Sooke River Bridge Candelabra Tree Now Gone

When some trees lose their tops they will grow multiple stems in a candelabra effect.

A reader of Vancouver Island Big Trees sent me an email recently. It reminded me of all the big trees that have been (and will be) sentenced to death for the crime of being in the way of progress.

Unless you live on the prairies, any kind of new development means trees and forests need to be cleared out of the way.

Ever since Europeans arrived in this part of the world "progress" has the ring of axes, chainsaws, and big trees hitting the dirt.

One such example was when the Sooke River Bridge was replaced in 1967. An interesting tree, it looks like it had been pruned or lost its top. The candelabra that results can be seen in a variety of tree species.

The email I received contained the short message that follows, and the photo shown above.

"Your pencil sketch of the Sooke River Bridge on your Vancouver Island Big Trees blog reminded me of a unique tree that was removed to make way for the building of that bridge. 

The bridge was built around 1965 to replace a wooden one that was a few feet downstream. The tree was on the east bank of the river, right in the way of  the project, and had to go. 

I don't know who owned the house in the photo but I suspect the tree artist lived there. Or maybe BC Hydro was responsible! 

Not sure what species of tree it was, maybe a true fir (Abies) of some kind. Photo taken by me in December, 1964."

Thank you, Art, for sharing your historical big tree photo with us.

Beginner Bracket Fungus

I was fascinated by these fungal forms on a recent hike. It looks like the start of bracket fungus.

Yes, the big trees in the rainforest are of truly epic proportions. But just as fascinating are the smaller things that live among (and on) the giants. The varieties of fungal life in the forest provides an example of smaller life forms that make this ecosystem work.

Bracket fungus, or shelf fungus as it is also known, is a common sight in the Pacific rainforest.

Here the smears of fungus are developing the bracket seen in the more mature form.

Bracket fungus can be found on standing and fallen trees. If the tree is not already dead, bracket fungus can get so large as to kill the tree.

I have seen large specimens, but have never noticed small ones, or noticed how they start out.

Several small bracket fungus hiding in the moss growing on a dead red alder.

Fungus and other decomposers are important parts of the nutrient cycle in the rain forest, and act as Nature's recyclers. If they couldn't do their job (as is happening around the Chernobyl NPP), the system would cease to function properly.

Front Yard Flotsam

This large cedar that washed out of the Sooke River stayed hung up on a sandbar before salvagers came,
cut off the root end, and hauled the log away.

After having one of the driest fall seasons on record on south Vancouver Island, we recently experienced a record-breaking rainfall in a 24 hour period. When winter rainfalls coincide with seasonal high tides, the flotsam factor in my front yard increases dramatically.

It is exciting to see huge logs and whole trees float by during these winter freshets. Some of the debris is dislodged from area beaches by extra high tides, but much of the tree debris is sourced up the Sooke River which enters the harbour along Billing Spit's western shore.

Most of the tree debris gets washed out to sea, or gets hung up on a new beach somewhere. Some middle sized logs get hung up on sandbars in the harbour and stay until the next high tide or heavy rainfall.

Some of the larger logs stay around for years, perhaps decades. When these get stranded on a sandbar in the harbour they are heavily used by wildlife. Eagles perch and eat their prey on the large debris. River otters also love to play on the tree debris in the harbour.

This large Douglas fir log has been on the beach for a decade or more. Only the most extreme
tides and weather will move it off the beach.

Really big logs that get hung up on the sandbars will bring out the salvagers, or beachcombers as they are also called. Using giant chain saws, they remove the root ends of large trees, and use small boats to float the lucrative wood to where they can transfer it to land for milling.

Phillips Road Big Trees, Sooke

The tiny vehicle gives scale to this tall line of trees marching down Phillips Rd in Sooke.
The column consists of older Douglas fir and Sitka spruce.

Only eight years ago when I first moved to Sooke, upper Phillips Road (which runs along the west side of the Sooke River) was still like an entrance to the old forest. Here were some of the largest trees remaining within the municipal boundary.

At that time two massive Douglas fir elders stood on either side of the road creating a narrow bottle neck that I knew would need to go some day when development came farther up the road.

The centuries old trees were so close on either side of the pavement that they had large scars on their bark from multiple contacts with vehicles trying to squeeze through.

There has been development in this area since the earliest days of European settlement, but it was mostly limited to small farms along the Sooke River.

I was happy when these trees were spared during roadway upgrading in this developing area.
The empty field in the foreground is now a thriving community garden.

Now the Sunriver neighbourhood has added hundreds of new homes and the treescape has been dramatically and permanently altered. Eventually the two large trees guarding the entrance to the old forest on upper Phillips Rd. became impediments to development, and were taken down. The stumps were pulled and an upgraded roadway was put in.

Other spectacular trees survived the on-going transformation of this part of Sooke, including the tall row of trees across Phillips Rd. from the community garden. There are others to be found here and there along the Sooke River that runs along the eastern edge of this new neighbourhood.

Sooke River Cedars

Cedar growing along (or in!) the Sooke River.

The Cheewhat Cedar in Pacific Rim National Park is the largest known tree in Canada. This building sized behemoth lives only about 100 km away, as the eagle flies, from my home. Thankfully I don't need to go that far to visit ancient cedars.

Cedars favour a moist, wet environment making the Sooke River riparian zone prime growing habitat. Only a few kilometres from my house I can access some of my favourite giant, ancient cedars growing where the land and the river meet.

Riparian zones provide rich habitat and have high biodiversity.

Wikipedia describes riparian zones as "important natural biofilters, protecting aquatic environments from excessive sedimentation, polluted surface runoff and erosion. They supply shelter and food for many aquatic animals and shade that is an important part of stream temperature regulation."

There are a trio of trees in this ancient cedar grove on the Sooke River bank.

Cedars are a major part of Vancouver Island riparian ecosystems. This community of plants ensures perfects conditions for spawning and growing salmon. Any damage to the cedars and the riparian zone will result in damage to salmon runs, as has been the case all along BC's coast.


An unhealthy salmon run reflects back on the rivers and damage to the riparian zone results. Every year millions of salmon return to their river birthplaces and provide riparian areas with tons of nutrients. No fish - no nutrients.

Broken top cedars on the river bank show their advanced age.

Some of the local cedars I visit on my bike rides could be up to 800 years old. Or more. I marvel that they still exist, and breathe a sigh of relief each time I go for a visit and see that they are still there.

Then I soak up the history and magic of the riverside groves and of these patient, wise tree beings that have so much to share. They don't call it the "Tree of Life" for nothing.

Soon the salmon will be running along the base of their land dwelling tree friends, continuing the cycle of life for both fish and trees.

Perhaps one day in the distant future one of the Sooke River cedars will be the largest tree in Canada.

Sooke's Ancient Douglas-firs Almost Gone

This 1925 view shows Ed and Jack Phillips with double bitted axes
undercutting a small Douglas-fir.

There used to be big Douglas-fir trees in the Sooke area. Really, really big. Trees 10 feet wide, and 300 feet tall were common. But the big trees have been almost completely removed from the region.

Some ancients still exist in these parts, but they are usually individual lonely trees rather than groves or forests of them. Phillips Road, which runs up the west side of the Sooke River, is one such place that some of the last holdouts remain, so it is an area in which I am interested.

Sooke historian, Elida Peers, recently published an article in the local newspaper about one particularly large Phillips Rd. Douglas-fir that lived just up the bank of the river for hundreds of years. Until about 10 years ago. Peers writes:

"Almost a decade ago, I was one of a group standing watching the falling of the seven-foot diameter Douglas-fir that stood as a sentinel at the entrance into the beginnings of the Sun River development on the old Phillips farm.   

Years ago, a team of fallers would have used a two-man crosscut saw to fell a tree of such a size, but with the use of power saws in recent times, this stately Douglas-fir presented a different sort of challenge. 

Troy Lovbakke was one of the fallers given the task, and he worked in tandem with Lance Lajeunesse and Bud Beam. The men started with 33” bars on their Husqvarna saws, moving on finally to saws with 52” bars. 

The belts of the high riggers could not encircle the bulk of the tree but they managed to get a steadying anchor cable in place to secure it from falling across Phillips Road.   

A pneumatic jack was used as well but could not withstand the weight. Finally two 40-ton screw jacks were required for the tree to be laid down safely in an area so near to a public road and houses. 

It was near nightfall by the time the gigantic tree came down with a resounding crash."

Oh, how many times that "resounding crash" has been heard on the south island. And despite having lived through the European occupation thus far, ancient trees like these continue to fall in Sooke, a town without a big tree policy (unlike some neighbouring communities).

A large Douglas-fir that still stands
up the Sooke River... for now.

Although I arrived in Sooke after the tree in Peers' article was brought down, two other huge, old Douglas-fir trees remained just past the 'new' intersection of Phillips Rd. and Sunriver Way. They stood on either side of the road directly across from each other.

So narrow was the passageway created by these wrinkly-barked woody columns that both trees had large scrapes and gouges in the thick bark, evidence of tussles with passing vehicles. I realized at the time that such beautiful specimens were not compatible with plans for a more modern (but less interesting) roadway through the trees and beyond.

Sure enough, within a few years these two Phillips Rd. holdouts were also removed in the ongoing development of the controversial Sunriver neighbourhood, and newer projects farther up the road.

Areas along the Sooke River on both sides still contain some of the biggest, tallest Douglas-fir trees in town. Most of them grow on private property and are inaccessible to the public. If you currently own some of these big Sooke River trees, I would love to hear about them.

Even the Sooke town centre twin Douglas fir trees, which were over a hundred years old, couldn't escape the fallers chainsaw. The trees were unceremoniously removed and replaced with two Norway spruce, a non-native species.

Considering the considerable contribution that the ancient Douglas-firs have made to the development of Sooke, you would think that we would show them some respect and save a few. Perhaps the time has come for a perspective shift, and the introduction of a tree protection bylaw for this growing community.

Salvaging The Last Of The Cedar

This fallen cedar makes a good bench along the Sooke River

You can tell how valuable cedar wood is by the lengths that people will go to harvest these quintessential rain forest trees. Such is the story up the Sooke River where a nice Western red cedar gave in to gravity and fell into the water.


It did not lay there for long before someone brought in a chainsaw to take the log, which could be used for a wide variety of purposes from beams to boxes.

There are still a few old growth cedars left along the Sooke River, one of
Vancouver Island's largest rivers.

The cut log would have had to be floated down the river to the harbour, a distance of a couple of kilometres, where it could be plucked from the water.

The cedar's roots were undercut by the river till it could no longer stand.

A spear of cedar remains upright, a monument to
the cedar's original destination.

Heartwood of cedar shows its beautiful grain and texture. 

The wood of cedar is sturdy, rot resistant, and smells nice. These qualities, coupled with greed, have doomed the big trees to extinction. The Americans have already lost theirs as the big cedars along the coast of California, Oregon and Washington were consumed long ago.

Now logging companies are targeting the last big cedars remaining, which can be found in British Columbia. More specifically, on Vancouver Island where the largest of these large trees grow. Many of the trees cut down are exported as whole logs to overseas markets. There goes the neighbourhood.

The cut log is a nice place to sit under the feathery cedars,
and watch small salmon in the river below.

Although the tree in the river was probably not more than a few hundred years old, and relatively small as cedars go, it was still worth the substantial effort that it must have taken to cut and remove this tree from the forest along the river.

It will take similar efforts to halt the logging of our remaining old growth Western red cedars and Yellow cedars on Vancouver Island and the rest of British Columbia. 

Consider boycotting products made from first growth trees that could be upwards of a thousand years old. These ancient trees are an important part of not only the forest ecosystem, but also First Nations culture and way of life.

Sooke Hills: Parks, Peaks, and Rain Forest

Trees on rock, roots on rock, moss on rock

One of my favourite stretches of forest can be found along the Galloping Goose Trail from Sooke to the trail's northern terminus at the gold mining ghost town called Leechtown. The Goose runs along the western edge of a 12, 000 hectare protected wilderness.

In the vast expanse of wilderness covered by a patchwork of parks, one can find pockets of old growth, as well as individual old growth trees. Along the old rail right of way is no different, plus the access is excellent on the wide, flat, gently sloping trail.

In the area one can also find Roosevelt elk, wolves, black bears, bald eagles, and cougars.

Cedar, Douglas-fir, and Hemlock are major rain forest trees

"The Sea to Sea Green Blue Belt is a corridor of protected wilderness and parkland stretching from Saanich Inlet in the east to the Sooke Basin in the southwest. 

Lands extend from Saanich and Tod Inlets to Sooke Basin (north to south), and from the Sooke Hills Wilderness Regional Park Reserve to the Sooke River (east to west). The protected area covers approximately 11,500 hectares, making it the largest protected area in the CRD. 

It includes provincial, regional and municipal park land, including Gowlland Tod Provincial Park, Goldstream Provincial Park, Sooke Mountain Provincial Park, Sooke Potholes Park, and Sooke Hills Wilderness Regional Park Reserve."

There are many amazing moss species that live here

A variety of peaks, such as Mount Manuel Quimper, afford the energetic hiker amazing 360 degree views of the huge protected area, plus out over the ocean. Mt. Quimper has an old forest fire lookout structure at the summit. It can be handy on a windy or rainy day.

This beautiful hike can be accessed from the Harbourview Road parking lot.

View from Mt. Quimper looking south east over the park and Juan de Fuca Strait

In the early days the rail line went all the way through to the Lake Cowichan area. It hauled equipment and supplies from Victoria in to towns and lumber camps, then turned around and hauled huge logs out.

In spring seasonal brooks are full, as is the thick, spongy moss

Along this route there are many individual old growth trees that escaped the saws that took most of their contemporaries years ago.

While there are no record-breaking trees here that I know of, there are some nice sized Douglas-fir, Western red-cedar, and Western Hemlock. Sitka spruce can be found along the ocean, and along valley bottoms closer to the sea.

Moss and lichen cling to everything, including a Western red-cedar

Any time is a good time to hike or bike into the Sooke Hills Park rain forest. Whether you are cycling the Galloping Goose Trail, or hiking up Harborview Road, there are enough parks, peaks, and rain forest areas to keep you exploring for a lifetime.

Sooke Sitka Spruce

A Sitka spruce framed by Western red-cedars

Sitka spruce is the largest spruce variety in the world, growing up to 100 meters tall in places like Vancouver Island's Carmanah Valley where Canada's tallest spruce trees live.

However, it is not a dominant tree in the Sooke region and over most of Vancouver Island away from the wild west coast.

In fact, the easterly-most concentration of Sitka spruce trees in this area can be found in the Royal Roads old growth forest in Colwood, about 25 minutes from Sooke. Although the spruce trees get by in the Royal Roads forest, they are dominated by the more plentiful (and larger) Douglas firs.

Dark green = prime habitat, light green = marginal habitat.

Sooke lies in a transition zone between the dryer Douglas-fir ecozone to the east, and the wetter Western hemlock zone to the west (where the salt-tolerant Sitka are common along the coast). While Sitka spruce are not plentiful here, but some nice specimens can be found, often up river valleys or fringing beaches on the ocean.

Sitka spruce bark is reddish-brown and forms large, loose scales

Sitka spruce are the fastest growing trees in the coastal forest, and can live up to 800 years. Some nice specimens can be found up the Sooke River, as well as in the Muir Creek old growth forest.

Sitka spruce have a beautiful shape

Sooke River Big Trees

Ancient Western red-cedar along the Sooke River

The Sooke River, famous for geological formations known as 'potholes', is one of the largest rivers on south Vancouver Island. Along its rocky banks live survivors of the  logging boom that started in the late 1800s. It decimated the original forest - most, but not all, is gone.

Single individuals along trails, like the centuries old cedar in the photo above, or small groves in hidden nooks and crannies, these are the remnants of the primal forest that once covered the area with thousand year old giants.

A post I wrote here describes how to visit the cedar featured above. It is found along the Sunriver Nature Trail off Phillips Road in Sooke, BC, an excellent place to see a few examples of ancient big trees.

Snow In The Big Trees

Snowy Sooke River falls

It is not often that you get to snowshoe at lower elevations on Vancouver Island's south coast. But every once in a while we get a good dump that stays around for a day or two before warmer weather melts it away. I headed up to the end of Sooke River Rd., and Sooke Potholes Regional Park today to take advantage of the recent heavy snowfall. It was a rare winter wonderland.

Tons of snow hung on everything in the forest. It changes the look of everything with some things highlighted, and others muted. Along with the weak winter light, the covering of snow turns the landscape into a black and white Japanese drawing. Sounds are muffled, all is quiet.

Winter scene bordering Sooke River

Lichen

Everything strained under the weight of the heavy white stuff. Small trees bent over in graceful white arches. Larger trees that were wobbly before the snow have toppled to the ground. The occasional branch gave way and came crashing down, breaking the silence. With the old branches come loads of lichen for wildlife to dine on.

Snow falling on cedars

The snowshoeing was excellent on snow depths ranging from a few centimeters under the trees, and up to 30 + centimeters in open areas. The accumulation was enough for easy off-trail hiking. My winter forest bath was a magical, invigorating moment among my favourite big trees close to home.

It is going to warm up to +8 Celsius by the weekend, so get out and enjoy the snow while it lasts. You will be rewarded with a rare glimpse of the big trees in their stunning winter attire.

Watch for falling branches.

Surfing The Drift Wood

Bufflehead riding the driftwood during recent high spring tide

Nice platform for preening and relaxing

Even after trees fall and enter local waterways they continue to provide habitat for local wildlife.

I caught this Bufflehead (Bucephala albeolata) taking advantage of a piece of driftwood in the Sooke Harbor recently.

Wintering Buffleheads prefer the shallow water shelter of the coves, estuaries, beaches and harbors along the coast of southern Vancouver Island.

These tiny birds are the smallest diving ducks in North America, and also one of the fastest in flight.

Drift wood in the estuary and harbour is a magnet for Buffleheads and other creatures such as: eagles, vultures, ducks, river otters, kingfishers, cormorants, and gulls.

Multiple seagull captains surfed this big log away

High Tides And River Levels Moving Drift Logs

This large drift log was flushed out of the Sooke River two years ago

Fall and winter are the seasons that put the rain in coastal rainforest. The calm summer is a distant memory that dropped with the leaves of the maples and oaks. Now is the time for gales, tropical punch drenching rains, and the highest tides of the year.

The drift log was lifted by recent high tides and swept away like a big canoe

With the summer drought over, the life-giving rains that define the forest begin to fall. Conifers that have been growing so slow that they are near dormant now have the rainfall that they have been missing for the past several months.

Rain-swollen rivers rise to heights that enable thousands of pacific salmon to return to their birthplace and continue a cycle that has been taking place for millions of years. The forest, and almost 200 species of animals, will benefit from the salmon's nutrient bounty. This includes Bald eagles which gather in large numbers to feast on the dead salmon which dot the low tide sand bars.

This huge stump has been on Billings Spit beach for many years -
it is unmoved by even the highest of tides.

After several big storms the ground nears saturation, and water begins to flow in low lying areas. Previously dry rock faces now sport gushing waterfalls, and the moss is puffed with moisture and at its brightest green.

The water rushes over the land and down to the ocean. River water levels reach several times the meager summer flow, washing accumulated woody debris, including whole, large trees, into the estuary in the harbour.

This cedar drift log lasted a few weeks on the beach before
being cut, floated, and hauled away

When high river flows combine with perigean spring tides (20% higher than normal), flooding is possible in coastal regions, especially if there are strong winds. On south Vancouver Island the highest tides of the year take place right now, then the end of December 2011, and mid-January 2012.

Another large cedar stump washed out of the Sooke River into the estuary.
It was only a few days before a boat tied up, cut the roots off, and hauled the log away.

The highest water levels of the year flush drift wood from beaches to float on the currents until they find a new resting place. The tide flats of the Sooke River estuary are often cleaned of old drift wood, before new trees and wood are washed out of the hills and end up taking their place.

Some drift logs stay for years, others will be gone by spring. Valuable large drift logs are hauled away by enterprising coastal residents to become shingles and shakes, posts, beams, and firewood. Their winter work is rarely witnessed by fair weather visitors.

Although not traditionally a part of the tourism season, late fall and winter offer exciting opportunities to see the coastal forest during its most tumultuous, powerful, and ever-changing moments as it interacts with the wind, water, and waves.  

Giant Fallen Douglas-fir Snag

The huge Douglas-fir snag took out a branch of a Bigleaf maple on the way down

On a recent trip up Sooke River road to Sooke Potholes Park to view spawning salmon, I noticed this massive ancient Douglas-fir snag that recently succumbed to the relentless pull of gravity. It looks like it probably made a sound - a big sound.

I am surprised I didn't notice this massive remnant from the ancient forest of days gone by before it fell. It is just off the road, and it is huge! The Douglas-fir had already lost its top which was nowhere to be seen. The 20 meter wind-snapped snag remained, and stood until very recently.

This tree was probably hundreds of years old when the top came off. The remains could have stood for another hundred years or more. During that time insects moved in creating pathways for other organisms that slowly eat and break down the wood. Beetles, sow bugs, termites, centipedes and slugs all came to the banquet.

Soft, decaying wood in large snags allows cavity nesting birds, like woodpeckers, to dig out comfortable homes. A spotted owl may have used the broken top to settle down in and raise a family. A squirrel family may have moved in after the birds moved out. The snag was a vertical ecosystem unto itself, hosting literally billions of organisms.

Having fallen, the snag changes status. Now it is 'large diameter woody debris', an integral component of old growth coastal forests. It will add to the forest floor for hundreds of years more as it breaks down further, providing rich nutrients and habitat for many more organisms.

Perhaps a salamander will discover and occupy the log. Salamanders have smooth, unprotected skin, that requires a moist environment. They don't like heat or dryness, so the fallen log is a perfect haven.

Slabs of thick bark

Decaying logs are sponges that soak up enormous amounts of water over wet coastal winters. During summer droughts the log provides the moisture that the salamanders need.

The tree's status may yet change again, as the log decays into the forest floor and tree seeds establish themselves on it. Then it will be known as a 'nurse log'.

When this huge snag fell, echos of the past resounded through the forest. It was a reminder of the change that happens constantly in intact forest ecosystems.

It was also a reminder of how humans have interfered in this process. Trees like this one are rare today due to our misguided intervention.

Giant Sooke River Snag

Giant Douglas-fir snag in Sooke represents an ancient forest that no longer exists

This is one of my favourite local big trees, a Douglas-fir snag of epic proportions. It is kind of a shame that it is only the bottom 12 metres, as this must have been a massive specimen before it was snapped off in a wind storm some time in the past.

Still, it remains impressive even with the little that is left. There are not many trees, snags or still living, of this size left in the town of Sooke. And as development rapidly changes the face of this formerly rural town, more big trees are coming down.

Sooke does not have a tree protection bylaw like some of its neighbours in the Western Communities. Esquimalt's tree protection bylaw for example, recognizes that "it is in the public interest to provide for the protection and preservation of trees, the regulation of their cutting and removal, and their replacement". That is some kind of forward thinking for a variety of reasons. Big tree tourism is one of them, and one that this blog promotes.

Big tree tourists may be amazed to find that the mossy, furrowed, fire-scared bark of the Douglas-fir above is almost a foot thick at the base. Small fires over the hundreds of years this old timer lived would not have threatened its asbestos-like covering. Its canopy would have been far, far above the flames beyond reach. Imagine the entire Sooke area covered in these monumental fire-resistant giants.

Development in Sooke and south Vancouver Island, combined with intensive industrial logging have decimated the ancient forest. While it is almost extinct, it is nice to know that there are still some ancient holdouts scattered throughout the area waiting to be found. The tree above, residing in an area where development is closing in on all sides, is one of them.

Visit This Tree
I am not sure how far along the Sooke River the official Sunriver Nature Trail extends. Following the trail you will not see any signage indicating you have left the park, so I figure it is alright. However, as far as I know the trail may extend into private property. Either way please hike respectfully. Stay on the designated trail, don't leave anything behind, and try to leave the area in better shape than you found it. Enjoy the trees.


View Sooke River Douglas-fir Snag in a larger map