(photo courtesy of National Park Service)Somehow I missed this story - I'm a week late!! - but researchers have confirmed that a redwood named Hyperion in a remote Northern California forest is the world’s tallest tree. It's the world's tallest living organism.
And estimating 10-12 feet per floor, it's, what, twice as high as any building in downtown Colorado Springs?
That's a BIG tree.
Steve Sillett, a forestry professor at Humboldt State University, recently climbed Hyperion and measured it at 379.1 feet, one foot taller than previously thought, reports the AP.
Hyperion, which grows in Redwood National Park, edged aside the previous record holder, a 370.5-foot redwood called Stratosphere Giant in nearby Humboldt State Park.
If it weren’t for damage caused by woodpeckers at its top, Hyperion could have reached 380 feet, researchers said.
Officials would not pinpoint the exact location of Hyperion because they are worried that too many visitors could damage the tree’s delicate ecosystem. Much like our old bristlecone near Pikes Peak, sometimes the best things are left known but unvisited.
5 comments:
From what I understand about Hyperion, even if a map was given to it's exact location, very few people would make it to the tree.
I've been into the woods finding two major groves already:
Grove of Titans / Atlas Grove
... and am not sure if I really would want to seek Hyperion. I may give it one try, but am not on a mission for that one. Apparently it's been a hard bushwhack even for the men who measured it.
And I believe the accounts are accurate, because in researching and locating 2 groves, and measuring the tree diameters, everything written by Richard Preston in The Wild Trees and other online articles has proven accurate.
With new clues drip dropping monthly, we made up a jingle to keep up plugging away until we find a route leading us to Hyperion, the redwood.
Redwood Creek has surely run dry,
Somewhere else Hyperion must lie,
Lost Man Creek we aim toward,
For a tall tree hunt reward,
Onward we go with one extra try !!
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What an elusive tree. There's several stories, yet so little to go on. Feel like a little kid looking for these though.
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Hyperion-Bound
Brookings
Hey there @ Hyperion bound ...
There seems to have been more than a drip drop of clues at a Vaden redwood page for Hyperion very recently. Check it out. Linked to it just in case. A bunch of text just showed up I've never read there before.
Sure hoping to see Hyperion. It's odd how much difference there is between the two most authoritative internet pages. One for starters, is Wikipedia which has near nil. The other by an mdvaden seems to grow every season. Some is cryptic but its got more than anything else.
Been looking for clues again and just found a blog by some guy Mark who apparently is focused on Lost Man Creek, apparently finding a redwood like 370 feet tall. If you search for Behemoth of Lost Man Creek, you should find that. Its among the latest clues I've seen.
I've been searching for clues about Hyperion too and came across hyperionclues.com. It seems to list everything I've read already and more. Hoping to find Hyperion soon.
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