Magical Tree Stumps

 Hullo! I am off for a walk in the woods today. The heat has finally calmed down and it's nice to go for a walk again!

But do you see that?? It's only early September...

And the leaves are falling... sigh... this summer went soooooo fast!

But... winter is not here yet!

I wanted to show you this fallen tree... It came down in a windstorm last winter.

And it's hanging in thin air!!! It came down and got wedged between some standing trees. See that one tree on the right that is leaning badly? Yep, it's holding this one up!

See... there's more of it.

It's kind of weird hanging in mid air like that.

I imagine it will take decades to rot... unless that leaning tree falls and then it'll be a big mess!

I was going to sit on this stump for a nice photo opp but...

See that... there's all sorts of pitch coming out of it...

And this little bear does not need pitch on his bum!

Which reminds me... do you see this beary weird tree stump?

It's a Douglas Fir stump and... it's covered with bark on top.

That's because Douglas fir roots graft to each other underground and multiple trees can become one organism. When a tree is cut down... the cut can expose the whole organism to disease and pests and rot. Soooo... the remaining trees in the organism heal that cut over by growing bark over it... cool no?

See this stump...

And that little ridge along the right... that's coming out from the cambium layer, between the bark that we see (which is dead bark) and the "wood" of the tree. That thin layer is the growing layer and that's where the tree grows... so this stump is healing itself...

Here's another one!

You can also see it on tree roots that are on the trail. But these are probably still connected to growing trees.

See how it's oozing across the open wood trying to cover it up. Soooo cool!

The other thing we noticed this year... with the cold and wet spring is... all of the Big Leaf Maples are covered in powdery mildew.

See... ick!

We found a tattered red heart tied to a tree! It's from Covid time... Stay Safe!

We always try to stay safe!!

Alright... here we are at a Geocache location. This one is frustrating because the first time we couldn't find the cache container... and then the second time we found the cache easy peasy! Let's see what it's like this time!

This old tree trunk has soooo many holes!!!

Nothing in here...

And nothing in here!! Except me!

Or in here!!

Ugh. No luck this time!! But it was fun looking.

And we're off again! 

Ooooh... here's a photo opp!!

Yes... just that little hint of sun... nice!!

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial on healing Douglas Fir trees! You can find more info at this link (https://vancouverislandbigtrees.blogspot.com/2013/04/douglas-fir-stumps-healed-by-helpful.html)