“Hyperion” Beats out World’s Tallest Tree
by Mairi Beautyman, Berlin, Germany on 09.13.06
In California, the redwoods are battling it out. Seems the 370-foot Stratosphere Giant, previously known as the World’s Tallest Tree, isn’t that tall after all. At least three other trees in the Redwood National Park are taller, according to a team of California researchers. At 378.1 feet, Hyperion is the new World’s Tallest Tree—barring new discoveries. Next up is the 376.3 foot Helios, followed by the 371.2 foot Icarus. The measurements, when confirmed, will boot Stratosphere out of the Guinness Book of World Records. So how were these three missed? Experts are miffed, and find the discovery “a bit surprising considering that so much of the state's redwood forests have been logged,” reports the San Francisco Chronicle. Thanks tipster Mike. ::San Francisco Chronicle via ::Sierra Club Compass
Photo left, courtesy of Thomas Dunklin. Photo right, courtesy of John Blanchard/The Chronicle.
Sounds like somebody needs a hug!
Regardless, those are some really tall trees! I'm curious how they actually measure them.
A story about the discoveries of these amazing trees is in the October 9th issue of The New Yorker magazine. It describes how they are measured.
It is also a classic geometry problem.
Wow...we need to cut that baby down and make some hot tubs and patio furniture!!
Wow! I have touched a couple of the 350+' buddies of this one. They are simply amazing.
Phil Durt
Eureka, Ca.
The tall ones are pretty cool sticks, that's for sure.
Lately I've been enjoying the Big Boys in Jed Smith redwoods.
Grove of Titans exploring
The massive titan ones really have some incredible character due to their age, the peculiar shaped leaders and the massive spread of the trunk.
All in all though, the whole forest is excellent, from juvenile trees, to the ancients.
Cut em down
"Cut em down"
That has been the tag phrase for the last 150 years of West coast logging. 379 feet is a spectacular height, but trees taller than this were occasionally logged from that very watershed only decades early--trees as tall as 400 feet having been allegedly removed compliments of yours truly, Georgia Pacific. For goodness sakes we even have credible logging records of Douglas-fir ranging from 380 - 415 feet having been felled by loggers in the wind protected mountain valleys of the Cascades, Puget sound, and inland British Columbia. (415 feet is about 4 times the height of your average inter-urban second growth Douglas-fir, and roughly approximates a medium sized radio mast in stature).