I have been watching this stream for over 20 years as it ever so slowly changes it course. The tree in this study sits on the East bank of the stream as it makes a very slow clockwise turn. In fact the turn at that point in the stream covers three fourths of a circle. The tree is about three quarters of the way around the curve and is on the outer bank of the stream. Now this stream has about a six foot bank which rises to a very extensive flood plain. The tree of course sits in the flood plain. Over the past 20 years I have only seen the stream rise into the flood plain one time. And then it only got a few inches deep in the flood plain. That was after over six inches of rain fell in one storm. However, two inches of rain in a few hours is sufficient to bring the stream up to bank full. Don't think the stream rises to bankful very often. The average is about 9 months between these events. Most of the time there is a slow flow of water in the stream. Only once have I seen a drought of such magnitude to dry up the stream.

The tree under study is a large Tulip Popular. It has a girth of 96 inches which means it must be over 50 years old and may well be over a hundered years old. I am still looking for an expert of sorts to give me a better idea of it's age. The Tulip Popular is a large tree that usually grows very straight.

The photo on the left was taken August 2, 2003. I was standing upsteam from the tree and in the stream bed. The large trunk of the tree can be seen in the photo. If the tree falls in the direction it is leaning the tree will land just to my left. So the tree will end up supported above the steam at one end by it base and at the other end by the bank of the stream. So for the most part the water will be flowing under the tree. With the meandering nature of the stream within the stream bed the tree will actually cross the usual flow of the stream twice.

The two images on the right show what can happen after a heavy rain. In this case there was a 20 inch snow fall one weekend, followed the next weekend by a heavy rain of over two inches. The combined rain and show melt filled the stream to bank full. The first photo was taken on February 22, 2003 at about the time the stream crested. The second was taken after the water level had dropped a few feet. The stream crest seen in the photo is typical of the maximum level that the steam ever reaches. It has never been more than about six inches higher than what is seen in the first photo. The tree itself can be seen on the bank of the stream leaning just a bit to the left.

The final photo on the left shows a view of the tree from the North and shows how the stream runs by the tree. The tree juts out in the stream and is holding out very well against the flow of the water. There is a small tree on either side of the big tree helping to protect its roots from the erosion caused by the flow of the water past the tree.

It took these three photos before the concept of creating a blog describing the life and death of the tree has occurred to me. At that time I was simply attempting to document the position of the stream and how high it could rise after a heavy rain.

My expectation is that with time the stream bank with erode sufficiently to remove the support form the roots. And the constant water running by the roots will kill them. Then the tree will fall into the stream. Of course other natural events could kill the tree first. There is a smaller Tulip Tree nearby whose bark was completely eaten away by beavers a few years ago. The tree is still alive, but it is clearly not a healthy tree. Then there is always the risk that the tree will be stuck by lightening. I have seen a Tulip Popular that was stuck. There was not much left of it after it shattered from the heat. Most strong winds in this area come from the West. It would take an East wind to push the tree over. So unless we see the a hurricane or a tropical storm it is unlikely that winds will topple the tree.