As an introduction, I wanted to start out with some basic information about tree searchers, also known as seekers.  While most people out there visit the redwood forests to hike the many great trails such as the Lost Man Creek Trail shown on the right, there is a small group of die-hards out there known as tree searchers.  Tree searchers are interested in locating the most rare and special trees which have been discovered.  The trees which they are looking for include the tallest, the largest, and the ones with interesting and unique features.  Because the locations of many of these special trees are usually kept secret to protect the trees from being overly loved, that leaves tree searchers with a difficult challenge.  In order to locate the most special trees, a lot of time has to be spent researching published materials and trying to track down information on the internet.  Once that is done and a search area has been targeted, a searcher will have to hike and bushwhack out into the forest to see if the tree can be found in that area.  As an example, if someone wishes to search the Lost Man Creek area, the searcher will have to leave the main trail and hike up the creek (or a smaller tributary like Little Lost Man Creek) until the targeted area is reached.  After that, the searcher will have to go up and down hillsides and along ridges looking for the tree they hope to find.  Sometimes, a search will end in success (as the picture to the right reveals, which shows us successfully finding Hyperion on a steep hillside).  But many times, a search will end in failure.  Cheating by looking to the internet for GPS coordinates is pointless, because they are all fakes.  Down below, the first yellow box shows an updated list of the Top 8 world's tallest trees, along with their ranking, current height, and tree name.  The second yellow box provides an interesting glimpse into the difficulty levels of locating the Top 8 trees.  If you are interested in becoming a tree searcher and locating some of these, such as Hyperion, you might want to start with some of the easier ones to find.  Because if you can't locate Lauralyn or Stratosphere Giant, you have no business searching for the trees that are harder to locate, such as Hyperion.  After the boxes, I have divided this page into different parts, which chronicle my different searches for trees in the Top 8.  While I do not give out clues, I am happy to discuss tree searching and hear from those who have searched for the Top 8 if you want to e-mail me at steveinathens@hotmail.com

HYPERION REDWOOD-- THE TALLEST TREE

Searching for Hyperion is probably the single most challenging task I have ever undertaken in my life.  Hyperion is a coastal redwood tree which has the distinction of being the tallest tree in the world.  Not just the tallest redwood tree or tallest tree in California, but the tallest tree on the planet.  At last measurement, it was 379.65 feet tall and it continues to inch its way higher each year towards the elusive 380 foot mark.  Helios and Icarus are the 2nd and 4th tallest trees in the world.  My interest in finding Hyperion traces back to two things.  First, I have always been fascinated by tall and large trees (there is a difference between height and volume).  I've spent time hiking into groves in different places such as Yosemite and Sequoia and really developed a sense of awe and wonder towards some of the many gigantic trees I have found.  Second, I was riding the Skunk Train one day with some family and friends when the train host started talking about the tallest tree in the world.  He mentioned how it was north of the area we were riding through but nobody knew where it was because the location was a closely guarded secret.  That kind of caught my attention and when I got home I began doing research and learned about Hyperion.  I found out that it was discovered by Michael Taylor and Chris Atkins in 2006, climbed and measured by Stephen Sillett and Marie Antoine, and then written about by Richard Preston in his book "The Wild Trees".  All of these were names I would become very familiar with over the course of the 100+ hours of study, research, and investigation that I would embark on in my quest to become only the 3rd confirmed person (or group) to find Hyperion since it was originally discovered five long years ago.  (Note-- the illustration on the right is one of my favorites of Hyperion.  It was published in the SF Chronicle and really helps you to gain an appreciation for the height of Hyperion Redwood Tree.  Especially living near San Francisco my whole life, the scale and comparisons are very meaningful.  Illustration of Hyperion is copyright of San Francisco Chronicle.)

MY SEARCH FOR HYPERION (August 2011)

Some of the questions which confronted me as I embarked on this search were--  How do I find something that absolutely nobody else wants me to find?  And how do I find a single tree in an entire forest and large area of national and state parks?  Those two issues took center stage and I realized that this task was monumental and nearly impossible.  I could see that I was setting myself up for disappointment and failure, especially as I read the reports of other searchers on the internet who had all come up empty and were lost in discouragement.  In talking about the road ahead with a few family members, I pointed out that finding Hyperion could take as long as three years.  This was because that was how long it had taken the only other documented public group which I read about.  Still, I decided to embrace the challenge and give it my best shot.  With my background in searching for and locating secret areas of Death Valley successfully, I felt that I could have an edge in reviewing and analyzing Hyperion clues.  So I began an exhaustive examination of books, magazine articles, documentary videos, online sources and other resources, and after some time had built up a large collection of hints and clues that would serve as the basis for my search areas.  Living just 5 hours from Redwood National and State Parks, we were also able to travel there and do some initial scouting work and hiking.  Although we didn't find the tree at that time, we became familiar with the area.  Back at home, my search expanded beyond the boundaries of Redwood National Park to nearby State Parks such as Jedediah Smith, Prairie Creek, and Humboldt Redwoods.  I had to assume that nothing and everything which I had read and learned was true.  Eventually, I had a couple of breakthroughs.  An area that I had been targeting for a long time and had high expectations for was eliminated by a fellow searcher who I talked to.  That was a crushing blow, as I had really believed that I was looking into the right area.  But the fellow searcher provided indisputable evidence.  Then one day I was thinking about something I had read a while back and the correct location just struck me.  I'm not going to say what the information was or where I found it, but it clicked in my mind and it was like the pieces of the puzzle just came together all at once.

Thus, exactly five years to the day after Hyperion was first discovered, my brother Jim and I were packing our bags and preparing to head back to old growth redwood country in Redwood National and State Parks for another search.  Things did not go well for the first couple of days.  We searched high and low, up and down hillsides in quite a wide area for 14 hours and came up empty.  We were battered and bruised and our willpower was fading.  We prepared ourselves to accept failure and began discussing how we could just appreciate the rewards of the forest itself (much as Clynes did in his failed search and article for Backpacker magazine).  But we weren't ready to surrender just yet, so we made a decision to take a risk and it ended up paying off.  We found Hyperion, the tallest and most majestic of all trees.  I will never forget that moment as Jim and I approached the tree from different angles and I yelled out: "I'm making the call... this is it... this is Hyperion!"  We celebrated and got some photos, all the while walking carefully around the tree, not wanting to damage its root system in any way.  It truly was a special moment in our lives and something we will always treasure and remember. 

It's hard to put into words just how difficult our 2 days and 14 hours of searching on this second trip really were.  The terrain in the vicinity of Hyperion Hill was rugged and intimidating-- steep hillsides, impenetrable overgrown thick plants and trees, thorny bushes which cut skin and draw blood, false forest floors that collapse into pits, tall trees that all appear to be the same height, massive fallen trees which block routes, hidden trip vines, no visibility (especially in fog), signs of extensive bear activity all around, and the sheer isolation of being in the middle of nowhere.  There are spots along the way where it takes extreme caution to avoid bruises, falls, and broken bones.  And the bears were definitely a concern.  We both carried $60 bottles of bear repellant pepper spray.  The bears of the redwoods aren't like the bears of Yosemite.  They aren't used to people and we weren't taking any chances.  All the way around, it was an unforgiving environment and I certainly can't suggest this search to anyone that I know.  The dangers are too great and the search areas too vast.  But we overcame the astronomical odds and our search for Hyperion ended with success.  I truly feel that it is quite an honor to be one of only a handful of people on the entire planet who knows where Hyperion is and to have seen it with my own eyes.  But it is also a responsibility and that is why I will not provide any clues or hints as to the whereabouts of this legendary titan of the forest.  Upon returning home, something which meant a lot was receiving a note of congratulations from Michael Taylor, the person who co-discovered the tree, when he learned of my success in finding it.  As I wrote that last sentence, which was supposed to conclude my story, a question popped in my mind.  It was... Helios and Icarus, where are you hiding?  Maybe this is not an ending, but just the beginning.  (CONTINUED BELOW...)

(Note-- the best web resource for information that I have found on Hyperion was written by MD Vaden of Oregon at mdvaden.com/redwood_hyperion.shtml and he also has the best picture I have ever seen of the world record holding tree.  MD Vaden was a member of the 2nd person (or group) to find Hyperion.  You can learn more about landmark trees at landmarktrees.net which is Michael Taylor's site.  In the pictures below, I am sharing a few of my special Hyperion pictures which do not reveal anything about the location where it can be found.  The rest of the pictures will only be kept in my private collection.  Also included below is our failed search video.)

FINDING HELIOS-- THE 2ND TALLEST (October 2012)

If locating Hyperion is like finding a needle in a haystack, tracking down Helios can be likened to trying to find a grain of sand on a beach.  Helios, as noted above, is the 2nd tallest tree in the world, behind only Hyperion.  Both are coast redwood trees that are located somewhere within the vast wilderness of Redwood National Park.  Their exact location has never been made public by those who discovered the trees back in 2006, and probably never will.  While there are a small number of intriguing clues available online, in magazine articles, and in books in regards to Hyperion, there are near-zero clues when it comes to the 2nd tallest tree Helios (376.54 feet tall at latest measurement).  And there are no useful pictures at all available on the internet which show what Helios looks like down at its base.  The implications of this are obvious.  If you can't see a complete picture of Helios to help you match up the tree when you think you have found it, then the only way to be certain is to take your own measurements using a forestry laser or other equipment.  That is an expensive and time consuming process that probably won't work for most searchers.  Especially when you have an entire national park as your search area.  When it comes to tree searchers, most of those out there during the past half decade or so have been searching Redwood National Park for Hyperion and coming up empty.  A little over one year ago, I was able to locate Hyperion after two trips and countless hours of research, no doubt to the surprise of many within the tall trees community.  After that, I shared my story in the form of the report written above, which many have enjoyed reading.  Over the past year, I even received several e-mails from searchers asking for help in locating the world's tallest tree.  However, I had to decline to help them because I don't have the right to share or discuss clues.  But I do have the obligation to protect the tree, and that means allowing searchers to try to find the tree on their own without any outside influence or help.  I did point searchers to MD Vaden's page of collected clues which he analyzes and shares on his page (link above).  While I was undertaking my own search for Hyperion through research at home, I used MD Vaden's page on a near-daily basis, and it helped me a lot.  But when it came to my search for Helios, there was no such resource available.  At the same time, I felt the clock ticking.  It has been estimated by various experts that Helios will overtake Hyperion and become the new world's tallest tree sometime in the next 5-15 years.  Thus, finding Hyperion could not be the end of the story for me personally.  I would need to find Helios as well, to be certain that I had seen the world's tallest if Helios did indeed manage to overtake Hyperion at some point in the near future.  However, instead of rushing back out to Redwood National Park to search for Helios, I wisely stayed at home.  I realized that randomly searching through the park would accomplish nothing except bringing on frustration and potential injuries.  There is nothing easy about even searching one hillside of one small portion of one creek within the park.  So I collected a few breadcrumbs worth of clues that I could find in regards to Helios and then spent a year thinking about those clues.  After more than a year had passed by, I figured that I just might be able to find Helios, so I gave it a shot.  Read on to see what happened next, as I share my first-person account.

**As I bushwhacked up a steep ravine somewhere in Redwood National Park, things were not going well.  It had been raining off and on all morning, conditions were damp and muddy, and everything was wet around me.  I paused below the steep slope of a slab of rock which I would need to climb up to continue.  To my left and right were thorny bushes with even steeper terrain and nothing to hold onto.  If I was going to make it through this section and continue my search for Helios, I would have to make it up this slippery rock with terrible footing.  For several minutes I just stood there, trying to decide if I should turn back and hike all the way back down the ravine to try to find another access point to get up this hillside or if I should try to climb the slippery rock face in front of me.  Finally, I went for it and put my soaking wet right boot up on a notch in the rock slab.  I pushed myself up but then suddenly slipped back.  I nearly tumbled and slid down the steep hillside, which could have resulted in potentially serious injuries.  Another five minutes went by while I again debated what the best course of action would be.  Once again, I went for it, this time using more of my hands by grabbing onto some roots and mud with one hand, and a natural handhold on the rock slab with the other hand.  This time I made it up.  When I got to the top of the slippery rock slab I looked back down and thought to myself: "I sure hope I can find another way back down later, because I don't think I can get back down this without possibly slipping and breaking a leg." Above the rock slab, the underbrush of the steep hillside continued to be nearly impenetrable.  I had to force my way through the midst of thorny bushes, overgrown plants, and the thick foliage of trees.  It wouldn't have been so bad except for the part that I could never get good footing.  This hillside was just incredibly steep and I couldn't even pause to rest because it was so uncomfortable.  Several times I took nasty falls.  Up to this point, I had already been soaking wet because of the rain, but now my entire body was covered with mud.  A short time later, I saw several very large old-growth redwood trees.  There was one higher up on the hillside to the left, and three trees to my right a bit lower than my elevation.  I started to head up to the higher tree to my left to take a closer look, but I just couldn't make it there.  The terrain was brutal.  Ten minutes later I was back at my junction.  The only other way to go was to my right towards the lower trees.  Going straight ahead was not an option because it was so overgrown.  It took me quite some time, but with great difficulty I made it over to the lower small grove of trees.  Along the way, my leg collapsed into a pit once and my feet nearly gave out another time because the slope dropped off at such an extreme angle.  I was not in the mood to go sliding down a hillside, especially not bushwhacking solo in an area where nobody would probably ever find me.  At this point I said to myself: "What the heck am I doing out here?  This is not worth it.  I am beating up my body and for what?  In the hopes of finding a tree which could be located anywhere.  I'm getting out of here."  One year earlier, I had uttered similar words to myself, yet I ended up persevering instead of giving up.  But this time, things were even more challenging.  I was out in the forest alone, the weather was not cooperating, and the terrain proved to be much more difficult.  When I reached the small grove of trees, I quickly realized that they were not what I was looking for.  But instead of turning back, I pushed on and continued hiking and bushwhacking through the forest.  Perhaps after hiking and bushwhacking through the forest for another hour, I stood up on top of a very slippery fallen log and looked curiously at a tree in the distance.  Something about the tree I was looking at captured my interest.  I thought to myself: "Maybe that is Helios.  No... that can't be it."  I stood on the slippery log for several minutes just staring at the tree and thinking about it some more, debating it in my mind.  Finally, I slid down the other side of the log and went over to the base of the tree to take a closer look.  It didn't take me long to soon realize: "Yes, indeed, this is Helios!"  Against impossible odds, I had found the world's 2nd tallest tree standing tall on Helios Hill.  And it was such a pretty tree.  An awesome ending to an incredibly difficult journey, both hiking in the forest and at home thinking about clues for a year.**

So that's my story.  That's how I managed to become only the 2nd confirmed person in history since the tree was discovered to find Helios.  As with Hyperion, I am not sharing any clues or information to help others find Helios.  This tree is even more protected than Hyperion is.  And I am aware that the park service frowns upon placing focus on individual trees.  I can understand that.  They want visitors to come to enjoy the forest as a whole, not bushwhacking all over the park searching for a couple of trees that are impossible to find.  That's why I don't recommend following in my footsteps and searching for these trees.  Because the likelihood of getting hurt is high and the chance of finding these trees is nearly impossible.  But for me, I found it important to find the world's two tallest trees.  It was something that I wanted to do, and I was able to accomplish it.  And there are other trees that I would like to find, including the one known as Orion (currently the 8th tallest tree in the world).  Those adventures will have to wait for another time.  Because there is an embargo against sharing any pictures of Helios on the internet or in publications, I am not able to show you the beauty of this coast redwood.  My apologies for that, but it is in the best interest of the tree that no pictures of it are in existence on the internet.  However, in order to prove that I did indeed find Helios, I sent proof to both Michael Taylor and MD Vaden.  They both have verified that I found the correct tree.  Quite a while before I located the tree, I was hopelessly searching one hillside and I took a short video of myself bushwhacking through some of the easier terrain of the day.  So I am including that as something that you can watch, since it provides no assistance but it did document a short part of my day.  I wish everyone reading this the best in your own adventures through the old-growth redwood forests.  (Note-- check out MD Vaden's page http://www.mdvaden.com/redwood_helios.shtml for more information on Helios.)

Up until my trip to Humboldt Redwoods State Park in November of 2012, I had only spent time searching for tall trees in Redwood National Park.  While I had visited other parks and hiked there, I had not carried out actual searches.  That changed this past week when my sister and I traveled to Humboldt to try to locate the three trees that are found there that are in the Top 8-- Stratosphere Giant (3rd tallest), Paradox (6th tallest), and Lauralyn (7th tallest).  Millennium and Minaret (the 9th and 10th tallest trees) are also located in Humboldt Redwoods State Park, but I did not have enough clues gathered up at this time to carry out a search for them.  It's amazing that 5 of the 10 tallest trees in the world are all located in this state park.  And one of the things I noticed about a lot of Humboldt RSP is that the terrain is less punishing than what is found in Redwood National Park.  That's not to say that it's easy, it's definitely not.  But the forest terrain is a less challenging 8/10 rather than a 10/10 on a difficulty scale.  Upon successfully finding Helios last month, I decided to continue on with this quest I have been on for quite some time now.  The next objective that I have set for myself is to locate all of the trees in the Top 8 tallest.  I would like to extend that to the Top 10.  But for now, I'm starting with the Top 8.  Thus, I did my research at home and came up with some targeted search areas to try to find Stratosphere Giant, Paradox, and Lauralyn.  Here are some details about my search for each of these trees.

LAURALYN-- We started our time in Humboldt RSP by searching for the tree known as Lauralyn.  That's such a pretty name for a tree.  And the tree itself is also beautiful.  Landmark Trees describes it as a "Big Leaner" and that's exactly what it was.  In searching for this tree, I was really only able to locate two specific clues online.  But that was all that I really needed to narrow things down and find a search area.  This is the tree that I recommend that searchers start with.  Because as I said in my introductory comments, if you can't find this tree then tree searching is probably not the best activity for you to embark on.  Down below, I am only sharing one photo of Lauralyn.  And it is not a photo that is taken up close.  I couldn't find any other close-up photos of Lauralyn on the internet.  And my policy is not to publish photos of trees that have not been published before.  So that is why I am only sharing a photo of Lauralyn that was taken from a great distance away.  But you can still see it in the photo.

PARADOX--  The next tall tree that we targeted in Humboldt RSP was Paradox, the 6th tallest.  In thinking about the name, I wondered why it had received such an unusual but cool name.  Many people don't realize this, but Paradox was at one time considered to be the tallest tree in the world, for two years back in 1995 & 1996.  For Paradox, I was unable to find even a single photo of the tree anywhere on the internet.  When this happens, it makes finding a particular tree next to impossible.  About the only option seems to be measuring all the large trees in a specific area to see if the dimensions match up.  Outside of measuring, there is no way to know if you have found the correct tree.  Fortunately, I stumbled across an obscure clue which helped me narrow down the search areas for Paradox.  Paradox is a spectacular tree to stand below in person.  Out of the five trees which I have found so far, Paradox is probably my favorite for pure scenic beauty.  It's a really nice tree.  Unfortunately, I am unable to share any pictures of Paradox with you at this time.

STRATOSPHERE GIANT--  The final tree that we spent time searching for in Humboldt RSP was a very important one.  Stratosphere Giant (from now on referred to as Strat) is currently the world's 3rd tallest tree.  It recently overtook Icarus to move into that position.  Since Icarus has a dead top, several other trees will probably be passing it as well over the next couple of decades.  Like Paradox, Strat also held the record for the world's tallest tree.  But Strat held the record for over 6 years, from 2000-2006.  Then Helios was discovered, which changed everything.  An interesting aspect of Strat is that I was able to find more clues for this tree than all other trees in the Top 8 combined.  Once I had all my clues gathered, I was able to narrow things down to a small search grid of maybe 1/4 square mile.  Even with that, it was not easy to find Strat.  The terrain in the vicinity of Strat was a bit tough due to the abundance of fallen massive trees.  Many of these trees we had to walk all the way around.  I even ended up walking through the creek in the area for a length of time to try to get my bearings and scan the tops of trees.  Because our search area was wide, we even got disoriented and did an entire loop back to almost our starting point without intending to.  We thought we were walking one direction and ended up walking in the complete opposite direction.  That has never happened to me before.  After that, I took out my compass and began using that to keep track of my position and our direction of travel.  We found Strat just in the nick of time.  Our trip to Humboldt RSP was winding down and we only had 2 hours of daylight left when we stumbled across it.  It was a fantastic moment.  Walking into the area and spotting Strat as time was running out, we were instantly awestruck at the magnificence of the tree.  Since we still had a little bit of time left, we circled around the area trying to get various nice views of Strat.  You will see a few of those in the photos that I am sharing down below.

And now that I have found Stratosphere Giant, that leaves me with only needing to find three more trees to complete my personal quest to find the Top 8 tallest in the world.  The remaining trees are Icarus, Nugget, and Orion.  I'm confident that I can find Icarus and Nugget.  But I have serious doubts about finding Orion.  Because there is literally only one clue in existence for that tree.  But that's another story.  And hopefully I will have another story to write in the Spring of 2013, when my quest continues.