Can you identify this tree damage?

“

Yes, I do know the answer so this is a fair contest.
last edited: 9/20/05 12:45:48 PM”

“beaver?”

“teenager with chainsaw who is now missing an appendage?”

“Ford 4x4?”

“logging, probably a chain pulling a skidder.”

“bigfoot”

“It looks like someone backed into it hard.”

“bigfoot, haha! i'm guessing unicorn, myself.”

“Looks like the tree in my backyard that I chew on from time to time.”

“Mad Monkey?

Tree huggers?”

“Tree huggers?”
Nigal
2:08:34 PM
9/20/05
ignore this user

Dang that's what I was thinking. GET OUT OF MY HEAD!”

“i suspect if we saw the same portion of the trunk from another angle, it would be easier. the way the fibers are torn says it wasn't completely cut, if cut at all, but was bent over. the chips say it was hit with something solid, like a car bumper.

the leaves in the photo are the only thing to really give any sense as to what the girth is. 12-18"?

did anyone die?”

“did the wind do it?”

“WK's name is officially changed to Trunkeater (similar to eater-of-twigs)!”

“do we really need to talk about girth here?

let's just call it "about average" sized and leave it at that, mmm kay?”

“axe”

“eewww, i hate the word "girth," it makes me want to ralph!!”

“I got it...it's from a winch cable some moron wrap around a tree!”

“girth! girth! girth! girth! girth! girth! girth! girth! girth! girth! girth! girth! girth! girth! girth! girth! girth! girth! girth! girth! girth! girth! girth! girth!”

“someone with a big knife playin around.”

“nuts!

my new job sucks.

always have meetings scheduled right when things are getting interesting.

will lyra puke for real?

will nigal's mind control over zac prove unbreakable?

did a bigfoot really cause those marks?

i'll be wondering throughout the whole meeting...”

“I know I Know !!!











Bush did it.”

“Some fool who didn't listen to the Leave NO Trace principles and tried to cut down the nearest live tree to his tent.


Edit:... With a titanium spork and a cast iron skillet....
last edited: 9/20/05 1:41:49 PM”

““Some fool who didn't listen to the Leave NO Trace principles and tried to cut down the nearest live tree to his tent."

Pinky just gave it away for me....fukking BOYSCOUTS!!!”

“Most Boy Scouts can't aim a hatchet that well.
Trust me on that one.

I'm thinking a chain or cable either wrapped rubbed or snapped the tree.
last edited: 9/20/05 1:49:24 PM”

“So, was it Nigal's fault?
Did he take a crow bar to a tree because he didn't want it to leaf???”

“It was me. I was really hungry....”

“Bowlder, nice teeth marks. Remind me not to meet you in the forest in the dark...”

“[burp]”

“So, what the heck is the verdict?

Large varmints with gi-normous choppers?

Small boys in beanies ignoring the LNT principals and pounding on Titanium Sporks with 10 lb skillets?

Nigal after finding said boy scouts defacing his back yard?

Big Foot?

A chrome fender?

A Large Rodent (Beaver) with big teeth????


Inquiring minds want to know!!!
last edited: 9/20/05 3:46:12 PM”

“Meow!!”

“OK ... I'll tell.

After setting up camp after a long day of hiking I decided a fire might hit the spot. I had a few cans of Vienna Sausages in my pack that were gaggin’ to be roasted over an open campfire. I was tired from hiking and the chopping and whacking I had to do to clear a spot for my tent was a lot of work. I wandered the dense brush around my campsite but the only firewood I could find were the branches I snapped off of the trees that got in my way. After about 30 minutes I managed to break off enough of these that I was sure I could make a fire, but nothing I had was over 1” thick and it was pretty green. So I figured I needed something a little heavier. I spotted this little oak tree in the distance so I broke out my hand-dandy hatchet and had a crack at it. I chopped all around that bugger but it was hard work so I quit. I chopped a ring around that thing but nearly puked out my lung I was so wore out. That’s where the tree damage came from.

Retreating back to my camp I made the best fire I could to cook dinner. The wood was pretty green but I got it going with some pine boughs I cut off of some spruce trees. Man, do those things burn! I had to keep stamping out the ground because I could not find enough rocks to make a fire ring. I was worried because the ranger said that there was a burn ban on (it said so on the permit application, but I didn't drop it off in the self-registration bucket) but I figured he couldn’t see the smoke from where I was. In any case I popped open the sausages and tried to roast them up, disposing of the tins discretely out of site by crushing them and leaving behind some rotting logs. The campfire was still smoldering when I broke camp the next morning. I tossed some my plastic garbage and coffee grounds on it as I headed out for my next waypoint. The plastic smoldering was a little stinky, but once I got clear of the camp you could hardly notice it.

So those that guessed some form of damage from an axe or hatchet were correct!
last edited: 9/20/05 4:15:14 PM”

“Take only pictures, leave only footprints..... Not very LNT of you is it?
Sorry, had to say it, some one else would of anyway.
last edited: 9/20/05 5:31:42 PM”

“Lovely....”

“I was going to say something about 'what kind of a hiker carries vienna sasages?' but I desided to sit back and see if anyone actually bit on this sorry attempt at trolling. LOL!

Shame on you S-rge!”

“I admit, that was a piece of drama added for comic effect. The tree was cut all around by some sort of moron with a hatchet. When I first saw it I thought, "Man, why would an animal do that?" Then as I got closer and walked around the tree (after taking that picture) it was clear the "animal" was a moron with a hatchet. Several smaller trees had been cut down and there were in fact needles from some coniferous tree that were used (I am betting) to play with fire…

I found recently melted plastic in the fire pit (what a mess!) and the bit about the Vienna Sausages was true. I found them not so well hidden. Also, someone had cleared an area where a tent was pitched despite the fact that this was an established camp with lots of other good places to pitch a tent. All I can figure is someone didn’t want to get “camp dirt” on their new tent.

My grandfather taught me an almost religious respect for the outdoors. I would like to say that things like this make me angry, but I just get depressed. I do what most of you would do: Repair what I can, pack out more than I packed in, and try to teach the Boy Scouts the right thing to do at the next troop meeting.”

“pheeeew..... for a second there, I thought you were serious!!! LOL”

“ax or snow mobile [don't ask me why I said snow mobile]
last edited: 9/20/05 7:35:38 PM”

“Why did you just say snow mobile?”

“Nigal! She said don't ask!



(haha....snow mobile....hahaha...)”

“LOL. I know it doesn't look like a snow mobile...but wouldn't it be funny if I'm right huh?

tsk...NC...tsk!!
btw: not talkign to me anymore? *grins*”

“It would be a lot funnier IF THERE WAS SNOW ON THE GROUND!!”

“well...i did say "don't ask why I guessed snow mobile".

there some crazzzzyyyyy people on TT ya know!! some reallll crazzyyy people.


anyway, if it wasn't a freakin' beaver or an ax then I don't know. Could've been a flying refrigerator...hm...yeah that could've been it too.
last edited: 9/20/05 8:32:02 PM”

“So I've learned, lol.”

“LOL..
After reading Pitts "confession", I think I should have guessed:

"Some troll who speaks loudly and carries a small hatchet"
last edited: 9/21/05 11:11:30 AM”

“Man, I'm glad you were making that up, cause as I was reading I couldn't believe that a fellow TT'er would actaully inflict that much damage in one day. Good job on the pic, just goes to show how disrespectful some people are....idots!

Everytime I go out on a hike, I always bring a plastic bag. Because everytime I go out, I always, always fiond garbage left behind. At this rate, I hate to see what things will look like in 10 years!”

“I was just trying to make a point. I get really bummed out when I see stuff like this. I am sure people on this board see this sort of thing all the time. I pick up a lot of plastic water bottles stuck "discretely" in bushes by day-hikers that don't want to pack the empty. I crush the bottles flat and stuff them in a side pocket, sometimes not even breaking my stride!”

“Are you assuming this damange was caused by Boy Scouts? Or are you just saying that the experience makes you think you need to talk to them about LNT.

The scouts in our troop are now allowed to go camping unless they have been trained in LNT principles.”