The Telescope Tree at the eastern end of the South Grove trail pictured above

This last weekend i took the opportunity to go back up to Calaveras grove to see if i could finish off measuring the rest of the large trees that i wanted to do since last years trip.  The weather was perfect, there were no mosquitoes to speak of, and the foliage was not quite as thick as it was later in the year last time, so i had an especially good few days hiking.  I did a long walk up to the far end of the south grove to see some of the least accessible trees up in that vicinity, and while up there i measured a second angle on the Smith Cabin tree so as to refine the numbers i got last trip.  I also hit a few of the trees that i had not quite gotten around to measuring in the other sections of the grove.  Below are the quantified results of this trips hikes. The tree names and numbers cited below are from O. M. Evans's 1924 Forest Service tree survey as are last years.

Calaveras South Grove Trees

The Luis Agassiz Tree my numbers found to be undervalued at this point in the old lists, i guess that should be
pretty much expected because it has been quite a few years since it was last measured.  I took a look at it from
several angles and i came up with a volume of at least 34,516 cu.ft.  I will have to adjust its position on my list.

I then did the Smith Cabin Tree #828 looking from the east, 90 degrees from the angle that i measured it last year.
This came out to be a narrower silhouette from this direction.  I got a volume from this direction of 29,518 cu.ft.
The average of the two results works out to a tree volume 31,225 cu.ft which is where i will locate it on my list.

#855, the largest tree up in the farthest reaches of the south side of the creek was next.  It turned out to be very
elliptical.  I did two measurements on it from south and east, the average of the two turned out 24,502 cu.ft. 
Most likely it was so oval because of effects of the growth of another big tree right next to it which has since fallen.

Waterloo #74 is right on the trail thru the south grove and has a really impressive base.  Most everyone on the
trail probably recognizes its a very respectable one as they pass by it.  It turned out to have a volume of 22,203 cu.ft.

#49 Tree is near Waterloo slightly off trail and has an even larger base circumference than its neighbor, but slightly
more taper.  It has a steep lean towards the creek and i came up with a very similar volume # for it of 22,056 cu.ft.

Telescope #567 Tree is an interesting specimen burned hollow all the way up and its broken off at about 87 feet. 
It aptly resembles its name and for the fun of it i measured the remaining volume, inclusive of burned area of course.
Sometimes its fun to wonder what it could have been if it was once again whole.  Its volume came out at 14,544 cu.ft.


Calaveras North Grove Trees


Pride of the Forest #22 Tree has a slight lean and shows very little flare up its length so it holds its volume well.
Its nice when a well named tree truly measures up to its moniker, i came up with a volume of 22,639 cu.ft. for it.

Phillip Sheridan #21 right next to the Pride of the Forest has a very hollowed out base even bigger around than the
prides'.  It has more narrowing up to its peak than its neighbor does however, and i came up with a volume for it of
only 18,086 cu.ft total.

Below are some pics of that remarkable telescope tree.