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03 Nov 2026

Lake Quinault, Gatton Creek

In the works!

I'm finishing up other things at the moment, so it'll be a few days until the blog post. I did find the Lake Quinault Fir and the new tallest Western Redcedar in the world.

25 Oct 2026

West Fork Humptulips River, Campbell Tree Grove

I hadn't found anything earth-shattering on LiDAR while planning this trip, so it was a less ambitious day. It was also the first trip I'd planned around rain, so how it went would shape how I plan rainy days going forward.

Once we were on FR-2204, I spotted one of the largest Cedars I’d ever seen, not far off the road near Donkey Creek, and marked it for the return trip. There are quite a few large trees along the road to Campbell Grove; it might be worth a trip on its own.

We parked at the Campbell Grove gate, right next to the darkest-barked giant Douglas Fir I’ve ever seen (Image 1). Starting the day with a 31.2' CBH, 255' tall Fir was a promising sign. In the main area, we first measured what looked on LiDAR to be the largest tree in the grove (Image 2): 32.5' CBH and 278' tall. Next was the tallest tree on the Humptulips River (Image 3), standing in the middle of the campground at 31.2' CBH and 296' tall. From there we wandered about, measuring the biggest Firs we came across. Of the 15 we measured, 13 were over 25' CBH, and every one of them was right by the road. That convenience is why I was comfortable coming on a rainy day, since bushwhacking gets miserable fast when everything is wet. On the way out, we found a couple more giants near the road, the largest at 30.5' CBH and 290' tall.

We spent a good two hours in the grove. On the drive back, we stopped at three Cedars I'd noticed on the way in. The first was 35.5' CBH and 193' tall. The second, at the same height and 27.8' CBH, was more a picturesque, high-volume stem than a true giant. Finally, we made it back to that Cedar I had marked earlier, and what a giant it was. It was funny seeing the tape read 10' while I could still see where it started.

What wasn't so funny: halfway through the measurement, with my dad on the opposite side of the trunk, I heard him shout "Bear!" I immediately scanned around and backed up onto some high ground between a Hemlock and the Cedar, but I never saw it. Apparently my dad and the bear startled each other, and it ran off before I could catch a glimpse. According to him, it was a young black bear, not full-grown but not a cub. Luckily, I had moved in a way that let us pick the tape back up without needing to restart. We finished as quickly as we could, getting 45.4' CBH and 183' tall, and nearly ran back to the car. Because of that, the only photo I got is one where the tree is barely visible through the canopy (Image 4).

All in all, we found over a dozen B-tier Douglas Firs and two giant Cedars. We managed the rain and wetness well enough, but it's not something I'll be doing often. I need to go back to Donkey Creek sometime to get pictures of that Cedar, but earlier in the year before it has any residents. I'll never forget bear spray again this time of year. I have seen plenty of dens in giant Cedars, but I've never actually seen a bear. I suppose I still haven't.

16 Oct 2026

Lake Quinault, Graves Creek

After a lot of scouting on my previous trip to Quinault and extensive LiDAR surveys of the area, this trip was always meant to target some of the largest candidates. On 29-Aug-2026, I discovered a tree in LiDAR that Micah Ewers and myself, after some workshopping, dubbed "Sgt. Broccoli," and the name stuck. That cruciferous coniferous has been front of mind ever since. Not long after, I found Samurai, my second most anticipated LiDAR find. Its shape resembles those incredible 8th- to 13th-century Japanese armor sets. I'm not joking (check Gallery>Renders when I get around to it).

I had originally planned to combine Campbell Grove with Quinault, with the Quinault part focused on my largest LiDAR finds. When I found out Graves Creek Road was open, I decided that would be all I would do. I usually find that we do one or two fewer things than I planned, and while that was the case again here, the day was more successful than I could have dreamed. 

Our first stop was the Rainforest Loop Trailhead. The plan wasn't to walk the trail through the Miracle Acre, but to bushwhack on the other side of the creek to a tree I had preliminarily named Willaby Creek Fir. I suppose the measurement would determine whether it kept that name,. After 0.21 mi of road walking and 0.12 mi of bushwhacking, we reached the tree pretty quickly (Image 1). Up until this day, I had discovered only four new Douglas Firs over 35' CBH (I had measured more that were already known): Anderson Giant, Paragon, one next to Paragon, and one on the Gatton Creek Tail. After a moderately difficult measurement, this one came out to exactly 35' CBH, with a height of 271' and a rank of #21 in the world at the time. It definitely earned that name.

Next, we went to Gatton Creek in search of the tree I believed was the Lake Quinault Fir. The plan for the area was to measure two Dougs: one that could be Tichipawa, and the one that could be Quinault. On the way up Wright Canyon Road, we passed the largest Western Redcedar I have seen since visiting the Kalaloch Big Cedar as a kid. On all my trips, I seem to have avoided the places with mythically large cedars, and I have even questioned the legitimacy of some people's claims because of it. I suppose if you search them out, you'll find them. This one, however, found us, and it can find you too! It's right on the Wright Canyon Road at the turn of the second switchback. It measured 45.7' CBH and 204' tall, #26 in the world (Image 2).

The bushwhacking here was much better than on the other side of the creek, but it was still the most technically difficult of the day. First was the one I thought might be Tichipawa. It wasn’t, but at 36.5' CBH and 276' tall, it’s perhaps only a tier down from that (Image 3). It has an 90' ACS, the largest confirmed Average Crown Spread in the top 451. A spread of 90' is almost exclusively seen in younger, open-grown trees. It ranked #11 in the world, again, at the time.

A minute of bushwhacking later, the 292'-tall stem was already in view. Only a few times have I been lightheaded with excitement approaching a tree, and this was the most intense. Even though I expected it to be huge, actually discovering and confirming it felt SO cathartic. The tree stands in a more open understory than any other I’ve seen in the Gatton Creek area, which gives the place an ethereal feel. The stem is borderline perfect, with none of the flaky blemishes of Gatton Goliath and Quamal, and a young-looking, tight pattern above the base (Image 4). It took a tape to determine the midpoint of the stem, but once that was established, the CBH came in at 40.5'! That’s a new personal circumference record for Douglas Fir, and it’s the 4th-ranked Douglas Fir in the world, just behind Gatton Goliath, since this one is somehow 13' shorter.

On our way back to the car, we stumbled upon another giant Western Redcedar. It didn’t look too difficult to measure, so we did a quick tape wrap and were pleasantly surprised when it came out to 43' CBH. I had no idea how tall it was at the time, but when I got back and checked, it turned out to be 233' tall. I’m going to nerd out about stats for a second, because it’s necessary to understand how impressive that is. First things first: I measured the height in LiDAR, not with my Nikon Forestry Pro II. LiDAR usually misses the top few feet of spire-topped cedars like this one, and usually comes in just under 2% shorter than a rangefinder, so this tree is LIKELY the tallest cedar in the world. It’s very possible it’s the only cedar on Earth over 240' tall, but that’s all speculation. Of the recorded Western Redcedars, only 12 have been measured over 200' tall. That doesn’t mean 200' is uncommon, but the usual 200' cedar isn’t big enough to be worth measuring. This 43' CBH, 233'-tall cedar ranks 27th in the world, while the only other cedars currently on the list over even 220' tall are 157th and 399th. I’ll be going back to Gatton Creek someday to measure as many Western Redcedars as I can, since I sincerely believe there are multiple height records in the grove.

Then came Sgt. Broccoli. I had been dreaming about this tree for 49 days, and this was the day those dreams would be realized. The drive down Graves Creek Road takes a while, but it was possibly the most beautiful road I’ve ever seen (and I’m not one to compliment roads, mind you). The 400' elevation gain over 0.2 miles to the tree was tough, almost scramble-esque at times, but we managed it relatively quickly. The tree was behind a rise of sorts, so there was no anticipatory buildup. Just, all of a sudden, THERE IT IS! We wasted no time starting the measurement, which again took a tape to determine the midpoint, and it came out to 38.7' CBH. I’d assume that from maybe 15' up, the trunk is larger than the 40.5' fir from earlier, since this tree is the stovepipe of stovepipe Dougs. At 289' tall, I’d estimate its stem volume is approaching 12,000 cubic feet. #7 in the world, as of today. We took our usual break, taking pictures, having a snack, and marveling at the monster in front of us (Image 5). I could go on and on about this thing; it’s without a doubt my favorite Douglas Fir in the world. Please check out the renders I’ve done of it to fully appreciate the insanity of the Sergeant.

We had planned to make it to the potential tallest tree in Washington State, but I’d like to save the rest of the area for a full day. We only had one more in us, and I had my mind set on Samurai. (I do need to redo its render, but that’s at the top of my priority list.) On our way down North Shore Road, we stopped at July Creek to appreciate the gorgeous July Creek Cedar at the parking lot. My dad didn’t want to go to Samurai, so we agreed I’d go alone and be back within an hour and a half. The first half of the route went through a forest with many downed trees and obstacles, but my supernatural ability to never fall and never stop helped me cover 2/3 of a mile in a little over 20 minutes (if I’m remembering correctly). It then opened into a clearing, which I’m guessing was an old homestead, with fruit or nut trees planted in a grassy field. I was thankful there wasn’t a pond, since clearings like that usually mean there is one. The final approach went uphill into the old growth, and since I never stop, it was very challenging for my endurance. I was tired enough, though, that I didn’t care about getting dirty, dusty, or cut up by stickers. After about 40 minutes, I made it to the tree. It wasn’t surprising that it was in the same size tier as the other four, but the impressiveness never waned. I only took a few pictures (Image 6) and measured the tree, which was surprisingly easy. At 36.3' CBH and 269' tall, it ranks #20 in the world.

The descent was much easier, as usual, and I found an old path leading back to the car. Five. Five of the top 25 Douglas Firs (#4, #7, #13, #20, #25) discovered in one day, and two of the top 30 Western Redcedars. “What a day” doesn’t even seem appropriate here.

10 Oct 2026

Wynoochee Lake

This trip was with the friend that went to Quartz Creek with us last month. The first stop was along the south shore of the lake at Sixteen Creek. I had marked a tree along the Wynoochee Lake Shore Trail, and seeing it from the road confirmed to me that it needed to be measured. Getting from the road to the trail wasn't as simple as it should have been, but we survived. Once on the trail, we stopped by a dead snag before backtracking to the tree we came for. The trail runs along a ravine made by Sixteen Creek, and the Fir and a couple 200' tall Redcedars are viewable in full from that vantage. The closer we got to the Fir, the bigger it looked, and by the time we were at its base, we knew it was something special (Image 1). 32.5' CBH and 268' tall, it is currently the 48th-largest Douglas Fir in the world.

We continued on the road to the bridge, where we found another one of the trees I had marked. This one came out to 32.2' CBH and 240' tall (Image 2), making the first two trees we visited the second and fourth-largest trees I have found in the Wynoochee Valley. This confirms that using LiDAR to look for big stems works, opening up a much easier way of discovery (at least for this area).

We then went along the north shore road, stopping to measure one-off trees and check out ones I had already discovered, including the 298' tall tree at Beaver Creek (Image 3). We found a couple of ~23' CBH Firs there, then went back down the road toward the Wynoochee Dam. The goal was to go to the Hunter Flat Trail, but a couple of guys burning wood, with a camper and a Doberman, blocked the road to the trail.

The final stop was at Anderson Creek. I wasn't there to remeasure the Anderson Giant (I'll leave that for another day), but to find a tall LiDAR hit deeper in the woods. It didn't take me long to get there, but measuring the tree took a while because of the extreme slope it was on (Image 4). It came out to 23.8' CBH and 282' tall, but it wasn't the only find in that area. I crossed the ravine to another tree I couldn't pass up, this one coming in at 32.0' CBH. When I looked up to take a picture, I realized it was a multi-stem (Image 5), which was a little disappointing. I decided not to cross back and follow the route I had taken to get there, a mistake that led to me having to run back along the road.

It was a very eventful day, especially the first half, though I was admittedly held back a little by my reluctance to leave my friend behind for too long. Not really an issue; I'm just happy I was able to get out after far too long, thanks to him.

23 Sep 2026

Lake Quinault

This trip was intended to be a scouting trip for the most part. The main objective was to find trees reported by Robert Van Pelt and get more of an idea of what the forest at the south shore of Lake Quinault looks like. I have been looking for large stems in LiDAR imagery in various places around Quinault, so I have plenty of priority trees to visit/measure. We were expecting rain for the first couple of hours, but by the time we arrived, the rain had already stopped. So all we had to worry about was getting wet during bushwhacking.

We parked at the Quinault Rainforest Trailhead, the first stop on South Shore Road. The first point of interest was the tree I believed to be Quamal, a Van Pelt-reported tree, in the "Miracle Acre Grove," which the trail goes through. We made it to the tree pretty quickly, but it wasn't Quamal. It resembles Quamal so much, in LiDAR and even in person, that I questioned whether Van Pelt just made up the numbers due to how much he liked the tree. The measurement I made of this—definitely different—tree was 29.8' CBH and 277' tall (LiDAR). A very respectable, beautiful tree, but not the one with the Quinault name meaning "beautiful."

The plan afterwards was to go to Gatton Creek. This meant I would scout the areas and measure select trees on the trail as we made our way there, it being many miles away from Miracle Acre Grove. So we set off, stopping sparingly until Cedar Bog, where we found a GIANT Sitka Spruce (image 1). This one is right on the trail, but somewhat easy to walk by thanks to the Hemlock growing in front and all around it. It looks exactly like a leg and foot of an Elephant, so I named it Elephant Foot. The measurement came out to 39.3' CBH and 219' tall, making this the current world #19 Sitka Spruce. It's not the healthiest tree and is out on its own thanks to the 2008 storm that wiped much of the surrounding area away. We found many Western Redcedars in the area too (image 2), but only stopped at one.

We stopped at a few Douglas Firs and admired the creeks and waterfalls we passed, but it was pretty smooth sailing until the Gatton Creek Trail. When we were nearing the top of the trail's elevation, I saw something I wasn't expecting in the slightest. I had marked a tree I thought resembled the Van Pelt tree "Mauksa," but it was well off trail and much further along. When I looked up, I instantly recognized this tree as Mauksa (image 3). I was indeed wrong, the top I thought resembled Mauksa's was a branch that only looked like the top due to the vantage. Regardless, stunned silence followed. I have to say, this tree is one of the most beautiful Douglas Firs I have ever seen; I was almost shaking in reverence and excitement. The tree I had marked had a very tall, dead top, and (not) Mauksa in front of me had no such blemish. We took a break and I measured the tree, with a decent amount of trouble thanks to the Hemlock and slope, at 37.9' CBH and 265' tall.

Continuing on, I decided to save Rex, yet another Van Pelt tree, for another day, and we passed by what I believed to be it thanks to LiDAR. We only had energy for one off-trail trek, and since the tree I had marked wasn't Mauksa, I decided to choose discovery over confirming an already discovered tree. The bushwhack was difficult, but the route we chose turned out to be very efficient. My dad did bang up his leg, but he says it didn't hurt (although it left a wicked bruise the next day). This tree came out to 32.5' CBH, a little less than I was hoping, but it's still #29 for the species (image 4). I named it Barad-dûr, Sauron's tower in The Lord of the Rings, due to the forked horns at the tree's dead top (to be clear, the tree is living).

After making it back on trail, we quickly stumbled upon the largest tree of the day (image 5). I had not recognized this as the Van Pelt tree Quamal until talking with him. The book that mentions it says it is East of the Miracle Acre, and while this one was East of it, it was 1.5 miles northeast. Not at all in the same area, thanks Bob. The measurement was quick & easy and came out to 37.0' CBH and 278' tall. Bigger than the one I thought was Mauksa, but 2.9' smaller than Van Pelt's measurement 24 years ago. We found another 30' Doug on the way to say a quick hello to Gatton Goliath (image 6) before turning back.

We went down one of the trails along Falls Creek to loop back around to the car. Along with some other developments in the big tree community (which I won't mention here to keep this place free of the horrors of that ordeal), this was one of the greatest days I have had in the year I have been doing this. I have changed some parts of this due to the realization that the tree I thought was Mauksa was not, and the 37.0 one was actually Quamal.

12 Sep 2026

Quartz Creek - tallest tree in Washington State and the Cascades.

I had identified this tree around the start of the year using the Wasco_A_2015 dataset. For most of the time since, I thought it was between 327' and 342' tall. A couple of weeks before I headed out to this grove, I re-downloaded the data and found that the Riffe_Lake_Wali_2022 dataset also covered a sliver of this area, including this tree. The 2022 data only caught half of the tree, but that was enough to reveal that it was leaning from a slope rather than standing on the flat ground beneath the crown. It missed the top, but it still showed that the true LiDAR estimate was 315', not 332' (my previous best guess). The discrepancy came from the 2015 dataset being sparse below the canopy, which had forced me to guess where the stem was. This meant that if it were verified at over 316', it would be the tallest on record, but not the tallest prospect in my studies. Perhaps I wouldn't have planned this trip if I had found that out earlier.

My dad had invited an old friend of mine to join just a few days before we went, and he agreed. Hopefully this leads to more explorations in the future, despite his primary focus on birds (which I am also very interested in, but not to the extent of a hobby). Once we got on the road on the 12th, I (as always) had my head on a swivel looking for roadside gems. Since I had driven that part of I-5 many times, I didn't see anything new. That changed once we were on US Highway 12. I had driven that stretch before, but not in this direction since picking the hobby back up. When I saw a tree that looked like, I kid you not, a butt and back (image 1), I thought that would be my most surprising find on the road. I could not have been more wrong. When I first laid eyes on the next one, I thought it was one of those cell towers disguised as trees. After two seconds of confirming, I shouted "OH MY GOD" with reckless abandon of social norms. In the middle of an open field, in clear view of the highway, was the largest tree I have ever seen from a car (image 2). Using LiDAR, I have since estimated it at 35'–43' in circumference and 169' tall. It sits on a 1–2 acre parcel owned by someone who does not live in the area. It seems this one tree was spared by the owner and/or their ancestors. I cannot fully convey how unbelievable this tree is.

When we reached the final road, we found the gate closed. Older Google Street View imagery showed no gate at all, but this was not entirely surprising. It meant we had to hike 3 mi and 750 ft up to reach the approach. Knowing what might await us there, I felt apprehensive. The 3 miles would be through a previously clear-cut forest with no views for most of the way. I could have done it much quicker if it weren't for my companions, but I wouldn't have gotten there to begin with if it weren't for them. Since I had no choice but to reach this tree, we went ahead anyway. It took over an hour to reach the approach, mostly because of the steep final stretch of road, but we made it.

My friend hadn't done much exercise recently, so he didn't even consider descending into the pit of despair that I, again, had given myself no choice but to cross. The replanted trees had grown to over 30 ft, something not shown in the 2015 data. Also missing from the 2015 data were the trees that had been felled inside the replanted area. This meant we had to push through the low branches of young trees, climb over piles of cut logs, and navigate two steep slopes to reach the grove. It was only 0.17 mi as the crow flies, but we were indeed not the crow. It took an hour to get through. My dad had to give up 75% of the way there because of his pace and the endless full-body obstacles: pushing, hoisting, balancing, or sliding with every step while getting poked and whipped by dead branches, all, again, on a steep, loose slope. Knowing we'd have to do it all again on the way out was punishing.

Going into the grove alone made me feel like I was in a time crunch, so I made a plan: measure the 315' with my rangefinder, check whether anything else was worth measuring, and get back into the thicket. After crossing a steep-sided creek, I made it to the 315'. My first reading was around 310', so I went to measure the circumference and find exactly where the top and bottom of the stem's base were. The circumference came out to 26.8' CBH, and I noted the height difference between the top and bottom of the base so I'd know what to add once I hit that upper point with the rangefinder. Just beyond the 315', I found the other 310'+ tree in the area and measured its CBH at 21.1', but I didn't shoot its height. I then headed back uphill and walked up a log far enough to see what I believed at the time was the top of the tree. After taking way too long (since I had no tripod), I hit both the top of the tree and the top of the stem's base (the spot I had measured from). Adding the height from the top of the base to the bottom (since growth below the point of germination is still height) gave me 317'. That's one foot taller than the tallest tree on record in the state, so after several minutes of LRF measurements I called it quits and recorded a video for a composite (image 3). I have since found, using LiDAR, that I likely hadn't hit the true top of the tree.

None of that time was spent resting; the log I was balancing on was extremely steep, so I was pushing myself nonstop. Once I had the measurement noted on my GPS, I walked right off the log. Thankfully, branches and foliage growing on it caught me, but that fall would have been BAD. My 12-year streak of zero falls almost ended, and possibly my lifetime record of zero broken bones along with it. I headed back into the thicket way too fast, landing myself in a few annoying and precarious situations. Once I made it back, out of breath, I found my dad, and we spent another hour getting to the road and another getting to the car.

The final stop was Quartz Creek Big Trees, a forgotten trail down Forest Road 26. I love this spot. The trail is narrow, the boardwalks are worn down, the creek flows nearby, and the trees are massive and numerous. I measured 6 trees there, the largest being 31.5' CBH and 278' tall (image 4). LiDAR put the tallest tree in the grove at 300', but I expected it had lost some height since 2015 because of its dead spire top. I measured it with my Nikon at 291' tall and 29.4' CBH. Not too shabby! Those two are the 7th and 9th largest trees I have measured so far (in AF points), and the 42nd and 47th largest Douglas Firs on record (the 317' tree is the 50th).

Overall, I achieved what I set out to do.