[lcometto]

Last week, I decided to track down more of the giant cedars that grow in Lower Mainland, British Columbia that conservation hero, Randy Stoltmann describes in his "Hiking Guide to the Big Trees of Southwestern British Columbia." The first stop was Lynn Headwaters Regional Park. The steep mountainsides of the Lynn Valley filter significant of rain and precipitation down their steep slopes throughout the year, nourishing the giant trees that grow there. Several trails that cut into the old-growth forest are shared by hikers and mountain bikers alike. Though much of the original woody vegetation has been logged and sizable stumps remain as monuments to an earlier era, there are a few huge western red cedars found on the park’s unmaintained west trail. Most hikers know about the 600 year-old specimen on this “Cedar Trail” (picture one) but only a small fraction know about the side trail closer to the beginning that leads to an even larger cedar (picture two) as well as a big Douglas fir. Though short, this side trail is rough and takes some route-finding skills to follow.

Lynn Headwaters Regional Park, North Vancouver, British Columbia Portfolio: www.lucascometto.com

Lynn Headwaters Regional Park, North Vancouver, British Columbia Portfolio: www.lucascometto.com

The next stop was Cypress Provincial Park. Mr Stoltmann’s “Hiking Guide” describes a short path leading to a small patch of large trees near a ski lift in Cypress Provincial Park. Though the path can be found, it has fallen into disrepair since the book’s publishing and one must bushwhack and navigate up, down, and around blowdown to follow it. Regardless, the big trees that Mr. Stoltmann describes are still there. Some are alive and some are decomposing but they grow close to each other and look beautiful together.

Cypress Provincial Park, North Vancouver, British Columbia Portfolio: www.lucascometto.com

This trip is part of my larger attempt to build a guide to British Columbia's best old-growth forests. Check it out here! http://www.lucascometto.com/cascadia-british-columbia

[Brushwork]

Nice to see! Thankyou!

[lcometto]

Glad you enjoyed it, Brushwork!

[ThursdayHiker]

Great trees! Your guide is well done also. My hobby is finding old growth groves in the Middle Fork Snoqualmie valley and tributaries. Even though this area was extensively logged in the 30's and 40's there are some amazing pockets of old growth that survive. Most are hard to get to which of course is why they survive. I am a bit careful about advertising the exact location of these trees because I'm worried about the understory getting trampled and the also damage to the tree roots. I noticed in some of your pics from BC the the soil around the base of some of the trees look pretty beat up. Some notable trees in the Middle Fork are "The Taylor Beast". This lonely behemoth Doug Fir is 11 ft in diameter. Near by are a half dozen gnarly Cedars up to 12 feet in diameter. The biggest Cedar is a beautiful 13 foot specimen near the CCC road trail. This one is in an excellent grove with about 20+ other cedars that are at least 8 feet in diameter. The tallest tree we found was a Doug Fir near the Goldmyer Hotspring property. It measured 305 feet tall. The tallest Doug fir in the world is 327 feet. There are other tall trees in this area that may be even taller. So far I've identified 17 distinct groves in the Mid Fork and it's tributaries. So much good stuff to be discovered. Stephencobert@comcast.net

[lcometto]

ThursdayHiker, those are some amazing finds! The Taylor Beast, in particular, sounds enormous and must have been pretty thrilling to see. Off-trail big tree hunting is a respectable skill in itself. You're right that the groves I wrote about have been visited extensively - which may explain damage to the tree roots. All of these trees exist on some trail system (whether it's still kept up or not!). Regardless, looking forward to your future posts, if you decide to come back with photos of your finds.

[ThursdayHiker]

Here are a few WTA reports with pics: https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/trip-reports/trip_report.2018-12-06.2967221230 https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/trip-reports/trip_report.2018-10-27.4372956316 https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/trip-reports/trip_report.2018-05-19.6724838934 https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/trip-reports/trip_report.2018-04-12.4177626661 https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/trip-reports/trip_report.2018-02-15.5847676724 https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/trip-reports/trip_report.2018-01-04.8630560845 https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/trip-reports/trip_report.2017-12-14.5176354040

[lcometto]

ThursdayHiker, the cedars that you found near the Otter Falls area in two different reports look amazing. I love how distinct and strange cedars look when they grow for centuries. By the way, you've got some great vertical panorama shots of these tree - particularly the Douglas firs. I usually just focus the camera on the base.