The Wild Trees

Who isn’t captivated by redwoods? The Wild Trees, by Richard Preston, will draw you in with its story about a few absolutely compelling characters who simultaneously set out to discover the world’s tallest trees in the redwood forests of Oregon and California. They are rewarded for their perseverance, passion and nerve, and so is the reader.

Unbeknownst to me, most redwood forests were virtually unexplored before the 1980s, except by loggers who were only interested in taking redwood forests down. The Redwood National Park was established in 1968 and it was declared to contain “the Mt. Everest of all Living Things”, the Tall Tree. However, there were no additional explorations or challenges to the claim of tallest tree until Steve Sillett, Marie Antoine, and Michael Taylor come along.

It all starts with a road trip. Steve Sillett and friends from Reed College drive down to Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park in 1987. Off the beaten path, Sillett proceeds to climb to the top of a redwood with his bare hands. Along the way, he finds all sorts of parasitic growth he cannot recognize, but pockets for further study. At the top, Sillett is amazed to find a huckleberry bush growing out of soil in the redwood canopy and feasts on huckleberries. The climb is a risky and dangerous endeavor, but results in a rich reward.

Sillett has discovered a new world. Ascension into redwoods was previously not done. With that one act, Sillett has come upon a “Vertical Eden” not previously known. When climbed, he finds that redwoods reveal an entire ecosystem at the top, including all sorts of previously undiscovered animals and plants. He perfects his climbing technique and he and his wife Marie, a lichen expert and tree climber, go on to further climb and explore the canopies of tall trees. Along the way, they measure and name some of the biggest and tallest trees in the world, including Screaming Titans, Lost Monarch, Kronos, Hyperion and many, many others.

The author does a great job depicting the attention, skill and technique required for climbing redwoods. The risk of falling is great and danger looms large, which builds up the suspense of the story. Also, the element of discovery – whether it is finding the biggest and tallest tree, or a new lichen or ant type, it all adds to the quality of the story being told.

The book even has a shout-out to Atlanta. No redwoods there, but gorgeous trees and Peter Jenkins. Jenkins is the arborist who founded Tree Climbers International in Candler Park. Jenkins teaches the author how to climb, so he can join Steve and Marie in the redwoods.

Added to my list of things to do? Visit redwoods and learn to climb tall trees. After you read this book, you’ll want to climb, too. A great book. Highly recommended.

Additional Links:

Tree Climbing International
Steven Sillett @ Humboldt U.

Richard Preston redwood photo gallery

Books, Non-Fiction, Review | RaeRae | May 31, 2007 7:00 am

By DJ Cayenne, May 31, 2007 @ 9:38 am

RR: Sounds like we need to organize a road trip to San Francisco for an outing to the Muir Woods. We can all stay on Weezie’s couch.

It’s also interesting to learn that the tree climbing guy in candler Park is actually a “going concern” – I’ve always wondered what that guy was up to.
By Dr J, May 31, 2007 @ 10:31 am

I’ll be very surprised if the tree climbing guy in Candler Park isn’t swamped by all the new bidness this book brings his way.
I read this book immediately after RR put it down (no, I did not give it to her for Mother’s Day just so I could read it when she finished it–okay, maybe I did), and I can’t recommend it highly enough.
Richard Preston absolutely captivated me with the first article he published about these guys in the New Yorker a couple of years ago. I remember thinking, “Wow, that article was worth the price of my year’s subscription.” He is a phenomenal writer. I can’t think of anyone else who explains rather arcane science so well to people like me, decided non-scientists, and combines that ability with dazzling narrative skills and a droll sense of humor.
The characters he describes in this (non-fiction!) book are unforgettable, and they literally open up a new world for us. Again, everybody knew about these 300-foot trees but no one had ever thought to climb them before, and the people who did found previously undiscovered–unimagined, even–ecosystems. While reading this I wondered what new worlds are around me that I haven’t been curious enough to discover. And I really wanted to go climb a tree.
That’s the highest praise I can think of for this book.
By RaeRae, May 31, 2007 @ 12:57 pm

What kills me is that these guys are the same age as some of us. I was in college when Sillett was in college. I was not, however, climbing redwoods with my bare hands and discovering new worlds. Not even close! Yamma Yamma.
By Dr J, May 31, 2007 @ 1:41 pm

Harmonic convergence: Have any of you Yamma Yammans read “Boonville”? (I think RaeRae did.) It was recommended to me as “the west coast version of ‘A Confederacy of Dunces.’” It’s not even remotely that, but it is a pretty funny novel about a former U of M baseball player in small-town Northern California. That’s a deceptively simple description of the book, by the way, but it fits for this crowd.
By DJ Cayenne, May 31, 2007 @ 2:22 pm

Hey! *Boom da Boom Boom* Your Mama!

Rae Rae is talking crazy if she thinks that new worlds were not being discovered at the Sorbonne of South Florida.

Dr J: I have not seen read “Boonville,” but I am looking forward to your post.
By Weezie, May 31, 2007 @ 6:18 pm

You vastly overestimate the size of my couch. But you all are welcome to come on out and climb trees. I will definitely pick up this book. And I have no comment on the social value of whatever it was I was up to in the 80′s in South Florida. . .