Indian Well/Paugussett Trail TTs

[RyanLeClair]

Bart and I just scouted the banks of the Housatonic River looking for tall tulips. We were not disappointed. We both agreed we'd let Bob do more detailed measurements at a later time, so we only got accurate heights on three trees. They are:

--A hemlock at 126.3 feet tall. It was growing above the "well" for which the park is named, this "well" being a waterfall. There were a lot of other hemlocks ~100 ft.

--A tulip tree at 140' x 11'1". Growing up on a hillside. In a grove of tall tulips.

--And another tulip at 138.3 ft. A storm had knocked over a lot of trees, leaving this TT completely in the open. It was quite neat to see a very tall tree standing all by itself. It was growing right along the trail.

In addition, we got some straight-ups on a bunch of other trees. The numbers are:

TT -- 47.5 yds x 9'1". Has a badly rotted base with some mushrooms.

TT -- 45 yds x 10'4".

TT -- 48.5 yds x 8'7".

TT -- 47.5 yds x 10'3".

TT -- 47.5 yds x 10'4".

White Ash -- 40 yds x 12'6". Hollow and badly storm damaged.

[RyanLeClair]

Forgot about one more: the largest tulip, at 46 yds x 14'4"

[DougBidlack]

Ryan,

is the yardage from eye level or is it to the ground?

Doug

[edfrank]

Ryan,

I think should convert your straight up shots to standard heights from the ground. It is a perfectly valid measurement method and if anything tends to underestimate the height. http://www.ents-bbs.org/viewtopic.php?f=235&t=1645 You should specify they are straight up shots, but otherwise treat them as you would any other height measurement.

Ed

[RyanLeClair]

O.K. Ed, I will do that from now on. And Doug, these are yards from the ground.

So far Connecticut seems to be a lot of 140+ footers. It would be wonderful to find another 150'+ within the state lines, and the ultimate goal is finding a 160+ footer.

[edfrank]

Ryan,

I had meant to congratulate you on the finds and the posts you have been making. I added the post to the draft of the March magazine, and just skipped over that part of the process. Sorry.

Ed

[DougBidlack]

Ryan,

thanks. I figured that's what you meant but I wasn't sure. I hope you do find more 150 footers and a 160 would be killer!

Doug

[RyanLeClair]

No apologies neccessary, Ed :) Thank you for the complement.

Doug, do you have any free time in the next few weeks? We're hoping to hit some more spots before the trees leaf out.

[Bart Bouricius]

Hi Ryan,

After you left I found another Tulip that was 147' straight up with 440 rangefinder near the entrance to the Park. I think there is tremendous potential along the Housatonic River with all the state parks that are along its banks. Found Two others over 12' in diameter as well.

Bart

[Bart Bouricius]

Sorry, 12' in circumference of course.

Bart