September: Calaveras Big Trees State Park
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"The Discovery Tree", now "The Big Stump"
The North Grove included the "Discovery Tree", noted by Augustus T. Dowd in 1852 and felled in 1853, leaving a giant stump, the only remainder of the tree.[3] It measured 25 feet in diameter at its base and was determined by ring count to be 1,244 years old when felled. At the time the grove was discovered by white explorers, the Discovery Tree was measured by Dowd and others as the largest tree, and it was cut down to advertise the tourist attraction.
Mother of the Forest - Nature's Sorrow
"Skinning this tree alive is as sensible a scheme as skinning our great men would be to prove their greatness." -- John Muir The tree that stands before you is a symbol of greed and thoughtlessness. In 1854 the "Mother of the Forest" -- so named for her beauty and size -- was stripped of her bark. Promoters schemed to ship the bark strips back east for reassembly at exhibitions in New York City and London. Once there, the tree's outer trunk was displayed to the fascination of paying crowds that numbered in the thousands. Look closely and you can still see where eight-foot sections were peeled away from the living tree. A crew of men worked at the tree's systematic destruction for ninety days. While some were eager to see evidence of the Sierra Nevada big tree, the act of the tree's ruin also sparked outrage. Though nineteenth-century views defined nature as vast, unending, and forever renewable, people condemned the event as a botanical tragedy and an act of sheer vandalism. It was through the Mother of the Forest's great sacrifice that a heightened awareness about the need to protect these trees was born.
For scale, placed next to Andrew McDonald's hand
This photo does not do justice to the size of these trees. First attempt at a vertical pano and a hand held one at that.
The iconic "Pioneer Cabin Tree", also known as "The Tunnel Tree", fell on January 8, 2017 after heavy rain and winds hit the area. Measuring 33 feet (10 m) in diameter, its exact age and height were not known. In the 1880s, the tree was hollowed out by a private land owner so that tourists could pass through it; the tree was chosen in part because it bore a large forest fire scar. The tree was estimated to be over one thousand years old. Some speculated that the hole bored through it was a causal factor in its demise. It was one of several drive-through trees in northern California.