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Boundary Waters Quetico Forum Listening Point - General Discussion Help me solve a mystery related to an oak tree in the BWCA |
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08/24/2018 08:51AM
Hey everyone.
I just returned from a great family trip into EP 33/Gabbro and am hoping someone out there can help solve a mystery from our trip.
When we arrived at our campsite, we found a 12-foot-long branch waiting to be cut and split for firewood. We cut it down and started splitting it and then confusion set in.
We realized the log was:
* Perfectly straight;
* Had been pruned throughout its life (you'll see how overgrown some of the branches had been in the attached photo);
* And, it was an oak.
I'm not a forestry expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I don't ever recall seeing an oak tree in the Boundary Waters. Could they exist up there? Sure. But who would be pruning one?
So where did this thing come from? Surely nobody would carry a 150-pound log over a 200-rod portage, right? And how would that fit in your canoe anyway?
What am I missing?
Is this not an oak?
If I'm not missing anything, how the heck did this thing get into the BWCA?
I will say, we had some fantastic bonfires with that log! We didn't venture into the forest at all to find firewood, and the folks who showed up after us arrived to find a ton of stacked and split firewood!
I just returned from a great family trip into EP 33/Gabbro and am hoping someone out there can help solve a mystery from our trip.
When we arrived at our campsite, we found a 12-foot-long branch waiting to be cut and split for firewood. We cut it down and started splitting it and then confusion set in.
We realized the log was:
* Perfectly straight;
* Had been pruned throughout its life (you'll see how overgrown some of the branches had been in the attached photo);
* And, it was an oak.
I'm not a forestry expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I don't ever recall seeing an oak tree in the Boundary Waters. Could they exist up there? Sure. But who would be pruning one?
So where did this thing come from? Surely nobody would carry a 150-pound log over a 200-rod portage, right? And how would that fit in your canoe anyway?
What am I missing?
Is this not an oak?
If I'm not missing anything, how the heck did this thing get into the BWCA?
I will say, we had some fantastic bonfires with that log! We didn't venture into the forest at all to find firewood, and the folks who showed up after us arrived to find a ton of stacked and split firewood!
08/24/2018 10:21AM
Kinda confused by the cut it down statement... Haha.
Are you saying the tree itself is still standing? It being what is straight and you just cut a dead Branch out of it?
So... It would not surprise me at all. This "wilderness" we all enjoy was once inhabited with life not too long ago. Resorts, homes and the like. My guess is it was planted by someone living there or something. But I doubt too you could go not real far and find patches of oak. And all it takes is a venturous squirrel and an acorn falling out of his ccs rucksack, and boom!
Are you saying the tree itself is still standing? It being what is straight and you just cut a dead Branch out of it?
So... It would not surprise me at all. This "wilderness" we all enjoy was once inhabited with life not too long ago. Resorts, homes and the like. My guess is it was planted by someone living there or something. But I doubt too you could go not real far and find patches of oak. And all it takes is a venturous squirrel and an acorn falling out of his ccs rucksack, and boom!
Nctry
08/24/2018 10:54AM
The picture of the bark doesn't look very much like ash bark, however the other picture looks very much like ash. I say black ash is accurate.
BTW oak are getting more and more common in the BWCA. Northern Red Oak's and also a variety of different Maple's ranges are creeping further north.
So say what you will about climate change it is happening. The wood tick's range is also moving north.
BTW oak are getting more and more common in the BWCA. Northern Red Oak's and also a variety of different Maple's ranges are creeping further north.
So say what you will about climate change it is happening. The wood tick's range is also moving north.
08/24/2018 11:38AM
yogi59weedr: "By my account that puppy is upwards of 50 years old"
That depends on where the cut was made. If the cut was near the stump that is quite true. If the cut was made at a height of say 15 feet up the bole of the tree you would have to add the number of years it took for the tree to reach that height to the 50 rings you counted! So the tree is at least 50 years old.
08/24/2018 11:46AM
richierch4: "Sorry. By 'cut it down,' I meant 'cut it into 10-inch pieces.' Poor wording on my part."
I was playing with ya on that one. The bark kinda looks more like oak. I have a couple cords of Ash yet to cut up here and it does kinda mimic oak some. But the bark I want to say is stringier. No reason it can't be oak. It's not as uncommon as you'd think.
Nctry
08/24/2018 05:31PM
I agree it's ash, though I'm not 100% sure it's black ash. The bark doesn't look quite right. Green ash also occurs up there, usually near water.
Oaks, both red and burr do occur there. I just came back from a trip on the Maligne river and there was lots of small red oaks growing on some of the portages. The dead ones make pretty decent firewood. They also occur on the tops of dry ridges as someone else says. I've seen a few burr oaks too. They seem to occur near major waterways. I wonder if the acorns float or something?
Oaks, both red and burr do occur there. I just came back from a trip on the Maligne river and there was lots of small red oaks growing on some of the portages. The dead ones make pretty decent firewood. They also occur on the tops of dry ridges as someone else says. I've seen a few burr oaks too. They seem to occur near major waterways. I wonder if the acorns float or something?
08/25/2018 08:41AM
Along the west side of Burnside lake there has been real scrubby looking oaks since 1960's. They are not very big, Look all twisty.
Yes oaks ans maples are moving northward all the time in recent years.
I think burr oak.
Otherwise your large oak stands kind of end south of Grand Rapids Mn.
Yes oaks ans maples are moving northward all the time in recent years.
I think burr oak.
Otherwise your large oak stands kind of end south of Grand Rapids Mn.
08/25/2018 12:22PM
Mocha: "Thought I had read somewhere that the voyagers planted scrub oak to mark portage’s. There is one on the 5rd swamp portage off sag, there is a few on the portage from Vera to ensign, and as mentioned on the maligne."
How do you pronounce "5rd"?
"What could happen?"
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