Shopsmith Forums

On my last visit up north I stopped a place I use to hang out at back in the day. It is called Cathedral Point and is near Boulder Junction WI. This area is known for the 120 foot tall trees that look a lot like this.
I took this picture to use as a wallpaper on my computer system.
So who among you know what kind of tree we are looking at? I know some of you will know.

If anyone wants a higher res version just ask.

Ed

The bark looks Pine like. The leaves/needles are too out of focus.

So a pine of some kind?

It looks a lot like Ponderosa Pine.

Considering its location I would guess old growth white pine.

Essentially a guess.

JPG wrote:Considering its location I would guess old growth white pine.

Essentially a guess.

A guess or not your answer is correct.

The other thing that area is known for is this.
Ed

Oops! I shoulda been careful!

A few years ago I read a Pen Turning article about a guy who successfully turned and sealed some of this wood into a pen.

Chris

JPG wrote:Considering its location I would guess old growth white pine.

Essentially a guess.

So what makes it "old growth"? Is it just a matter of age? My understanding of old growth is that it's close grained, due to a lack of rain?

beeg wrote:

JPG wrote:Considering its location I would guess old growth white pine.

Essentially a guess.

So what makes it "old growth"? Is it just a matter of age? My understanding of old growth is that it's close grained, due to a lack of rain?

I always understood that "old growth" meant that the forest was old/ancient and unharvested/unmolested.

My understanding anyway ....

rjent wrote:

beeg wrote:

JPG wrote:Considering its location I would guess old growth white pine.

Essentially a guess.

So what makes it "old growth"? Is it just a matter of age? My understanding of old growth is that it's close grained, due to a lack of rain?

I always understood that "old growth" meant that the forest was old/ancient and unharvested/unmolested.

My understanding anyway ....

I agree with you. Old growth are trees that have never been harvested since the Europeans came here. They tend to be tight grained because they grew more slowly for some reason. I am not sure that it was because of less rain. Maybe because most of the current forests are a result of contamination with genetically altered species they grow faster and have wider rings. Yes the biologists study old tree rings to try to find out why they are the way they are but has anyone seen a study of current tree rings? There are lots of very large trees of many species around the country that I would not consider "Old Growth". The Red Woods we saved in California certainly fall in the old growth category. They have been around for hundreds and hundreds of years. Who put out the forest fires before WE came along? The Bristlecone Pine in the western US is known to be 5000 years old. Yes there are trees today that are that old. It is considered the oldest known life form on earth.

Google the logging industry. There were huge "old growth" trees all over this country. Most of the pictures show logs 4' or larger in diameter. Look at any picture of the Civil War. There are almost no trees in any picture. Same is true of pictures in Europe during WW I. We had cut all of them down for homes, ships and all manner of other things.