Posted on 01/05/2022 9:57:03 PM PST by Tench_Coxe
For whatever reason, I was thinking back to my childhood, and my thoughts went to climbing trees in the back yard.
That exhilaration of being 100 feet give or take above the ground in a wind that bent the top with me clinging to it while looking beyond my immediate neighborhood was, in retrospect, formative.
In later years, my parents admitted to being alarmed when they finally saw where my shouts of 'hello' were coming from, and decided "say nothing, just wave back, he'll be down eventually for dinner".
I think we've lost something....
My mom was about 70 when she asked me to prune some low branches off of a conifer. I wanted to cut them next to the trunk of the tree, because it looked like hell leaving a foot-long branch the way she had been doing it. I told her my way looked better. She said “My way makes it easier to climb the tree.” Couldn’t argue with that.
I loved climbing trees fifty years ago as a boy and I was good at it. Now when I look at a tree think about climbing one, I can’t believe I did it so easily. The high boughs of trees were something of a refuge for me. I could take a book and climb way up and read undisturbed for hours. Also, it was a way to escape many a (well-deserved) spanking from my mom.
Yeah, trees are a cool place. Climbed many.
In the 19th Century it was: “Go West Young Man”.
In the 21st Century it’s: “Get Out Of The Cities Young Man”.
:)
We used to climb birch trees to the top, and swing them back and forth till they began to bend towards another birch tree- then after awhile we’d bend the tree down to the ground and jump off- The trees loved it and woudl thank us- Gotta use birch trees though- they are the springiest-
dey make good canoes and syrup too
Of course, I have a set of tree climbing spurs and related equipment, but my favorite device in my old age for topping tall firs and then sectioning them down is a climbing tree stand. I added extra teeth in the center to the old one that I own so that I could get closer to the top. The longer the top when you cut it the more difficult it is to make sure that it will fall in the right direction. And despite things feeling pretty iffy at the top of a 100 foot tree, it is actually safer. I tie myself off at the top of the tree in case something goes wrong.
The reason that I prefer the climbing tree stand is that you can just stop and take a breather when you get tired or over heated. Also, you can just hang your chainsaw from it. I had to use my tallest extension ladder for many of them because the base of some of the trunks were over 3 feet in diameter and the stand and cables would not fit around them.
I cut all the branches off on my way up with and then top the tree and section whatever lengths I feel comfortable with on my way back down. The longer the better, but as you work your way back down the big diameter pieces can be very heavy. It is still a lot of work especially when it is warm, but it is a lot easier on an old guy. I joke that it is my tree climbing walker. It is a lot more work than fun, but I am glad that I am still able bodied enough to do it.
Mine looks a like this one only a bit wider and all the fabric and cushions fell to pieces years ago.
Being from South Florida, we use to “shimmy” coconut palms for the coconuts.
We used to climb birch trees to the top, and swing them back and forth till they began to bend towards another birch tree- then after awhile we’d bend the tree down to the ground and jump off- The trees loved it and would thank us- Gotta use birch trees though- they are the springiest-
We used to do this with alder they are springy as well, but occasionally we would try it on one that was a little too brittle and they would snap and you would fall quite a ways. The ground was pretty soft where we did this, so the worst injury I ever has was a twisted ankle. We were pretty good at hitting the ground after watching lots of paratrooper films and imitating what we saw.
Sorry forgot to italicize your words.
I have a close friend, 60 years old, that took up the tree climbing hobby. He uses ropes and harnesses when climbing (it looks more like rock climbing than climbing limb to limb) and is always on the look out for the tallest trees possible. He even vacations in areas that have tall trees. He got to climb a Sequoia on private property out in California. I got to try it with him once on a 100 ft tree. Pretty cool.
i built a tree fort at the 90 ft level of an old and very tall eucalyptus tree once. it was fun waving at tractor drivers trying to get me down. looking back, i think i took too many chances because i had no safety system. imho eucalyptus trees are not well suited for climbing. however it was an outlet for my energy and desire to build stuff. after trees i went on to do mountain climbing for many years and for me that was in the same category of fun. while it was still relatively high risk, it got me in good shape at least physically if not also mentally. the problem now is that the bug has me stuck at home with a severe case of cabin fever.
I climbed trees as a kid till I fell 40 ft and ended up in a coma for 9 days. Shattered my right arm which they partially put back together.
Our parents used to send us up the pecan trees. Once we got pretty high we’d hold tight and shake the tree to make pecans fall!
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