Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence. ~ Henry David Thoreau
A Happy Walk in the Forest
There is a special beauty in old trees. I’ve always felt this most acutely in the Redwood groves of California, the Avenue of the Giants is one of my favorite places on Earth. Standing before trees that are hundreds of feet tall, tens of feet across and over a thousand years old is a humbling and amazing experience. But I’ve had the same feeling in Lily Cornett Woods in Kentucky, especially when I was looking at ancient 500 year-old Oaks with old wild grape vines that were bigger than ordinary tree branches. There is even this feeling with the twisted and dead looking Bristle Cone Pines in the California deserts. There is something utterly amazing in standing next to and touching a living creature that has been alive nearly as long as the pyramids have stood. There is also something special about these areas, often, the only reason these trees have lived this long was that they are, like Bristlecone Pines, too twisted to be useful, or in the case of the others, too remote or inconvenient to have been cut. As such, very often, the places where ancient trees live, are remote and quiet places, places where the power of nature can absolutely be felt.
So on Sunday, I took the opportunity to join a walk to an elder grove of White Pines in the high peaks of the Adirondack Mountains. And while these trees are not as old, or as tall, or as wide as the Redwoods I’ve spent so much time with over the last thirty years, they are still incredibly special. These are 300+ year-old White Pine trees, over 100 feet tall and several feet in diameter. Having lived so long with other trees nearby having been cut is a truly spectacular piece of good fortune. These old growth forests have a different systems, they even feel different. For White Pines, these particular trees are hitting what is likely the limit for them, it’s incredibly rare for a White Pine to live over 400 years.
It was an oddly perfect kind of day for the visit, overcast and lightly raining made for a bit of a cold day. However it also did something else, it softened everything. The leaves didn’t crunch, the moss covered ground gently gave way to boot steps, the rain softened and deadened the sound and an occasional blow would bring a blast of wind rain down upon the forest and our heads.
I had the good fortune to have good walking companions in a beautiful forest. The trees were magnificent, as well as their companions, today I saw the biggest and oldest yellow birches I’ve ever seen, often growing in seemingly symbiotic relationships with elder White Pines. Without a doubt a wonderful and happy day my friends. ~ Rev Kane
