Avoiding "widow maker" trees in the eastern US

[Simon Kenton]

I never had much of a problem identifying dead trees out West but I’m finding it more difficult in the Northeast US. Does anyone have any good techniques for IDing trees that may be more susceptible to falling in the night? With some many deciduous species, it makes it more difficult to tell which trees are dead.

[Stephen M]

Stay away from Ash for starters.

 

[HkNewman]

Just to add besides obvious hazards (read a PCT blog where a woman set up camp at night; she woke up next morning to find she tied her tarp off to a large pine half severed and leaning over her side of the tarp)

A forestry worker from Yosemite said beware of oak because it was so heavy (talking about hazards at a camp a few mo ago).  Sometimes oak branches just fall off … usually small but sometimes large.

http://articles.latimes.com/2000/aug/04/local/me-64350

That’s West as the humid East has white oak but same thing:

http://texasforestservice.tamu.edu/main/popup.aspx?id=1287

 

ed: add

 

 

 

 

[Alex H]

We usually just look for the “killer tree” markers ;)

[Bob Moulder]

Of course, there is an Official Gummint Guide for that! :^)

[JCH]

Bob, down here in the south that’s pronounced Gub-mint. It goes well with Sammich and Looky Hyuh.  But you prolly knew that :)

[Bob Moulder]

Oh, yeah… I’m New York by way of Dixie. ;^)

@Paul (K!) I look for loose bark, a lot of fungus (especially higher up on the trunk), bug and woodpecker holes, dead branches with no buds (even in the winter trees have buds), cracks in the trunk or where limbs meet the trunk, etc.

[Bob Moulder]

Of course, there are some areas where a large number of perfectly healthy trees have been taken down by ‘straight line winds’ and tornados (yes they can happen in the Northeast… we had one near us a few years ago) and there isn’t a darn thing you can do to predict that, aside from being aware of approaching weather systems. And ice storms are capable of felling huge swaths of forest.

[Simon Kenton]

Great stuff all around, thanks everyone!

 

 

[Andy F]

There is a sad yet informative thread here:

https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/44922/

Being the analytical and safety-minded sort, I found the police report when I heard about the incident because it includes important facts relevant to avoiding this sort of thing. Here are the facts which I found relevant to the incident:

Camp 3 on Ohio’s Shawnee State Forest backpacking trail

Tree fell west to east.

It was a dual-trunked, healthy scarlet oak with a chest-height diameter of 10 and 15 inches, with the 10 inch trunk striking the victim.

It was uprooted by the wind.

The root to victim distance was 49′ 8″.

Winds were recorded at up to 76 mph.

The boyfriend ran to the Boy Scout camp, alerted a ranger, and dialed 911.

Coroner arrived later and pronounced victim dead at the time of the 911 call (4:50 pm).

 

The fact that it was a dual-trunked tree is the important point to note. Multi-trunk trees have the root system of a single tree, yet they support what is essentially multiple trees.

[Bob Moulder]

That’s a good point.

However, being 50 feet away and healthy, I think most of us wouldn’t have given it a second thought, and probably not even a first thought.

Last year I was camped in an area surrounded by trees (as virtually all are in these parts) when a series of quite violent thunderstorms was passing through. The thought crossed my mind that a tree could be knocked down very easily because the root systems grow on a comparatively thin layer of soil on top of granite formations. I’ve seen many healthy trees toppled.

But the odds of having a tree fall on us are probably more minuscule than being attacked by a bear, and far less than the well-hashed stat of car accidents on the way to the trail head.

 

[Kevin Babione]

As someone who usually sleeps in a hammock while backpacking I probably look at the trees more closely than most.  I look up for obviously broken or dangling limbs and to ensure the tree from which I’m hanging is alive.

I can’t worry about trees in the forest falling on me during a big storm – I’d never go out unless the weather was going to be perfect and I have to plan even my weekend trips months in advance because of our crazy calendar.

Look for the obvious and don’t dwell on the “well – what if.”

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