Climbing trees

[magentaflame]

Mickiel came up with this one,

I found it refreshingly familiar. In the sense of remembering child hood trees I loved.

I remember a tree we had in our garden when we were younger ....it was the biggest tree in the world...and we climbed it all the time and played war around it with broomstick handle guns and picked the nests out of it .....to be then told off by Mum about bringing disgusting stuff in the house like confusing spitfires with catapillars.

I didn't reconcile with this tree until I was much older when one of my own wanted to climb it and I asked dad if he'd cut it back over the years. He looked at me silly like and said he'd just let it go......hhhhmmmmm seems my magnificent tree was just a small plumb tree. I'd imagined the rest in my childhood.



and then years later in high school.....when we were to be proper ladies (snort).... the was a huge tree in the convent gardens It was a spectacular elm.... and a couple of us girls used to sit really high ( and no not imagination this time It was huge) in we'd look at the sun through the top leaves.I compare it to this day with the tree in my own front garden. Quite beautiful.

Do you have a memory of a tree? Maybe you still climb them? Maybe you've been on a holiday and been on an incredible flying fox through tree top canopies? been through a giant red wood forest.

Lets here it for trees eh?

[Mickiel]

magentaflame;1516867 wrote: Mickiel came up with this one,

I found it refreshingly familiar. In the sense of remembering child hood trees I loved.

I remember a tree we had in our garden when we were younger ....it was the biggest tree in the world...and we climbed it all the time and played war around it with broomstick handle guns and picked the nests out of it .....to be then told off by Mum about bringing disgusting stuff in the house like confusing spitfires with catapillars.

I didn't reconcile with this tree until I was much older when one of my own wanted to climb it and I asked dad if he'd cut it back over the years. He looked at me silly like and said he'd just let it go......hhhhmmmmm seems my magnificent tree was just a small plumb tree. I'd imagined the rest in my childhood.



and then years later in high school.....when we were to be proper ladies (snort).... the was a huge tree in the convent gardens It was a spectacular elm.... and a couple of us girls used to sit really high ( and no not imagination this time It was huge) in we'd look at the sun through the top leaves.I compare it to this day with the tree in my own front garden. Quite beautiful.

Do you have a memory of a tree? Maybe you still climb them? Maybe you've been on a holiday and been on an incredible flying fox through tree top canopies? been through a giant red wood forest.

Lets here it for trees eh?




One of the ways to jar the memory about the trees we climbed , is to do as you did, and know what kind of tree it was ,Plum or Elm tree in your case. There are thousands of differing trees. I became hooked on trees when I was very young, my first tree that I climbed was a plum tree too. It was the next door neighbors tree , and really I was robing it; stealing the plums. I got to the top of it and sit out on a limb. I stopped and sit down, jamming my pockets full of plums. Big green juicy plums; sitting there in the sunlight, I could not resist eating some of them right now! My neighbor was very old, a nice sweet woman. And she turned this into a life lesson for me. She came out and smiled, looked at me and said, Michael, you did not have to steal them, you had but to ask, and I would have gave you all the plums you could carry.

The lesson just sank into my consciousness, from then on I worked for her doing small jobs for her, and yes, helping her get rid of the plumbs! I took care of her until she died.

And I began a journey with trees that evolved into a love affair with the wonderful world of trees. From Tulip Populars, to the leather leaves of Magnolia trees; to the common sight of Dogwood trees, and the stunning bark of the Paper trees.

The stately Oak trees; it was nothing like climbing them to the top, a challenge at times , I would climb some of the monsters as I grew in age , strength and skill. Get to the top and just sit there like I climbed a mountain. Sit and just meditate and it was just always a magic moment, it was some of my greatest thinking moments. It seem to just be a very peaceful time for me. At times I would think for hours! Some of the trees were so big, it would take an hour just to get to the top! I learned to use ropes to help navigate the tree and get down easy.

It became a career for me and for 40 years I cut trees to make a living. Oh how I grew and learned about trees and really enjoyed the career and love it! I miss it so! Made a lot of money too! And there is a whole lot of knowledge in the fabulous make up of a tree. How they grow and the immense of verity of just how many different trees there are. Its just so many different ways I could go in this thread, I resist just talking like my lips are a train going on a journey!

[Mickiel]

There are two ways of climbing a tree; one, a " Naked Climb", or climbing the tree without using any equipment; the other, which is more professional, is using a rope, usually at least 200 foot long. A belt to wrap itself from one side of your hip, around the whole tree itself then back to the other side of your hip, and now you are secure ; the belt is called a " Buck strap!" And on your feet you have what we call " Spurs", which have a sharp point on them that literally helps you " Walk up the tree." In my view, using the buck strap , and rope and spurs are the safest way to climb a tree, because the bigger they are, the more dangerous the climb can be.

[FourPart]

Climbing trees & making rope swings was always a major part of the joy of being a child when I was young. However, these day, if kids try to make rope swings, the offending branch that the rope was tied to has to be cut away because of Health & Safety reasons. If the tree is climbable there is also a good chance that the tree itself would be felled.

Talk about the Nanny State.

[Mickiel]

FourPart;1516877 wrote: Climbing trees & making rope swings was always a major part of the joy of being a child when I was young. However, these day, if kids try to make rope swings, the offending branch that the rope was tied to has to be cut away because of Health & Safety reasons. If the tree is climbable there is also a good chance that the tree itself would be felled.

Talk about the Nanny State.


Oh yes its been so long since I made a rope swing, but you bring back good memories. It was just pure fun to make those swings and I would often fall asleep in them. I use to make a climbing saddle using my rope and just sit in it on any part of the tree I tied in to. I would swing from one side of the tree, and I could propel down with it and go to any side of the tree safely. Man I had a ball! Stay in that tree for hours.

[LarsMac]

Two trees I remember in particular.

We had a big Ficus tree in our yard in Florida. I would climb in into the middle of it, and be completely unseeable from anywhere. my own private world. I would take a book with me and read until it got dark.

When at FSU, there was a Live Oak in the Quadrangle that had nice branch about 20 feet or so up, that was very comfy, and a perfect spot to watch all the goings on around campus. (except for the time I was a bit stoned, and fell asleep, only to wake up on the way down.)

[Ahso!]

[Mickiel]

LarsMac;1516887 wrote: Two trees I remember in particular.

We had a big Ficus tree in our yard in Florida. I would climb in into the middle of it, and be completely unseeable from anywhere. my own private world. I would take a book with me and read until it got dark.

When at FSU, there was a Live Oak in the Quadrangle that had nice branch about 20 feet or so up, that was very comfy, and a perfect spot to watch all the goings on around campus. (except for the time I was a bit stoned, and fell asleep, only to wake up on the way down.)


That was funny. I only got in a a few trees while I was a bit stoned myself, and just a few times while working. I recall almost going to sleep in a giant Sycamore tree, the wood on those trees are like bones, smooth and very hard wood. I had a few brews and just sit up there and got comfy myself. It is like a private world, sitting on this big branching of wood that grew from the ground. Even now I still look at all the trees wherever I happen to be. The " Live Oaks" you mentioned can get really large; big trees man.

I would like to see those Giant " Redwoods", that are so large at the base of the trees, they cut through them and make tunnels and roads go through them like a giant door! Oh I would like to see them. They have to shoot the ropes from the ground with arrow machines , to get to the first branches in order to climb them.

[LarsMac]

Mickiel;1516893 wrote: That was funny. I only got in a a few trees while I was a bit stoned myself, and just a few times while working. I recall almost going to sleep in a giant Sycamore tree, the wood on those trees are like bones, smooth and very hard wood. I had a few brews and just sit up there and got comfy myself. It is like a private world, sitting on this big branching of wood that grew from the ground. Even now I still look at all the trees wherever I happen to be. The " Live Oaks" you mentioned can get really large; big trees man.

I would like to see those Giant " Redwoods", that are so large at the base of the trees, they cut through them and make tunnels and roads go through them like a giant door! Oh I would like to see them. They have to shoot the ropes from the ground with arrow machines , to get to the first branches in order to climb them.


I've never actually seen those Giants, either, yet. Hope to this next year when we finally hit the road permanently.

The redwoods that I have seen are large enough, and appear to be a challenge to climb.

I've never tried climbing a tree where there was no obvious route up. Never been a "technical climber" trees, or rocks. I am much too lazy for all that.

When we needed some trees trimmed in Arkansas, the guys who did the work were rope climbers. I enjoyed watching them do their work up there.