ROAMING THE ANCIENT CEDARS...

WHISTLER’S LONGEST STANDING LOCALS

Like many early settlements in British Columbia, the biggest industry for the majority of the 20th century was logging. The lower walls of the Whistler valley bear evidence of clear cutting and regrowth, the open patches of lighter green, visible in the summer months, being the most recently visited by the forestry industry. But the bulldozers and chainsaws did not reach every corner of the valley. Groves of aging cedars are sprinkled throughout Whistler, their massive trunks holding firm despite over a century of development around them. The most magnificent of these groves is known as the “Ancient Cedars” and is home to some of Whistler’s oldest flora. Red and Yellow cedars, as well as Douglas Firs still stand in this grove north of Green Lake after as long as a millennium. Every one of the large red cedars is hollow,” says Whistler biologist Bob Brett. “In fact, the largest ones that are 3- m ( 9.8feet) in diameter, only the outer 20 cm of that column is holding the tree up. We’ll never know exactly how old they are.” Brett has conducted core- sampling of trees in this grove to try to determine their age, but with many of the inner rings missing he often has to estimate and cross reference with the girth and height of each specimen. But with so much logging in the area over the last century, how did these 700 to 1,000 year old trees not end up as highend furniture in Vancouver homes? Brett doesn’t know exactly how this grove in particular was overlooked by forestry surveyors, but says that luck may have had a bit to do with it. “Logging in B. C. tends to be progressive: it starts at the bottom of the valley and keeps moving up. My assumption is that it was at the end of the valley and was last considered for cutting. The markets may have been involved. The early 80s were a depression in B. C., causing a lot of trouble to the forestry industry; and perhaps that created a delay in aggressively logging everywhere.” The Ancient Cedars trail is now considered a part of Whistler heritage and will soon become formally protected by the government, but other threats still exist. “The biggest risk would likely still be fire. Luckily people smoke less than they used to, but on a drier year the most likely cause would be careless people,” says Brett. Reliably accessible from July to October, the Ancient Cedars trail is a popular hike just 10 km ( 6.2 mi) north of Whistler starting at the foot of Cougar Mountain. After turning left off the highway just north of Green Lake, the next 4.5 km ( 2.8 mi) are a bumpy ride along the gravel logging road ( but possible with most 2- WD vehicles). The hike is around 5 km ( 3.1 mi) round trip and takes approximately two hours along an established trail with easy gradient and excellent signage. Allow an additional 20- 30 minutes to walk the short loop and admire these magnificent cedars. Take time to get a photo dwarfed by one of these historic trees and appreciate the awe- inspiring survival of this hidden gem.