Forest Giant Falls

Back to Wildflowers

Back to Contents and Directions

Down by the river, at the hunt club's old boat landing, there was a centuries-old white oak tree. It stood next to the boat ramp, in the edge of the parking area, with a swing hanging from a three foot thick limb thirty feet up. One of the older members said that it didn't look like it had grown any since he first saw it back in the 1940's. It looked perfectly healthy, though. No dead or shedding limbs.

One day some one noticed that the swing was almost touching the ground, thought the ropes must be stretching. The next day, in dead calm weather, the tree fell. There were a half dozen people at the landing, with trucks and boat trailers. The tree fell across the parking area, hitting nothing.

With Old Stoney along side, for scale. We're not that over confident.