Hello from Northeast Georgia!

[JohnAtl]

Hello All,

I am very much a newbie to hiking and trees. Seeking out trees seems to be an interesting form of geocaching. However, rather than trinkets, one is rewarded with views of magnificent trees.
I'm planning a trip to see the Gennett Poplar near Ellijay, Ga. and ran across this site. Much to my delight, I discovered there is a monster hemlock near the GP. Thanks to user eliahd24 for his post http://www.ents-bbs.org/viewtopic.php?f=73&t=3569 that led me here.
Hemlocks have always seemed to be one of the underdogs of the tree world, and therefor are special to me. I can't imagine one 12' in diameter. I'm excited to see one 12' tall!

Thanks to the admins for this site!

Regards,
John

[bbeduhn]

Welcome,
You're in an excellent spot for tree hunting. The Cohutta Mountains and the Chattooga River beckon you. Northeast Georgia is a gem for tall trees. Check out the measuring guidelines, get some gear and get out in the woods!

[eliahd24]

John- the creekside forest near the Gennett (or Gannett) Poplar is pretty sweet. The trailhead is second growth stuff, then all of a sudden... maybe 1/2 mile in the trees just start getting BIG! There's definitely some monster hemlocks and they are still alive (I last visited in Nov. 2013). If you have time you need to also put Cooper Creek trail on your list of places to visit. Another short trail, but LOADED with some primary forest about 1 mile into the hike. Including some tuliptrees that are as big as the Gannett Poplar. ALso Sosebee Cove is fantastic (near Vogel State Park).

Happy Hunting and feel free to email me anytime: eli_dickerson(at)yahoo(dot)com

~Eli

[Bart Bouricius]

John,

Welcome to NTS. I can't imagine a hemlock at 12' diameter either, because there ain't no such animal. I used to post and even misspeak substituting diameter for circumference all the time, however I think I have gotten a little better about that recently. Still a 12' circumference hemlock is quite impressive. Most posts use circumference rather than diameter because most trees are not perfectly round in cross section, so circumference is a more accurate and comparable measurement. Hope you enjoy your hikes and get into tree measuring. There is a lot of impressive forest in Georgia to explore.

[JohnAtl]

I stand corrected. Which is better than being beside myself, I suppose.
Let me rephrase: "I can't imagine a hemlock with a
Click on image to see its original size radius!"

:-)

[jamesrobertsmith]

Welcome!

I went to high school in Ellijay. First place I ever backpacked was the Cohutta Wilderness Area. (Although I never saw the Gennett Poplar!)

[pdbrandt]

Welcome to the forums from a fellow tree lover and geocacher.

[pattyjenkins1]

For an account of a climb in the Gennett Poplar, see "Climbing the Gennett Poplar," Volume 3 #1 of Tree Climber published in 1990 by Tree Climbers International in our "Newsletter Archives". Interesting article!