Howland Hill Giant Coast Redwood - 6th (2009)
Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. Another fused redwood titan.
by Mario Vaden
Note: When you have a moment, read the page about trunks Fusion vs. Confusion
Update January 2017: natural light was optimum around the trunk and revealed exactly where two large trunks fused centuriies ago to form the Howland Hill Giant, seen today like what seems to be one trunk. Its original two trunks were north and south. I can say with 100% confidence that Howland Hill Giant is no less than two trunks fused or merged. Just like Sir Isaac redwood it can be easier to teach someone on-site how these redwoods are formed. The clues relate to cambium, growth and linear shapes where the bark left a signature. It's like finding small details in a genuine $100 bill. I shared this with Chris Atkins when we stopped to see Howland Hill Giant. Not even 2 minutes after walking up to it, he concurred, and we also discussed how General Sherman many hours south in the giant forest has the same "fingerprint" of double trunk origin.
I left 6th largest archived in the heading which dates back to 2009. After new discoveries Howland Hill Giant is at most the 8th or 9th largest coast redwood. This is one of few redwoods where tips are offered to find it. Just keep an eye out for when you drive through the park. It can be spotted without a bushwhack. The name was not a roll of the dice. When first discovered by Michael Taylor in 1990 it was found to be one of the largest coast redwoods, the 6th largest known in those days. 2009 data was:
330 ft. tall, 19.1' diameter dbh and 33,500 cubic feet wood volume
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The photo below shows my van in comparison the the redwoods along this Howland Hill Rd. The van is a 2015 Ford Transit, slightly larger than a quad cap Ford F150 which I used to drive. The Howland Hill Giant is the largest coast redwood in view of this road.
The trunk grew slightly larger and Michael Taylor upgraded the diameter to 19.8 ft.. The 330' height is impressive for a titan size redwood. Although the lower trunk was not as wide as Lost Monarch, Arco Giant and others, its bole does not taper much. That and the extra height placed this coast redwood among the 20 largest known coast redwoods. It was once measured from the ground and stated to be the only trunk on earth known to have a stem 6 ft. diameter at 300 feet. But one researcher informed me that the trunk is not that wide at 300 ft.. The slow taper makes it look smaller than it really is.
Some speculated this is one of few true single stem coast redwoods titans, but that's speculation. In 2015 I looked more carefully at the trunk and one side suggested the chance of it being fused. But both sides of Howland Hill Giant, especially above 60 feet have tell-tell signs of fusion and included bark from centuries ago. Sometime when natural light shines from a different angle this will become quite as obvious.
Here are photos from two different years. The first photo was the cover of 101 Thing to do Southern Oregon / Del Norte magazine in 2014. The second photo has a woman from Brookings Oregon. and the third photo shows my Ford Transit van along the road that passes close to this Howland Hill Giant.
