Okay, okay.... this one is kind of silly if you're not an avid seeker of monster trees:
I was surf-fishing up at Kalaloch this afternoon, and had to run up the highway a few miles for some tackle when I found this little gem:
A few miles north of Ruby Beach, between MP 170 and MP 171, a small sign points to "Duncan Memorial Cedar" and a small road on the east side of HWY 101.
The Duncan cedar is 4.1 miles from the highway, and you literally drive right up underneath it. The sign says "world's largest" ( 178 ft high / 19 ft diameter ). While it's an awesome specimen, it looks sort of out of place all alone in a 10-year-old stand of hemlock and spruce.
What made this 8.2 mile side-stop worthwhile was: at 1.9 miles from Hwy 101, there's a little sign: "Old Growth Cedar Trail". The "trail" is only a couple hundred yards long, but it offers a view of some incredible specimens ( 8+ ft. dia. DBH ) of Western Red Cedar ( Thuja Plicata ) in its natural environment. A tiny speck of ancient cedar grove, but worth the little side-trip if you're in the area or you don't have your own boat to row over to see the cedars down on Long Island in Willapa Bay.
No fish. Just lots of pelicans and sea-lions and a couple otters in the surf.
photo hereUPDATE 10/28/20 There is NO sign at the old-growth cedar trail. When your odometer tells you 1.9 miles from Hwy 101, slow down and look for the opening to the trail on your right.
"I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each."
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"I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each."
Drive to Staircase on Lake Cushman in southeast ONP, take the trail on the west side of the river and follow sign to big cedar. It fell in late 1990s but is no less awesome. Wife and I saw it just a few months after it fell. i revisit it every few years to observe the changes; its remarkable how things start to break down.
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
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"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
Ski...thanks for posting this.....I'll check it out next time I'm out that way. Another terrific spot to see some truly amazing specimens of Thuja Plicata is the Big Beaver valley....there are some jaw dropping immense trees up there.....worthy of the 11 miles or so to reach them....
another really amazing 'big' tree is the "Big Tree" that is to be found several miles north of Trout Lake south of Mount Adams.....it too is adrift in a forest of small trees.....but is worthy of a look....
"Altitude is its own reward"
John Jerome ( from "On Mountains")
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"Altitude is its own reward"
John Jerome ( from "On Mountains")
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