up there. . . Being free range has its drawbacks, what with the mountain lions, wolves, and bears seeing domesticated animals as easy meals. . .While they hate it when it happens, the folks who run their animals free range have to accept it when it happens.

Here's some free rangers I got a shot of yesterday about an hour north of here. . .

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gbinga

Well-Known Member
Nov 7, 2008
736
2
Hoschton, GA
Spectacular! I wonder if we ever did have trees like that in our part of the country. Funny how some things grow bigger in the cold parts of the country. Deer for instance - from what I've seen, the whitetails get way bigger in the upper midwest than what we ever see here in Georgia. Trees seem to work much the same - at least particular species do.

I wonder if the cold weather cuts down on diseases that might stunt things...?

In any case, the photos you've been sending are super.

George
 

Steve

Well-Known Member
psst. . . .t'aint me claimin' th' age of 'em. . . it's dem experts on whose testimonies Jack relies on when he presents his facts to us. . . . I be like dem reporters on d' news shows. . .jus' reportin' what I's been told about 'em. . . .

Don't ask me how they know the ages. . . . best yer gonna get me to say is they have to be estimating the ages or have some pretty evident proof. . . .
 

Kayak Jack

Well-Known Member
Aug 26, 2003
13,976
171
86
Okemos / East Lansing Michigan
I dunno, Steve, sounds like hanky panky to me. There are (at least) two definitions of experts.

#1 An expert is a drip under pressure.

#2 an expert is anybody with a briefcase, more than 100 miles from home.
 

bearridge

Well-Known Member
Mar 9, 2005
3,092
4
way down yonder
gbinga said:
I wonder if we ever did have trees like that in our part of the country.
How long a drive ta Joyce Kilmer? Half a day? That stand wuz left when they clear cut the Smokies....only stand left far az I know. What a shame! I caint forgive folks fer bein' that selfish 'n stupid. [sigh]
 

Jimmy W

Well-Known Member
May 1, 2006
611
1
north georgia, USA
George, there are a few pretty big trees left in north Georgia. The Gennett Poplar along Bear Creek Trail near Cohutta is at least 17 feet 9 inches around four and a half feet from the ground. Tim Homan's book "Hiking Trails of North Georgia" says that it is the second largest tree in the Chattahoochee National Forest. I don't know where the bigger tree is. Beech Bottom Trail in Cohutta has a big Beech and Hemlock that escaped being logged. I think that I read that one of them is a state record. There is another area with some large poplars left along Cooper's Creek. I saw one large poplar near Cochran Creek Falls once, but don't remember how to get back to it. The Smoky Mountain National Park has a few areas that didn't get logged also. I saw a Black Cherry tree there once that looked to be at least 4 feet thick ten feet up and the first limb was probably about 60 feet up. No telling what the lumber from that tree would be worth.