Screaming Penguin - Source Does Matter

Richard Preston's latest book, The Wild Trees is highly recommended. This is a strange obsession but I have always been fascinated by trees. As a kid, and as a grownup (using the term loosely, though I am almost 40), I have always been interested in biology, including botany, and have had a special fondness for trees - including, to this day, for climbing them. This book, along with being fascinating to read, has renewed my interest.

Little did I know though that I am a mere tree chump, messing around in twigs of the various Poplar, Oak, Hickory, and Sweetgum variety (and on easy to climb specimens of those). The real tree nuts climb Douglas Fir, Redwood, and Australian Mountain Ash - nearly 400 feet high in some cases.

Richard Preston's book describes the actual stories of several biologists, and amateur naturalists, in their quests to find and study the tallest trees. Their personal stories, their lives among the trees, and their climbing techniques. They started out with a lot of free climbing too, and then used spurs (like the telephone pole dudes), and ended up coming over the the arborists way. Climbing trees with "spider ropes" (among others) and harnesses, minimizing damage to the trees themselves. Using these techniques they can "skywalk", "branchwalk", "bat hang" and just generally move around in the canopy in any desired direction.

Along the way they have discovered entire eco-systems in the sky, in places previously thought barren. Soil, dirt, plants, fungi, caves, amphibians, insects, even crustaceans, all of whom that may live their entire lives in the canopy. Fascinating stuff, if you have this sort of strange interest to begin with.

I am now planning on visiting Tree Climbing International, in Atlanta, to learn more about the proper way to climb a tree.