Redwoods - water won’t rot it, fire won’t destroy it, bugs don’t like, and its light to carry. They get big and old. Closest thing in nature I have been in that is like a cathedral.
One thing I do not get, how can buds that just sprouted be 1000 years old, the tree sure, but the buds?
I have a couple ‘old growth’ redwoods about 10 feet in diameter. They’re hollowed out by fire from wood rats building nests at the base. When a ground fire comes through the nest burns like a blow torch, burns through the bark and kills the whitewood in that area. Repeat and you’ll end up with a tree gutted 30 feet up with an annular growth ring a foot thick and 3/4 of the circumference. I use tag ends of redwood lumber as kindling in my stove. Burns great and green branches burn just fine.
Here is a video I watched just last night- an experienced woodworker turning a
Redwood log on a lathe. I couldn’t stop watching, this guy knows his stuff…..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6L_ajvJXW0
It’s an almost 1/2 hour video, and it’s amazing to watch.