Largest Coast Redwoods - New Era of Discovery: 2014 - 2016
38,299 ft.3 (+) | 29.2' dbh | Last 1/2 page covers redwood explorers 1963-2006
Continued from: Coast Redwoods Main Page
Copyright 2014 - 2016 | by Mario Vaden
In a nutshell. Redwood National and State Parks now has the tallest and widest redwoods in the USA (world), surpassing giant sequoias for girth & height. Coast Redwoods below are samples of new 2014 - 2016 discoveries; over a dozen diameter records, titans or champions. The largest (disclosed) is over 20 ft. diameter; see Grogan's Fault. The #1 was removed from it's page heading because other giants were found; but kept under wraps. The menu slot for #1 was substituted with The Dark Horse as a place-holder. Note - the end of this page explains why redwood photos & stats are withheld from 2014 - 2016 discoveries.
There were enough 24 ft. (+) diameter redwoods that I quit counting. Plus a 235 ft. weeping Hemlock and many 18 - 22 footers. One near 1307 points using the AF champion scale may tie 1321 point General Sherman in the near future. My first mention was the blog New Redwood Discovery, exceeding hopes that started with coffee in Orick's Palm Cafe. Ever since the 2010 discovery of Episkopos in Redwood National Park, it was evident more must exist in the area. Dog Soldier of 2008 was also indicative, as were later finds like a 24 footer reported 2014 near the Lost Man Creek & Coastal Trail area. It opened a new era of discovery.
Update: another new champion found in RNSP, January 30, 2016, named "Hail Storm":vigorous, live top, broad crown. Its apparent excellent condition after recent dry seasons make it's condition an extra discovery.
Read more below the image ... myself, shown for for scale
John Montague of Humboldt had a 2014 find in Redwood National Park with a circumference 107.8 ft or 34.31 ft. ground diameter: 27 ft. at chest-high. Weeks later I found a redwood 27.4 ft. diameter dbh. May 10, 2015, John reported another diameter record. Confirmed 29.2 ft. diameter dbh, single trunk well over 25,000 cu. ft.
John and Michael found another 24.5 ft (+) coast redwood July, 2015. John discovered a 25 ft. diameter redwood late July, 2015. Altogether, so many I quit counting. August 2015, I photographed one more 24 ft. (+) redwood that Chris Atkins mentioned in RNP near the coastal trail. In 2015, a previously known coast redwood Super Colossus was measured for a whopping 28.7 ft. diameter. It was spotted over 10 years ago. Although I quit counting, John is a stickler for data, so we don't lose track. By the end of 2015, the spread sheet grew to 250 coast redwoods, 18 ft. to 29 ft. diameter.
The discoveries launched Coast Redwood ahead of any Giant Sequoia for widest trunk diameter. Numbers used for giant sequoia often state ground level measurement because it inflates numbers to make them sound bigger. But for both ground level or diameter at chest-high / dbh, coast redwood became the widest in 2014 to 2015. From what I understand about Baobabs in Africa and a Montezuma Cypress in Mexico, it means Coast Redwood should be the widest single trunk species in the world.
Atkins and Hildebrant the math whiz from Humboldt, number-crunched 38,299 cu. ft. for Grogan's Fault, the biggest single stem redwood (disclosed). That. is the most reliable volume estimate. Over 300 ft. tall, over 20 ft. wide, over 1296 points. 38,299 ft.3 was just the main trunk excluding reiterated stems will add even more volume. The extra stems grow from the trunk above the ground and count as part of the structure unlike ground-sprouts of Lost Monarch which are extra trees hugging it.
By 2014, were also aware of more in the league of 40,000 ft3 - 50,000 ft3 that may have fused some extra stem in a bygone millenium; but to the eye appears single. It reasoned something this large or larger remained in the parks. The photos and stats have not been published, but are recorded on the ever-growing 18' - 29' list.
Read more below the image ... Chris Atkins shown for scale
These may require a climb by a research team to pin-point volume more intricately.
At least for Grogan's Fault, Michael Taylor was looking at a point cloud that reveals trunk like a 3-D model. An excerpt of his feedback - - - "This tree was over the top impressive ... the trunk barrel in the point cloud shows the tree to be single but elliptical. It would not surprise me if the total volume of this beast is over 40K cubic feet. "
Regarding Melkor, May 2015, Michael Taylor wrote that it's main trunk is 33,500 cu. ft.. Related, Del Norte Titan's main trunk is 33,670 cu. ft. with 9.5% volume from 43 reiterated trunks. Illuvatar has 12.3% in over 100 reiterated stems and it's main trunk is just 32,890 cu. ft.
In light of the new giants discovered between 2013 and 2015, Grove of Titans in Jedediah Smith no longer has the largest coast redwoods. Montague's list of 250 coast redwoods 18' to 29' diameter are mainly north of Garberville, with the superlatives located in Redwood National and State Parks.
Basically, 2014 became a Year of Discovery. Then 2015 and 2016 continued a new era of discovery.
www.curlyredwoodlodge.com (707) 464 - 2137 @ 701 Hy. 101 S. Crescent City, CA 95531. Click photo for more .. 8 / 2014 
Explorers of the Redwood Coast
Among the explorer network, Ron Hildebrant goes back years with Michael Taylor. After Dyerville Giant of Humboldt Redwoods fell March 24, 1991, after a strorm, Michael and Ron teamed-up to calculate height using marks on the adjacent "Cat Scratch" redwood. Dyerville Giant was discovered around 1966 by University of California scientist Paul Zinke and graduate student Allen Stangenberger. Taylor and Hildebrant realized the fallen Dyerville Giant was actually an unknown potential world record.
In February 1993, by phone, Zinke told Michael Taylor to watch for his other finds tagged 12, 13, 14, or the Three Peas in a Pod. Taylor and Hildebrant first became friends around Christmas 1990, and their first expedition together was February 1991 in Humboldt Redwoods State Park searching for tallest redwoods. Between that winter and the next summer is when Taylor began his quest for largest coast redwoods. Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park was Taylor's starting point.
Michael Taylor and Steve Sillett met autumn 1994 after Taylor spotted a super tall coast redwood. When Sillett arrived with a climbing team to measure, he noticed a small #12 tag, meaning it must be one of Zinke's Peas in the Pod. This is the same redwood they named Telperion. The group also spent a night up in it high canopy during a small rain storm, sleeping in customized hammocks called Tree Boats, acquired from New Tribe of Oregon. Telperion fell during the next strong storm 1 or 2 months later. The team may have escaped death by a matter of weeks. By 1996, Sillett climbed and confirmed Taylor's Mendocino redwood as a new world record for that era; 367.5 ft. And they found others together around the same time like Pipe Dream in Humboldt Redwoods State Park.
1987, Sillett's first exposure to the famous redwoods overlapped enrollment at Reed College where he studied botany. He eventually went camping at Prairie Creek, involving his legendary free-climb of a big redwood with friend Marwood. They used a smaller adjacent redwood's limbs to reach 70 feet, then leaped into the big one, and to the top. They obviously made their way down, but with some conflict with yellow jackets. The same week, Taylor, who had already experienced the redwoods at a younger age, was 15 miles away with a tour group in Redwood National Park.
In 1996, Sillett was hired to teach at Humboldt State University, and moved to Arcata from Corvallis, Oregon, three years after meeting Taylor. Sillett was very busy but managed to squeeze in a few hikes and bushwhacks with Taylor. Sillett also applied to Redwood National Parks at that time to climb coast redwoods for research. That is when Redwood National Parks established a permit process for scientists. There was no established climbing permit process for redwoods before. This is when the study and climbing began in Iluvatar and Atlas Grove redwoods. Sillett already knew Robert Van Pelt, a long-time explorer of other Pacific NW forests. He contacted VanPelt, taught him redwood climbing techniques, then Robert (Bob) joined the Atlas Grove study project. In 1997, Sillett called Taylor and started teaming with him to explore Redwood National Park on foot for more tallest redwoods. 1998 is the year Sillett and Taylor discovered Lost Monarch up in Jedediah Smith, the largest coast redwood known for that era.
Soon after in 2000, Atkins heard about Taylor. They met and teamed together for many explorations including discovery of the world records Helios and Hyperion in 2006. Earlier, Atkins broke the world record himself in 2000, with Statosphere Giant in Humboldt Redwoods State Park; it displaced the Mendocino coast redwood for at least four years. Together they found at least another hundred redwoods 350 ft. and taller.
We should note Paul Zahl, who, in 1963, led a small National Geographic expedition to what later became Redwood National Park. Finding no world record at first, he flew back east, but returned shortly and discovered the Libbey redwood: a world record that held the title for quite a few years. Zahl seems one of the shortest-lived redwood explorers, but I think the effort deserves attention. His discovery was also useful leverage to help secure Redwood National Park. Much of their quest did not have the present-day trail system to get around. He practically had to bushwhack the midst and banks of Redwood Creek. They finally found an old logging road to get into new spots.
Most of these discoverers are named in Forest Giants of the Pacifc Coast by Robert Van Pelt, or Richard Preston's non-fiction redwood adventure book. This is part of the network in a nutshell. Check out my review page on that Preston book because another explorer of a different sort is mentioned: G. F. Beranek.
Around 2008, I was contacted by Steve Sillett and Michael Taylor independently about one or two months apart. Taylor invited me to explore and explained his methods. Sillett invited me to check out potential study plots and explore with him and Dr. Robert Van Pelt (aka The Lorax). Eventually Sillett offered me part time work assisting Chris Atkins to measure other tallest known redwoods associated with a LiDAR project. In those years and following, I found new notable or record trees with them, found a few on my own, and met other people involved with the research network: Marie Antoinne, Jim Spickler, Giacomo Renzullo, Anthony Ambrose, Dr. Hiroaki Ishii and Kenneth Fisher. This is where I joined the redwood forest network.
For the LiDAR redwoods, Chris Atkins preferred camping, and we spent many evenings enjoying campfires and talking about the day's adventures as fog rolled-in over the redwood park. The few times I helped Steve Sillett, cabin lodging was in style, with home-cooked meals.
Later, Zane Moore and John Montague entered the scene. Zane especially for albino redwoods, and John particulary for large coast redwoods. As I lean a bit more to champioin photography locations in the redwoods in the future, I can see Zane or John picking up steam through remaining unexplored valleys of Redwood National and State Parks. I still have strong interest, but I started photography as a profession through my redwoods experience and plan to focus on that niche more.
Image ... giants from of our recent adventures
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The reason for withholding redwood photos and stats
We withheld some amazing redwood photos and stats after learning about a couple people who have a vendetta contrary to forest conservation. I posted a few redwoods, but the full extent of discovery was not unveiled. Partly why Grogan's Fault was not nominated --- its not the only one with many points. Years ago we felt we could share most new discoveries to enhance viewer's understanding of the forest's existing potential. But a few irresponsible people meant closing the curtain on redwoods that responsible people would otherwise enjoy learning more about.
Some people asked if we finally found a coast redwood the size of General Sherman. No answer will be provided yes or no, because if nobody knows, then scores of people will continue in the Sierra Nevada and make-due with the old prepared areas where fences separate trunks from visitors.
I will continue to share some nice photos of appreciable sized redwoods and forest. But stats from 2014 and later years will be omitted, including another champion discovered January 30, 2016; John's list of 250 coast redwoods 18'-29' dbh; and CA's northernmost albino redwoods. The exception will be researchers and a select handful of redwood explorers.
New finds will not be shared with Ascending the Giants of Oregon, either.
www.curlyredwoodlodge.com (707) 464 - 2137 @ 701 Hy. 101 S. Crescent City, CA 95531.
Here is another Coast Redwood found recently with Chris Atkins.
A rock solid stovepipe that dominates this grove.
Image ... found with Chris Atkins
