Wednesday, September 10, 2008
A Guy, A Rope, & A Redwood Tree
Jim plays a small part in The Wild Trees. The unnamed naturists, of which he speaks, play an important role in the book. Michael and Chris hike into the unknown almost every weekend in search of the tallest tree. If one finds an undiscovered giant they are allowed to name it. Michael has probably named the most!
Watching this National Geographic segment will introduce you to the main characters mentioned in The Wild Trees. Enjoy!
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7 comments:
This is great! I became interested in Redwoods when our family went to Muir Woods in California, so when this book came out I thought I'd enjoy it. And yes, I did put it on my list of possibilities for the Non-Fiction Five Challenge. :) Being that I didn't know anybody that read it, other books made it to the finals. Had I seen this, the outcome may have been different. :) Thanks, Maggie.
Ah, that is nice of you to say Joy! Oh, I hope you win the best challenge host for Blog Appreciation Week! I like that you get people to read nonfiction and open their eyes to alternative entertainment. Good Luck!
Yikes!! Those boys are brave. (Or maybe crazy!)
"The Wild Trees" is not a book I would have chosen to read. But after seeing the youtube clip of the redwood trees, I'm putting it on my list! I'm one of the "height-challenged" people who would be terrified to be at the top of one of those trees. Heck, I'm afraid to climb to the top of my semi-dwarf pear tree, and it's only about 20 feet tall. Thanks, Maggie, for promoting the book this way.
Stella, in the book they all face a fear of heights at some point during their ascents. Most work through it, but Michael is doomed to be a tree measurer from the ground up. ;D He is the naturalist at the beginning of the Nat Geo video.
Ew, there is a pen & ink of the top of Hyperion (I think that's its name) included in the book where it is hard to find all the botonist (4) in the canopy. Fascinating stuff!
Most copies of the book have no photographs. A few B&W illustrations, but no photos.
As one who enjoys west coast trees and taking pics, I decided to assemble a webpage so others could see the setting of those California redwoods.
Not just redwoods in general, but the same redwoods mentioned in The Wild Trees. Here is the page:
Grove of Titans and Atlas Grove Redwoods
You will find at least 3 redwood photo album links on that page, and for video clips too. In the photo albums, after switching to slidewhow view, look under each frame for tiny text that enables even larger photos views.
Grove of Titans is the grove in the chapter about the Lost Valley and the Day of Discovery, and Atlas Grove is the one in Prairie Creek Redwoods to the south.
I've got Adventure Tree in the pics too.
And there is a short video clip showing Kronos and Rhea.
Cheers,
M. D. Vaden of Oregon
Why thank you for stopping by and providing the link, MD Vaden. It will be fun to go into your photos and virtually walk through the forest. :)
This is indeed a fascinating book. I've read Preston's other books as well and he's always interesting. Our library participates in a book discussion for a senior citizen program, and this was my choice along with Ecology of a Cracker Childhood by Janisse Ray. They go together as she is passionate about the long leaf pine in Georgia. You wouldn't think that would make for interesting reading, but it is one of my favorite books.
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