Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/118157
MER M Y E DA R . . SU 1 10 ❂ T RIP P How to Find a Big Tree by Jim Sutherland p h o t o g r a p h y b y I r a S u t h e r l a n d Seymour Valley, North Vancouver, B.C. Three hours along in our hike into the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve, we finally reach it. The Temple Giant! The third-tallest Douglas fir in the province! One of the tallest in existence! We clamber all around the monster trying to find an unobstructed view of its 85-plus metres, and, in an act that will provide archival evidence of the past two decades of Mountain Equipment Co-op's colour palette, four dozen of us crowd together for a photo op at its bedroom-sized base. After a reverential hour spent examining it and other trees in the so-called Temple of Time Grove of Giants, we then reluctantly begin scrambling down the mountainside for what we expect to be an uneventful journey back to North Vancouver's Lynn Valley neighbourhood. Except that our hike leader wants to make one more stop. We've already experienced a Gordie Howe hat trick of mountain weather – rain, hail and bright sun – but apparently it's still not time to head home. Leaving the parkway trail, we plunge into a mostly cleared area near the tumbling waters of the Seymour River to look at stumps. And that's when the enormity of it all strikes (and "enormity" is absolutely the right word): before they were felled almost a century ago, these trees must have been huge, taller even than the Temple Giant. In fact, they were quite possibly the tallest trees on earth. Yes, Vancouverites, according to the growing body of experts and enthusiasts who track such things, it's conceivable that the biggest trees the planet has ever known once grew within present-day city limits, reaching pretty much the exact height of today's forest of downtown condos. Vancouver Islanders needn't feel left out, either, because it's equally possible that the Island's trees pipped those of the mainland. (More on the science and history in a minute.) In fact, there's reason to believe southern B.C. trees may have been even bigger than those of California's vaunted redwood forests. Yet good luck trying to find survivors – or even stumps – today. There are a couple of guidebooks, but they were published more than a decade ago and don't reflect recent finds or, sadly, losses. There's some information on the web, but it's scattered and doesn't provide a lot of way-finding information. And there are a few well-known parks with pockets of old-growth, among them Port Alberni's Cathedral Grove, West Vancouver's Lighthouse Park and even Stanley Park, but they are home to few record breakers. So just HOW TO GROW A BIG TREE how does one seek out the Mount Seymour's temperate rainforests biggest trees in B.C. and, receive at least 50 per cent more rain than Vancouver. Couple this with a therefore (bear with us a nutrient-rich soil from recent glaciation and a wind-sheltered valley, and the result: moment), the world? Well, the easiest way is ideal conditions for record-sized trees. WESTWORLD p26-37_Summer101.indd 29 >> S U M M E R 2 0 1 2 29 4/19/12 7:17:18 AM