Toothpick Alley - Fallen Redwood

Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park

Continued from: Largest Coast Redwoods

The spot below, I refer to as Toothpick Alley.

If you split Jedediah Smith park into 4 parts, this is in the SW quarter. The two men are Chris Atkins who discovered Hyperion in 2006, and researcher Steve Sillett, written about in length though a book The Wild Trees.

Similar shattered examples can be seen in each of the coast redwood parks. Like one which fell near Howland Hill Rd. around winter of 2012. This image shows how fragile coast redwood can be if it falls a certain way. It reminds me of PVC pipe. If you try to bend even small 1" PVC, it seems tough as nails. But if you swing the end against something hard it can shatter in tiny pieces. It should be evident why a skilled logger would have earned a generous wage in the coast redwood forests. One wrong fall would mean lost income of thousands of dollars.

Even going back to the 1880's ... loggers, particularly "choppers", were paid well.

The best redwood choppers (fallers) made upwards of $125 per month, or $1500 yearly. For comparison, the carpenters and blacksmiths earned around $60 per month or $720 yearly. Manufacturing workers earned about $33 each week or $400 yearly. The redwood chopper's work was certainly not easy, but they would have eaten like kings, and earned as much as two carpenters or four manufacturing workers.

My redwood pages have an interesting bit about history of coast redwood logging operations 1870s-1930s

Dos Anos Fallen Coast Redwoods Giant in Redwood National and State Parks