Ancient Trees of Vancouver

09/02/2024

The world’s fourth-largest cedar tree, known as the Willaby Cedar, went missing after 2008 when major windstorms devastated the surrounding forest near Quinault Lake. In the years that followed, what began as a forest of young saplings flourished into an incredibly dense, nearly impenetrable hillside of millions of young hemlock trees, each around 20 feet tall, thanks to 16 years of uninterrupted sunlight.

For decades, the Willaby Cedar was a well-known landmark on the slopes above Quinault Lake. However, after the storms, attempts to locate the tree proved difficult due to the tangled mess of fallen logs and closely packed young trees. Some even feared the cedar might have blown over during the storms, given its now-exposed position.

Guided by a promising satellite image, we decided to brave the thick hemlock forest. After enduring numerous scrapes and pushing through the dense underbrush, we finally reached the tree. Photographing it proved nearly impossible—Eve had to climb a significant height up the cedar, while I balanced on an old fallen log, just to get above the young trees that had completely engulfed it. This is what zero-visibility rainforest looks like.

In my lifetime, I hope to see the forest around this immense cedar mature, gradually returning to the more open, inviting appearance it had before 2008, as shown in the second photo taken before the storms.

08/01/2024

This giant is among the largest trees on Earth outside of California’s remaining old-growth Redwood forests. It is the world’s second-largest cedar tree and grows alone, surrounded by a sea of incredibly large stumps. Discovered in 1975 when loggers were cutting the area clean, the tree is estimated to have begun growing as early as the 6th century, with some estimates placing its origins even before the time of Christ. For millennia, this giant stood among equally majestic ancient trees. However, around half a century ago, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) approved the clear-cutting of the surrounding forest. The life of this great redcedar was narrowly spared when two loggers, realizing its significance as the largest known cedar in the United States, halted the operation. Evidence of their initial attempt can still be seen in the chainsaw marks on the front of the tree. Located on state school trust lands managed by the Department of Natural Resources, the tree’s salvation was largely due to the efforts of the Forks Lions Club, which successfully lobbied the Commissioner to remove the tree from the timber sale. While this solitary giant was saved, the surrounding forest and tens of thousands of other giant cedars were lost, leaving a sobering reminder of the cost of such clear-cutting operations.

07/31/2024

Near the shores of Lake Quinault lies a trail that leads to one of the largest Douglas fir groves on Earth. Here, you will encounter pockets of trees standing 80-90 meters (262-295 feet) tall, with some firs reaching 4 meters (13 feet) in width. For reference, British Columbia has only one fir tree that exceeds 4 meters (13 feet) in width, while this trail boasts several, along with numerous 3-meter-wide (10 feet) firs. This singular grove of Douglas firs likely resembles the historic accounts of the fir groves once found in downtown Vancouver.

07/28/2024

This tree was once believed to be the world’s largest western red cedar until a new champion was discovered in 1977. In 2014, this mammoth tree partially collapsed, with roughly one-third of its massive labyrinth of limbs, roots, and growth crumbling to one side. What remains is still a magnificent maze of endless shapes and structures. This is the Kalaloch Tree, a uniquely singular cedar of unparalleled complexity. Its contorted, labyrinthine structure has baffled millions for years.

07/28/2024

The Tree of Life

05/11/2024

The Northern Lights and the Hadia Village at the

05/11/2024

The Haida Village at and the Northern Lights

05/11/2024

’s Haida Village and the Northern Lights last night in Vancouver

05/11/2024

An ancient grand fir and the Northern Lights

05/11/2024

An ancient Douglas fir and the Northern Lights in Vancouver

05/11/2024

An Ancient Western Red Cedar and the Northern Lights in Vancouver this early magical morning
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04/25/2024

Embark on an unforgettable journey through Vancouver’s ancient trees this spring, summer, and fall! Join our exclusive walking tours to encounter majestic giants that have stood for centuries. Discover Canada’s largest maple, 600+ year-old Douglas firs, and sprawling cedars nearing a millennium in age.

As you marvel at these ancient wonders, you’ll gain insights into the ecological significance of old-growth forests and the challenges they currently face. These trees have witnessed history unfold long before Vancouver’s founding.

Secure your spot now for tours available throughout this year and into the next. Don’t miss this unique opportunity—book your adventure today! (Link in bio)

04/22/2024

The second largest tree that I’ve found. This red cedar has been officially verified as being 5.15 m wide (17 ft diameter) by . With that measure this is one of Canada’s largest trees, and is even more significant knowing 20 meters beside it grows an even larger cedar, the largest tree I’ve ever found. This tree demonstrates the immense base these flaring cedar giants are capable of making over thousands of years. I feel blessed that these two ancient mega cedars revealed themselves to Ian Thomas, TJ Watt, and myself that misty cold January day. Long may these trees grow in peace.

03/21/2024

It is International Day of Forests, and as we celebrate the remarkable biodiversity and ecological importance of our ancient forests, it’s crucial to confront the alarming threats facing British Columbia’s old-growth ecosystems. This newly discovered ancient cedar we found stands as a symbol of the majestic beauty and irreplaceable value of these forests. However, recent revelations about the manipulation of logging deferrals by the Ministry of Forests paint a troubling picture. Areas like the Goat River watershed, the west Chilcotin region near Itcha Ilgachuz Park, the north Babine region, the Klanawa watershed on Vancouver Island, and North Vancouver Island, including Tree Farm Licence 6, are all at risk. Despite recommendations to spare significant areas of remaining old growth in these regions, the ministry has rejected proposed deferrals, favoring logging interests over conservation. This pattern of disregard for scientific advice mirrors past experiences, casting doubt on the government’s commitment to forest protection. As we navigate the delicate balance between economic interests and environmental preservation, the fate of our old-growth forests hangs in the balance. It’s imperative that we prioritize conservation efforts to safeguard these irreplaceable ecosystems for future generations.

03/12/2024

“The largest known western red cedars have not yet been discovered. Why? After visiting the forests on the west coast of Vancouver Island you will understand. Drenched by 10 to 20 feet of rain per year, laced by raging torrents, broken up by fragmented swamps filled with icy muck, filled with downed wood, and lodged in a dense understory of tough, thick, and often thorny shrubs, these forests are no friend to the casual hiker or recreationalist, and have generally been explored only immediately before being logged. This is the home of Bigfoot and ghost bears and other creatures that might find their homes only in a forest ten thousand years old. Fire is a stranger, and through thousands of years without it the cedars have grown older and more numerous, until they have come to dominate whole blocks of wet, swampy lowlands and valley bottoms.”
- Robert Van Pelt

Pictured: A recently discovered western red cedar we found in near the Tofino area.

02/06/2024

The largest tree I have ever found. Ian (pictured) has climbed 9 ft up this mega tree to appear in the frame, with the exceptionally large base of this western red cedar being consumed by the understory. Ian Thomas, T.J. Watt, and I stumbled upon this mega cedar last month, a tree which is no doubt one of the largest cedars now known. Trees of this size used to dot the Pacific Northwest, but over a hundred years of aggressive logging have reduced the productive, still-standing groves of old-growth cedar to a mere fraction of their former abundance. This tree is exceptionally rare, a needle in a haystack of endless second-growth/tree plantations. Its location will remain a secret for the safety of the tree.

01/21/2024

The ancient Brook Cedar: A babbling brook flows through the roots of this ancient western red cedar, standing imposingly. This tree fills a small ravine with its immense size. The water from the brook disappears into the root system, creating a constant artery flowing through this incredibly large tree. Positioned just a stone’s throw away from two much larger trees, all three form an awe-inspiring trio of ancient cedars growing in a triangular harmony. Although we ran out of daylight and couldn’t measure this giant, a team in March, including myself, will go back and officially verify the size of all three.

01/15/2024

The recently discovered, unverified, near-record-breaking cedar has a hyper-complex structure—a testament to the twisting, contorting, and inherently unpredictable nature of these millennia-old giant cedars. Due to the overwhelming public response in attempting to estimate the size of this intricate tree, I’ve highlighted it in blue and shared multiple angles to encourage more guesses. With these trees, every perspective reveals a different aspect, and the base exhibits a flaring effect due to the tree buttressing against gravity and featuring some large burls. All these factors contribute to the challenging task of measuring such a tree accurately. When visiting these majestic trees, it is crucial to leave them undisturbed, and we made an effort to minimize trampling during our measurements. The tree’s location will remain undisclosed, and a secondary team will verify the measurement to come to a conclusion on its official size.

01/14/2024

We may have stumbled upon a record-breaking western red cedar, its dimensions evoking images seen only in hundred-year-old black and white photographs. This majestic cedar shares its space with another near-record-sized companion and an additional giant, forming a triangular trio of colossal trees just 30 meters apart. Of the smaller trees, one of them is a top 10 cedar, and another has a stream flowing through it. Time seems to have stood still here for nearly 2000 years, sheltering these trees from fire, wind, and human interference. The significance of this find is such that a second team of tree hunters will verify its size before the grand reveal. Our meticulous measurements confidently place it among the top 5 cedars, with the largest measurement contending for the title of the largest cedar tree on earth. Before the official size is disclosed and agree upon, I pose a question: how wide do you think the tree in the photo is? The current record-holder, the Cheewhat Giant, stretches 5.8 meters wide. What’s your guess? Stay tuned next month to see just how accurate your estimate proves to be.

12/20/2023

The broadest cedar in Vancouver, the last of its size within the city confines. Perhaps, a tree akin to this once flourished where your apartment, office, or house now stands. Yet, only one colossal cedar of such magnitude endures within Vancouver’s city limits.

10/29/2023

Possibly the world’s largest know maple tree 🍁 It can be found in Olympic National Park on the shores of Lake Crescent. This species of maple is called the Big Leaf Maple and as the name suggests it had the largest maple leaf of any maple species.

10/09/2023

In the presence of ancient cedars, one often finds it challenging to part ways, ensnared by their potent energy and magnetism. Found by , , and myself just last month on the shores of an unnamed lake, this majestic western red cedar has graced the Earth for nearly a millennium, reaching a formidable width of 4 meters (13.1 ft). Standing strong and healthy on the traditional lands of the Ditidaht First Nation

09/18/2023

The Double Helix Cedar, a western red cedar tree we recently found growing near Oyees Lake. It has an almost flat, 2-dimensional trunk shape that then perfectly twists upon itself like a strand of DNA. Red cedar trees grow in a myriad of different shapes, each one different from another. Among the tree species of the Pacific Northwest, the western red cedars often baffle me with their endless display of forms. To my eye, these forms often resemble fluid dynamics.

09/10/2023

We've just found what is currently the 8th tallest tree in Canada! This magnificent Douglas fir soars 87 meters into the sky and boasts a width of 2.63 meters (DBH). It thrives in an extremely rare fragment of ancient Douglas Fir forest known as Pipe Dream. stumbled upon this patch of remaining forest on the edge of a clearcut, and it's home to massive 500-year-old Douglas firs, many of them towering over 80 meters in height. I've never seen a Douglas fir forest of such grandeur and size.

Our mission for the day was to reach a LiDAR pin that Jon had noticed marking an 87-meter tree. When we finally reached it, we were awestruck not only by its extraordinary height but also by its impressive width. While this tree currently ranks as the 8th tallest documented, recent advancements LiDAR scanning technology have revealed several 80+ meter tall trees and even a select few reaching over 90 meters. This marks a new era in tree exploration, and with this data, we can gradually create a map of Canada's largest trees.

There's no doubt in my mind that this forest is one of the greatest natural treasures left in Canada. Fortunately, it's currently designated as an old growth management area (OGMA), so the trees are not currently threatened by logging. Hopefully, in the future, it can transition into permanent protection as an ecological reserve.

09/06/2023

Jon and the Giant Spruce

09/05/2023

Emerging from a sea of sword ferns, these ancient Sitka Spruce trees reach for the sky, nourished year after year by the flooding Nitinat River on which these trees grow beside. The occasional flooding of the river gives these trees a welcomed layer of alluvial soil, with all the ingredients necessary to grow to become healthy and massive. Sitka Spruce are known for their affinity for moisture, and the Nitinat River's annual floods provide them with the perfect conditions.

The Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) is not only the largest spruce species on earth but also one of the tallest trees in North America, with some specimens reaching heights of over 90 meters (300 ft). These majestic trees play a crucial role in the ecosystems they inhabit, providing habitat for various wildlife and contributing to the beauty of the landscapes they grace.

09/05/2023

08/21/2023

This 2800-year-old western red cedar emerged from an endless mosaic of lush understory as a timeless silver wall of wood. These giants among giants have grown for millennia along the jagged west coast of what we now call Barkley Sound, the traditional territory of the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations. We witnessed three of Canada's largest trees over two days, and I can confidently say that we saw one of the greatest areas left on Earth where the landscape expresses itself as some of the largest pillars of life known. The ingredients necessary for life to create these now extremely rare pockets of trees constitute only a small percentage of these mega lifeforms' original geographic range. Now, there are only around five areas where these record-breaking and near record-breaking trees grow. These five areas are so foreign to humans now that when one finds themselves in one of these very rare remote slices of ancient forest, they are dumbstruck by the sheer brilliance, grandeur, and size of the life that these areas harbor. Sadly, due to humanity's greed, we continue to liquidate these last fragments of heaven into dollars, and in the areas where these trees grew (Vernon Bay), they continue logging the smaller ancient trees, which are just as impressive and important. Thankfully, the largest trees were left standing, but this ecosystem should be preserved fully intact regardless of a trees' size. Many of these harvested smaller trees were still so large they would of been the monarch tree of the vast majority of ancient tree groves we have left. Some of the logged trees of Vernon Bay were likely over a thousand years old. We must conserve all old growth not just some.

06/20/2023

On this day last year, I found one of the widest known Western Red Cedars on Earth. Standing proudly amidst a fine mist, this colossal silver wall of wood confronted Ian Thomas and me. Before us stood what appeared to be the oldest and widest tree I had ever laid my eyes upon. Growing a mere stone's throw away from the bustling city of North Vancouver, we named the tree the North Shore Giant. Little did we know that this tree would soon capture national and international headlines, igniting the public's imagination. It showcased the hidden beauty that still exists deep within the unknown, while simultaneously serving as a solemn reminder of what we had taken for granted and ruthlessly plundered in years past.

Even in the days preceding the industrial logging era, a tree of such exceptional size was a rarity, but in our modern times, it has become virtually unheard of. The sheer width of this tree is so immense that photographs and diameter measurements fail to accurately depict its true grandeur. The standard forestry measurement protocol tends to discount a cedar’s flared base, which happens to be the most awe-inspiring and largest part of this magnificent specimen. Normally, one would overlook the significantly large flared bases found on Red Cedars, but in my estimation (having witnessed most of the top 10 Western Red Cedars in the world), this tree boasts the widest and most flared base I have ever encountered on a tree. In the second photo, you can see Ian standing on the edge of the tree's base, with the entire tree highlighted in blue. The tree's width and size are so vast that it harbors an entire rock cave, inviting exploration within and a home for bears in winter. Today, only a solitary living branch remains on this once majestic tree. The shattered crown now serves as a home to an entire grove of hemlocks, a testament to the resilience of nature and the intricate ecosystems it nurtures.

05/11/2023

As we ventured deep into the heart of Meares Island's expansive old growth forest, a hidden wonder emerged before our eyes—a massive western red cedar, undocumented and waiting to be stumbled upon. Nestled amidst the dense tangle of salal, salmonberry bushes, and lush undergrowth, these remarkable giants seamlessly blended into their surroundings.

The more you look at a tree like this you can’t help but marvel at the intricacies of these ancient beings. Was it once a single tree, giving rise to multiple majestic stems? Or perhaps they were the result of the fusion of two or three separate trees, entwined in a harmonious dance of growth and resilience? The answers remain forever elusive, wrapped in the mysteries of time and nature.