Trees from Coast to Coast

            I have been lucky to grow up among the world’s tallest and largest (and to many biased Californians, the most beautiful) trees. A giant sequoia called General Sherman is the largest in the world, with a base diameter of about 102 feet. A second redwood tree called Hyperion is the tallest at approximately 379 feet. These trees are massive! As a young student, I attended many class fieldtrips to see such trees. We’d sing silly odes, learn about their unique color and barks and admire their unfathomable sizes.

 

Hiking through California redwoods is reminiscent of a natural sanctuary. The trees are so tall that they block out most sunlight except for a few warm, magical beams. It’s therapeutic to feel so small beneath such large, swaying limbs. Some people travel across the world to see these beloved and astonishing trees. Muir Woods, in Marin County, California for example, is dominated by hundreds of redwoods stretching impossibly high… people even acquire permits to be wed under their shade.

            I was surprised by the differences of the trees in the Adirondacks. I soon recognized the remarkable presence created by the particular types of trees in a park, as the energy of the Adirondacks felt much different to me. Hiking through the Adirondacks provided a different feel... the trees seemed less dominating and rather drew attention all around me rather than just up. A few of the many major trees in the Adirondacks in comparison are sugar maple, American beech and yellow birch. Sugar maples grow to be around 50 to 70 feet tall, far beneath the 379 foot Hyperion. Its bark is gray and smooth. The beech is similar in height and bark, but its leaves are distinctly different. The birch is again similar in height, but features a yellowish bronze bark that peels off into small curls.

            What I personally draw by observation of the differences in flora is that much of the beauty of the western species lies in their incomparable size, which lends them and energy of power and strength, while the beauty of Adirondack growth lies in its intricacies. The trees are much lower but each has a familiar scent, or leaf, or bark, or sugary sweet substance that differentiates it from its surrounding neighbors. Though such differences may seem clean-cut, it’s amazing to actually feel how different the parks feel in part because of the trees that inhabit them. More information about the various trees of the Adirondacks are featured below.

http://www.esf.edu/aec/adks/forestcomm.htm