Lens Creek Cedar Snag

On a recent bushwhack through some second-growth forest along Lens Creek in the San Juan Valley, I stumbled upon this giant cedar snag. Originally, the San Juan Valley would have been home to some of the most impressive stands of old-growth forest on Vancouver Island but sadly, very little remains. Within the last remaining fragments however, you still have the world's largest Douglas-fir as well as Canada's largest spruce tree. One can only imagine what other giants might have grown there in the past.

A determined hemlock tree pushes its way through the wall of cedar peppered with woodpecker holes.

Location of the tree: 48.59369, -124.23470

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A Visit to Goldstream Park

Yesterday I dropped by Goldstream Park to shoot some photos during a beautiful morning visit. With 500+ year old redcedar and Douglas-fir trees, towering waterfalls, and a salmon spawning river, Goldstream is a natural gem.

The delicate river is however still recovering from a fuel spill that leaked 40,000 litres of gasoline and diesel into the water after a tanker crashed on the nearby Malahat Highway.

A raven soars through the bigleaf maples with a chunk of meat in its beak.

Giant old-growth redcedars all in a row.

Cover Photo - Common Ground Magazine

My shot of Canada's largest tree, the Cheewhat Giant, made the cover the August 2011 Common Ground! This massive ancient redcedar is over 6 meters (20 feet) wide, 56 meters (182 feet) tall, and 450 cubic meters in timber volume (or 450 regular telephone poles worth of wood). Thankfully, it grows just within the boundaries of the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve near Nitinat Lake on Vancouver Island.

To read the feature article inside follow this link: www.commonground.ca/iss/241/cg241_biggesttree.shtml

Sign the petition to help protect BC's endangered old-growth forests here: www.ancientforestpetition.com