As an unabashed tree lover, I have hugged countless trees in my time. Now, I have crawled inside a tree. In fact, the still-living tree, a bald cypress, was so massive that it accommodated eight of us.
It happened last weekend in a rugged, remote swamp in coastal McIntosh County.
Led by newly retired Altamaha Riverkeeper James Holland, we slogged through thick, sucking mud and waded across a chest-deep creek of algae-green water to get to the gigantic tree.
The effort was worth it, because before us stood a spectacular bald cypress measuring 43 feet around — one of the largest trees in the South. What’s more, the lower trunk was nearly completely hollow. Eight people managed to squeeze or slide into the “tree room” through a narrow opening.
Once inside, we all were able to easily stand up.
“You could fit a table and chairs, and probably a couch in here,” Holland said.
We weren’t the only living creatures in there. Sharing the space was a Rafinesque’s big-eared bat, a species that often roosts in hollow cypresses.
Amazingly, this was not the biggest tree in the swamp. That distinction belonged to another gigantic cypress nearby. It measured 44 1/2 feet in circumference and is thought to be the largest cypress in Georgia and surrounding states. Even the tree’s knees were stunning, more than 15 feet high.
The unnamed swamp also harbors numerous other impressive bald cypresses and tupelos, all awe-inspiring in their own right.
State wildlife officials estimate that many of them are more than 700 years old.
Luckily for future generations, the big trees sit in a 7,180-acre conservation area acquired last year by the state from the Nature Conservancy of Georgia, which had purchased it from Rayonier Forest Resources.
The tract has been added to the 18,258-acre Townsend Wildlife Management Area along the Altamaha River in McIntosh and Long counties.
Holland discovered the big trees a few years ago while looking for a good fishing spot. He said he wants to show the trees to as many people as possible.
“When they see them, they’ll also be inspired,” he said.
Personally, I’m just glad that there are still wild places like this in Georgia, places that leave me profoundly incredulous when I see them, and which are now protected.
In the sky: The long, hot summer ends officially at 11:09 p.m. Wednesday. In that instant, autumn begins — the autumnal equinox. On fall’s first day, day and night are of equal length; the sun rises almost due east and sets due west.
The moon will be full Thursday. The Cherokees called this month’s full moon “the nut moon,” said David Dundee, astronomer with the Tellus Science Museum. Mercury is very low in the east just before sunrise. Venus and Mars set in the west about two hours after sunset.
Jupiter rises out of the east at dusk and will appear close to the moon Thursday night. Saturn is very low in the west at sunset and sets in the west about an hour later.
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