Pioneer Cabin is gone. Last Sequoia Tunnel Tree.

I heard about this. Kind of bummed me out. I remember that tree from my childhood. . . Just visiting it with my dad, but still.

Rest in peace old girl.
 
Well , now that it's fell ... Wondering , what the log quality is like. Mebbee some Heart Rot down low. Does true Old Growth Giaguntum fetch a better coin at the mill than the everyday Coast's ?
 
I'm guessing no, not economical.

Ha we were in Cali ages ago, saw signs on Rt 1 for a drive-thru tree, said wth why not, drove and drove and finally got there...it was a snag about 30' tall and just barely wide enough to take theVW van thru it, the sides were really thin, tree was just barely fat enough. :|:
 
I captured this shot of the tree in 2010. Check out the sugar pine on right. Got to be at least a ten footer.

The understory in that grove (Calaveras Big Trees) is so dense in places it's impossible to get the compositions you'd like to get on the trees. As well the south grove in that park. In comparison the groves in SNP (Giant Forest) are a lot more clear under the trees. Much better shooting there.


Drv Thru.JPG
 
Well , now that it's fell ... Wondering , what the log quality is like. Mebbee some Heart Rot down low. Does true Old Growth Giaguntum fetch a better coin at the mill than the everyday Coast's ?

I don't think so. At least here they have huge growth rings and so much taper. Coasties have better grain even though they don't do as well
 
Very sad. I've always wanted to see some of those trees. I was just thinking the other night about trying to get out there before I'm too old to remember it. Did anyone notice the comment in the link about you can't cut a hole in a tree like that and expect it to live? 137 years is a long time. And probably would have been there several more lifetimes if not for a freak storm. I cut a 4 ft oak years ago leaning over a house. It was just a hull. Maybe 3 inches of wood in the widest point. That doesn't happen overnight. Trees can take way more than I ever thought they could.

Does anyone know the story of this tree? Why they might have cut a road through it? I always thought it may have been bad to begin with and they just widened out the bad place. Maybe not I don't know. Sad story though.
 
The hole was already burned through the tree hundreds of years before before the park came to be. The opening was adjusted so traffic could fit through. It was just an attraction in the day. The original cavity probably formed over a period of some 500 years. Give or take a hundred. The tree, I would guess some 1500 yrs.
 
I'm so glad we have THE resident expert to give us perspective on the story, Thanks Gerry :)
 
In the link, they say that the tree shatered when she hit the ground. I guess there is a lot of rot and not so much sound wood.
Moreover, I heard that the giant sequoia has a wood with poor qualities and no industrial use (basic information viewed from very far).
 
The hole was already burned through the tree hundreds of years before before the park came to be. The opening was adjusted so traffic could fit through. It was just an attraction in the day. The original cavity probably formed over a period of some 500 years. Give or take a hundred. The tree, I would guess some 1500 yrs.

Lots of healing callus growth around the edges of the hole.
 
Stephan, there are 3 drive through trees in this region, which I call home. First and foremost is the one and only bonafide Drive Tru Tree in Leggett. It is the Gueniss book of records holder. Now the second drive-thru-tree is in Holmes Flat on the south fork of the Eel River, and it's just a snag ready to fall down. Fact, it's being held up from falling by cables. The third is in Klamath and it's just a stub.
 
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