The worlds largest Christmas Trees. Goat Marsh - Toutle Trail - Red Rock pass

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Rollin
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The worlds largest Christmas Trees. Goat Marsh - Toutle Trail - Red Rock pass

Post by Rollin » September 7th, 2021, 4:05 pm

A couple of years ago I posted a topic asking about the Nobel Firs in and around the Goat Mash RNA. I was looking for information on the largest trees in the area. My wife and I went exploring and found the world's largest known Noble Fir.

I'm pretty sure this is also the area that has the second highest biomass per acre in the world (after the redwoods). Anyways I made a video from this past weekend with some of the details and footage.

Enjoy!



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Splintercat
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Re: The worlds largest Christmas Trees. Goat Marsh - Toutle Trail - Red Rock pass

Post by Splintercat » September 12th, 2021, 7:07 pm

Great report and video! Predominantly Noble forests are among my favorites in the life zones as. you work your way up toward the tree line on Mount Hood. The Dollar Lake Fire showed them to be pretty vulnerable to fire, so that underscores the rarity of the groves at Goat Marsh.

There was once an ancient Noble fir grove along the ridge that is followed by the Bennett Pass Road from the pass to the Terrible Traverse -- especially the NE-facing slopes. Most of these big trees were logged in the 70s and 80s. I've counted 350+ rings some of of the stumps, and there are a few big trees left that I would put in the 200+ year range.

Thanks for posting!

-Tom :)

ThePortlandeer
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Re: The worlds largest Christmas Trees. Goat Marsh - Toutle Trail - Red Rock pass

Post by ThePortlandeer » September 13th, 2021, 6:07 am

I too love these stands. The Sheep Canyon trail that leaves from near Blue Lake also has a great abundance of these wonderful, large trees, that similarly are the predominant species in the area. I hope the monument offers suitable protection to these stands.

pdxalex
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Re: The worlds largest Christmas Trees. Goat Marsh - Toutle Trail - Red Rock pass

Post by pdxalex » September 13th, 2021, 7:55 am

A very interesting video. Thanks for posting. I love the noble fir stands along the Toutle trail. While I haven't seen any specimens quite as impressive as the monster you show, it is very common to see trees that are at least 4-5 feet in diameter and well over 100' tall.

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aiwetir
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Re: The worlds largest Christmas Trees. Goat Marsh - Toutle Trail - Red Rock pass

Post by aiwetir » September 13th, 2021, 6:01 pm

I've only seen the small stand on the way up to Ape Canyon / Plains of Abraham. One thing I've noticed is that there are very few large downed trees and all of the trees are about the same age.

I would expect at some point these things fall and it takes another few hundred years for them to turn to unnoticeable piles. It seems like that stand at least is right at its peak, every tree is huge, about the same age and standing still.

I wonder about the succession of these stands, like what happened when and how it might look in another 600 years if left alone.

Are these other stands like that?
- Michael

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Rollin
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Re: The worlds largest Christmas Trees. Goat Marsh - Toutle Trail - Red Rock pass

Post by Rollin » September 19th, 2021, 3:42 am

Like I was saying in the video the largest known noble fir isn't in its prime. There are only a few branches with some needles. I'm amazed these big trees stay alive with the same amount of needles as a 10' tall tree would have. I imagine the growth rings would be micro small at this point in its life.

That said the tree next to it is in great shape and almost as large. I'm not sure what the next largest one would be. It might be a different one in that stand. Here's the LIDAR of the area. We visited the area in black and a few other places. This area is the one they are talking about when they talk about with the biomass greater than any other besides redwoods. All of the trees are marked with metal tags, even the young trees (if you look closely in the video you can see them). The areas in purple also have some big hits on Lidar. I'm going to try to get out there sometime. I might try to find that Plains of Abraham spot too. Let me know if there's any other leads!
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P.S. I always liked camp Noble up Herman creek too. That tree is at a surprisingly low elevation for Noble firs.

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