A Coast Redwood Giant which fell in Stout Grove of Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. Winter 2014. The tree reveals a little bit of a story. See the man in the pit? The redwood germinated no higher than where his feet are standing about 6 feet below the present grade. A remnant of wood remaining down there not shown in the photo appears to be a smaller older piece of the tree’s trunk and I suspect it rooted even deeper yet. Grade changes in the area and sediment are from Mill Creek or the Smith River, but likely the Smith River in this case .. floods in past years or centuries.  Select image to enlarge.

The flare of the roots was buried. And the trunk looks almost as girdling were occurring .. not from rope or wire, but from compression of surrounding soil and restriction of outward growth. It’s worth noting that Stout Tree in the grove shows more of a root flare. And it seems possible that the larger Stout redwood could be the younger germinating in a later century with better growth,  and the fallen older, struggling and growing at a slower rate. Hard to tell without sampling the rings.

Side story …

The man in the pit has found some of the Grove of Titans. As large as they are, I found it interesting he had never found them all. He’s lived in the area for a long time and scouted around a lot over the years. Having encountered a couple before they were discovered for their scientific or documentary importance.

See more Info and Photos at the Coast Redwood Main Page

Stout Grove Fallen Log