Giant California Redwood tunnel tree falls over. I never got to see it. :(

[ximmy]

"We lost an old friend today," wrote Jim Allday, who posted a picture of the fallen tree, splintered at its base, on Facebook.

Visitors used to be able to drive through the giant gap in the tree, but more recently it was only open to hikers.
The park is home to giant, ancient trees known as sequoias. These trees can be as tall as 250 feet, and live to an age of more than 1,000 years.


https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Redwood-Tunnel.jpg



https://cnet1.cbsistatic.com/img/E7K6YzqcLUnPyMKDLwh7AjVqia0=/670x503/2017/01/09/26ce5bfe-94da-49af-9a88-d9a6c51a6484/pioneercabintree.jpg

http://pop.h-cdn.co/assets/17/02/1483975436-screen-shot-2017-01-09-at-102316-am.png

https://cbsdallas.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/fallen-tunnel-tree.jpg?w=420&h=236


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAfMVtt-FhE

[Neuro]

That's what happens when losing the will to live, due to slow or rapid degeneration of your particular life force, mostly a combination of both!

RIP Tree!

[crimethink]

Don't fret! Come see ours:

http://www.drivethrutree.com/


Another of the drive-through trees went over in 1969:

https://www.nps.gov/seki/faqtunnel.htm

[Glass]

How long ago was that old tree cut? And people must have thought all this time that it was such a rare monster of a tree they had to cut a path through it. Chances are it was just one of tens or hundreds of thousands of big wood trees that were razed.

Cut and left as a freak show display so people would not guess the true amount of damage that had been done.

[monty]

How long ago was that old tree cut? And people must have thought all this time that it was such a rare monster of a tree they had to cut a path through it. Chances are it was just one of tens or hundreds of thousands of big wood trees that were razed.

Cut and left as a freak show display so people would not guess the true amount of damage that had been done.

According to this it was 137 years ago. I walked through it about 1992.


TVOI News (https://www.facebook.com/TheVoiceOfIdaho/?hc_ref=PAGES_TIMELINE&fref=nf)

23 hrs (https://www.facebook.com/TheVoiceOfIdaho/posts/1142982995800283) ·

One of northern California's most iconic and beloved big sequoia trees has sadly been toppled by a storm.
The "tunnel tree," so named for the tunnel that had been carved into its broad base 137 years ago, was located in the Calaveras Big Trees State Park, according to The Los Angeles Times.

"We lost an old friend today," wrote Calaveras County resident Jim Allday, who posted a picture of the tree known as the Pioneer Cabin Tree on his Facebook page Sunday.

According to NBC News, the sequoia's trunk was hollowed out in the 1880s to compete with similar trees in Yosemite National Park.

Back in the day, visitors could drive through the tree, but more recently, it was saved primarily for hikers traversing a 1.5-mile loop.

The trees in the state park are estimated to be more than 1,000 years old, reports the Los Angeles Times.
"This iconic and still living tree — the tunnel tree — enchanted many visitors. The storm was just too much for it," the Calaveras Big Trees Association said on its Facebook page.

The park was memorialized by the famed naturalist John Muir, who once described the park as "a flowering glade in the very heart of the woods, forming a fine center for the student, and a delicious resting place for the weary."

[Hitch]

According to this it was 137 years ago. I walked through it about 1992.

I walked through it about that same time. If I remember correctly, we drove through that tree as well. 4 young boys and our parents in a green station wagon. That same station wagon we watched the original Star Wars movie at a drive in theater.

[monty]

I walked through it about that same time. If I remember correctly, we drove through that tree as well. 4 young boys and our parents in a green station wagon. That same station wagon we watched the original Star Wars movie at a drive in theater.


I remember some of my relatives saying they drove through it. I don't remember the year.

[Horn]

I walked through it about that same time. If I remember correctly, we drove through that tree as well. 4 young boys and our parents in a green station wagon. That same station wagon we watched the original Star Wars movie at a drive in theater.

I went through with 2 sisters, our wagon were that drab chrysler gold color.

Herbie the Luv bug were in the theaters at the time.

[milehi]

It's wasn't a Redwood, but a Giant Sequoia. Both magnificent. I visit Trail of 100 Giants a couple times a year when camping on the Kern River, and there are always a couple that have fallen, although I can't see a hole in the tree helping.

[crimethink]

It's wasn't a Redwood, but a Giant Sequoia.

Technically, both are "redwoods" (Sequoioideae). The Sierra variety are Sequoiadendron giganteum (Giant or Sierra Redwood), and the Coastal variety are Sequoia sempervirens (Coastal or California Redwood).

http://conifersociety.org/conifers/conifer/sequoia/

https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/shirley/sec12.htm

[EE_]

Never made it to see the Giant Sequoias, but did get to see the Coastal Redwoods. Spectacular trees!

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9RWv5bWH7h4/UEabkGmAOpI/AAAAAAAAGQM/g46vp1e2Sd8/s1600/Sequoia%2Bv%2BRedwood%2BComparison.jpg