Redwoods 2012: The Stuff Is Back!!!

5/15 2:15am wake to get to Syracuse with Dave, Jake and Colin. Ugh! The four of us have seven 50lb checked bags and 8 carryons. We fly to Sacramento where we meet Ken and go to UC Berkeley's Blodgett forest. We see a poster summarizing the results of the data we collected last year. Giant Sequoia Seed Production was presented at the Blodgett Forest Research Station 2012 Research Workshop.

5/16 Ken gives us a tour of Blodgett. We see the masticator in action. It is used to test surrogate methods of fuel reduction for fire prevention. We drive to Davis where Terri gives us a tour of the Cal Fire seed bank. The giant sequoia seeds we collect end up here. The process Teri demonstrates has the capacity to take bushels of seed cones of any size and sort them down to a batch of seeds which are over 95% viable. Next we drive to Fresno where we spend over $500 on groceries. Finally -- with our poor rental car at twice its rated capacity -- we drive to Whitaker.

5/17 Take a tour of trees. From years past, we currently have pcord in 287, 236 and 155. I shoot the crossbow at 288 and get a good set of branches on the third try. Colin does ground crew duties and works on isolating those branches. Dave, Jake and I climb 287 and work on flip flopping teaching progressions. 287 is a huge tree.

5/18 Colin suffers the first of his three blue sheets when the car runs over his foot. Oops! We retrieve the slightly lost pcord in 288 and Colin starts on the first ascent... where he gets his second blue sheet as he is forced to swing out of the path of a 50lb. branch which crashes toward him just as he leaves the ground. Poor Colin. At least he only has one blue sheet to go for the remainder of the trip! While Dave and Colin work on 288, Jake and I take the crossbow to 195. Ole Dead Eye Jaker hits his target branch on the first shot.

5/19 I spend most of the day climbing 155 with Dave while Jake and Colin run errands on the ground. Wanting larger branches than what Jake shot yesterday, Dave and I haul the big shot up into 155 and shoot at 195. I'm anticipating epic failure, but it goes fairly well. We nearly hit the target branches before running out of scott shot. BTW, you can shoot cones instead of scott shot. They work nearly as well. In the evening we outline specific plans for our first few class days.

5/20 Dave gets the students. Colin, Jake and I do lots of chores. Then we complete a complex rescue scenario in mini giant sequoia. We finish all our work just as the students arrive. We take them for a hike around our amazing forest!

5/21 Jake and I spend the day taking turns at the top and bottom of the mini giant sequoia (which it turns out is "only" 120' tall). All the students climb up. It is a chance to work on their ascension and rappelling skills in a small tree.

5/22 Jerry, Laetitia and I spend the day shooting at 288. We use the repo rocket (a 2L water bottle with webbing) to reposition the line. It works like a champ. We finish the day by climbing to the high point they were able to shoot with the crossbow.

5/23 Padawan learner day. I do an advanced techniques workshop with Jerry and Brian. In the afternoon we are back in 288. I go to the top to swap and reposition the pulley. Then work with Jerry and Laetitia on flip flopping. Jake gets the fourth and final blue sheet of the trip when the crossbow misfires and the string snaps across his hand. For some reason the safety has failed on our crossbow and it is now completely frozen. The crossbow is out of commission for the remainder of the trip.

5/24 Spent the entire day working with Jerry and Laetitia as they made steady progress up 288. We finished the day at the top of the tree. Success!

5/25 It is cold and snow flurries make occasional appearances. I climb 287 with Jerry and Brian. In the afternoon we prep for the overnight. Hauling hammocks and lanyards to the top of 236. Students all reach the top of the tree before sunset. It is a cold night.

5/26 Snow falls all night long. Dave and I are sleeping on the ground and we are buried under several inches. Everyone in the tree has a hammock full of snow. It is epic! At 6am students start coming out of the tree and everyone is on the ground by 8am. Back to the cabin to warm up and rest. Kinda warm up... there is no heat in the cabin this year (but there is electricity and phone, Whitaker is like a box of chocolates). In the afternoon Tammy and Bruce arrive. I teach Brian the basics of doubled rope technique while Dave leads the rest of the students on a hike.

5/27 We come up with the worst airport shuttle plan ever. Seriously. I'm up at 4am to drive the first batch to Fresno. Then back to Whitaker and loading the car for the second trip. Jake and I go to the Amtrak station where we take a very nice train and two busses to reach the Sacramento airport. From there is it just a red eye flight to Atlanta and a morning flight to Syracuse. I'm home the afternoon of the 28th and ready to sleep for at least 13 straight hours.