Hyperion | World's Tallest Redwood
Redwood National and State Parks
See information also about: Mountain Lions and Black Bears in Redwood National and State Parks
Continued from: Coast Redwoods including info for image use.
Copyright 2009 - 2012 by Mario Vaden
Hyperion coast redwood, discovered 2006 by Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor is the tallest in the world. 2009 measurement 115.61m or 379.1' high, 15.88' diameter breast high, 4.5' above grade. It is mostly a single stem redwood, with very slight fire charring on parts of the trunk. In many ways, it just blends right in, almost fitting a stereotypical look for Sequoia sempervirens. The stem length on the low side is 386 feet.
The actual facts available for Hyperion are few. Basically those dimensions, the park, the discoverers and the year. Plus a few comments in a book about how it was discovered back in 2006.
Most of this page is extra commentary that may be of interest to those who enjoy exploring for redwoods.
The photo here is the coast redwood Hyperion. Because the image is so rare, Fair Use is not applicable. If you need to use a photo of it, please email. Click this photo for a larger 600 x 1200 pixel view >>
There is not any single way to approach this tallest redwood in the world, which is located uphill from one of the many creeks and brooks. There are just creeks and brooks in the park: no rivers, at least not by name. The largest is Redwood Creek, with Prairie Creek as its largest tributary. And Lost Man Creek forming a confluence 12,000 feet upstream as another Redwood National Park tributary.
There should be no problem mentioning that when I found this redwood, my route involved walking through water for quite a stretch. Some parts were up over my waist, and during certain times of year could sweep someone away with the current and drive their body submerged under boulders or logs.
But ... immersing in waist-deep water was not essential: just happened to be part of the day's experiment.
Presently, my favorite story of a search by other folks is a 2007 article called Above and Beyond by Clynes. The narrative sounds as if they picked the Redwood Creek trail trailhead at the parking close to Orick. That redwood article opens with them weighing options in hours and pints of blood. It ends with appreciation for the entire forest experience in the end.
Actually, the rare few I know of who located this one, all have bleeding in common. Broken bones are also shared by explorers, with one of those thrashings looking for Grove of Titans, and the other north of Redwood Creek.
See X-ray image farther down page
The lastest finding I heard of, which took 3 entire years, shared in a summary "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". The false forest floors are of huge concern, and in 2011, ate one explorer's complete right leg: with the left knee swelling from hitting the ground too hard. The most immediate pain though, seems to be when shins kick the hidden razor-tip wooden spears on fallen wood, hidding behind ferns and moss. Equipment can get hammered too BTW. There's a laser rangefinder in RNP that a log jam permanently inhaled, up one of the creeks: not mine. But I've fallen off logs twice onto my backpack (with camera inside), one log 7 feet high. That's why I use a padded camera pack now and don't take my best camera and lenses on the more brutal bushwhacks. One of potentially lethal hazards we don't flirt with, are the slick logs near streams, chasms and rocks. Sometimes the slick surface is evident, appearing smooth and wet. But other times not, as spongy moss or bark that was gripping boot soles with friction, suddenly glides-apart from old wood beneath.
Navigating Redwood National Park can be a real trip. Summer of 2011, I almost wathce Atkins eaten and spit out by a Coast Redwood. It had a covered hollow on the uphill side of a slope, and Chris fell through but caught himself at the last moment. The cavity went clear through, and he saved himself from ejecting down the hill 100 feet into a boulder filled creek.
Hyperion, the tallest redwood (2009) was described in a book as being in remote part of Redwood National Park on a hillside in the south end of the park. Because the park is not neatly sliced into north or south on maps, the description is vague. Especially since Prairie Creek is occassionally included generically in references.
With new super tall redwoods found recently and the shroud of mystery around this location, some folks wonder if Hyperion is still the tallest in the world. Some new finds are not being named. But it should be tallest ..... 99.99% certain.
The only certain clue may be actually finding Hyperion. Which means measuring the trunk diameter and the height with a laser and coming within like 1 or 2 feet of it's 380 foot height. Helios is so close in diameter and height, it's easily conceivable that someone could mistake it for Hyperion. In the near future, Hyperion may not be the tallest anyway. In 2011, Michael Taylor wrote "Helios is on pace to hit 380' on or about 2017. Hyperion is on pace to break the 380' barrier about the same time. Hyperion's growth is currenty about 1 inch per year." Helios is the faster growing of the two.
What a novice would do about Hyperion, even with a laser, I do not know. Because Michael Taylor once wrote to some folks of the Eastern Native Tree Society, that one would "literally" need to get like a mile away to hit the central leader clearly.
In a few years, the handful who may have located what was the world's tallest, will no longer have seen the world's tallest. And if they thought clues for Hyperion were rare ... Helios will confound them, because clues of substance are almost non-existent. The hunt may boil-down to less than the photo to the right on Helios' bark. Those are burn marks on the redwood Helios, about 100 feet up the trunk. One small fire scar is shaped like a Megaladon or Great White Shark tooth. If you ever scavenged those teeth on the east coast before, you understand. And the ones in the sand along the east coast states tend to turn black. The charcoal color fire mark is virtually a spitting image. That's not the idiosyncrisy referred to on the Helios page.
Various people expressed interest in Hyperion, assuming it is upslope of a named creek. Redwood National Park has at least 40 miles of creeks: brooks added. That's 80 miles of slopes when both sides are combined. So that can leave a little bit of hunting territory for some people.
This area was also nicknamed Fog Valley in a book by Richard Preston, describing Steve Sillett and Michael Taylor heading downstream into the rugged region. To reiterate that there is not a single approach, compare that writing by Preston, with the chapter Michael Taylor's Dream where the first climbing expedition went upstream: or up the valley.
In the same book, Preston introduced the use of tags on trees (like 3 peas in a pod). But tags on redwoods are not useful to seekers: not for verification. Between the canopy researchers and other studies, there are reams of tags and flagging tape. Not like litter. But there are plenty.
And the tags for some redwoods are across valleys on trunks of other Redwoods or Douglas Firs, where the window was open to a laser: the opposite side of the valley. Between 2008 and 2011, the number of tags multiplied greatly. So finding tags, or what looks like bent foliage won't mean diddly as of about 2009. Some of the LiDAR redwoods have double tags placed for measurement. Helios happens to be one of the redwoods for which a measuring window is across the valley on another slope, about a 20 to 30 minute bushwhack from the trunk. Even if someone stumbled upon that window and tag, they wouldn't know what the heck it was for.
It seems that many apparent clues for Hyperion are not much better than trial and error, because various clues are uncertain or have been twisted through narratives. Which really is no problem, because it makes every day a new adventure for hunters.
Not very far from Hyperion were scads of fresh bear footprints, claw marks and scat. One part of Hyperion Valley had a couple of Mountain Lion tracks. But I did not see any of those animals in the area. And that was fine with me. They can leap vertically like 16 feet. The bushwhack and various water water crossings were plenty of challenge at is was.
Here is a diagram referring to earlier comments about having to measure a redwood from one side of the valley to another. Heavy vegetation, log-choked streams and obstacles must be added with your imagination.
E-mail trip reports
To date, about a dozen folks have sent messages about their quest, providing a glimpse into what's running through their heads.
So far, others have explored upwards of 1 to 2 miles up creeks including Bond Creek, Forty Four Creek, Bridge Creek, Tom McDonald Creek, Bridge Creek, Lost Man Creek, Emerald Creek, and parts of Redwood Creek, and part or Devil's Creek. Other too, but those are what I recall. They scoured these creeks and came up with nothing, including one guy who earlier found the Lost Monarch redwoods and several other top 10 for size. With one exception I heard ... a guy from the east coast made one rare sighting of Hyperion. The trip reports show that the typical seeker sets sights on named creeks rather than smaller forks or tributaries, and rarely north of Bald Hills Rd.. The lookers have sought with and without rangefinders. And tend to have many clues in common, but still end up all over the park. Their paths radiate outward from Redwood Creek, typically excluding it altogether.
The confidence that people place in clues, or how they interpret them, can be as far apart as The Federation and Klingons in Star Trek. Let me give one example. There's an image where a research scientist is up in Hyperion looking in some direction. Apparently there is mist or fog in the distance. A couple of folks shared that it had to be looking toward toward the ocean because that's where fog comes from. That premise is incorrect. I replied with a photo taken along the coast showing a fog or misty cloud moving slowly down a hill toward the beach. In the redwoods, mist or fog can wander to and fro. With that so-called clue, there is a 50/50 chance of being right or wrong.
The X-ray image to the right shows the broken & dislocated elbow of one man who explored off-trail for one of the largest known coast redwoods. Image from H. Llewellyn - used with permission
It's interesting to see how rumors spread, whether by emails, blogs or websites. If Bridge Creek is mentioned or overheard by one or two people, then all of a sudden it becomes the likely location. If Tom McDonald is mentioned a couple of times, then it becomes the likely location. Likewise Devils' Creek or Bond Creek. Apparently people believe in a name if they see it in writing, or mentioned more than once.
It's worth noting that my photograph of Hyperion can be considered an anomaly. The exact view you see in the photograph above was never seen by the actual discoverers. An unseasonal gliche in the winter weather offered a short window in time to approach this redwood and see this much of it. A photograph like this is not possible in most of the Spring, Summer and Autumn.
The most solid clue I've ever seen, was found after I already located Hyperion. But it only stood out as a clue on account of having found Lost Monarch. The clue reminds me of the movie The Matrix, where passage through some door or opening, completely depends on one particular character (personified program). In theory, if someone found Lost Monarch first, they may be able to figure out the vicinity of the world's tallest redwood via one piece of clue. Never heard about it from anybody else looking. Although, most seekers of Hyperion have been going for that tall one first, and put looking for the largest on the back burner. Finding El Viejo del Norte in advance, would also qualify as a key to access the epitome of clues.
That reminds me ... New Hope is not a clue. But that tall redwood in Jedediah Smith would have made great training wheels for seekers of the world's #1 tallest. If someone can't find New Hope, they may want to abandon the quest for Hyperion Coast Redwood. Because New Hope has practically been offered on a silver platter when it comes to tid-bits of information available.
Seekers are few
Compared to hikers, seekers are less than a drop in the bucket. That may boil down to one published clue ... in a Youtube video, a climber of that redwood, Spickler, stated that the trek in required a "4 mile plus" ordeal through "really rugged terrain". And the "lost little valley" is on the "edge" of the park. That clue heralds that one needs to sweat-it for no less distance than 2 to 3 miles upstream from TallTrees Grove (for example). Keep in mind that gate-access forest roads on the east side (and west) allow parking within 1.0 to 1.5 miles of Redwood Creek: even closer to upper reaches of every creek from McArthur Creek to the lower confluence of Bridge Creek. Reseach climbers have access to gate keys and any old roads. Lost little valley connotes a notch valley of an unamed brook rather than a main named creek: or a connecting brook of a main creek. And "edge" describes somewhere other than down in the central bowl of the park. That mental image covers an expanse more vast than mid-Bridge Creek to Devils' Creek, and I think most people just lay low and enjoy the many miles of hiking trails.
Even Elam Creek is barely 2.5 miles from the big parking lot for Redwood Creek trail, and an easy cake-walk approach via gated roads, horse trails and hiking trails. Likewise for Tom McDonald Creek or Emerald Creek, but even easier and shorter for both, because gate-access roads are in great condition. The special access roads might have been impassable for parts of Cayote Creek, Harry Weir Creek, Cayote Creek and Copper Creek. A few roads have been reported somewhat worse or impassable farther east in the park. But Old-Growth is slim pickins past Devil's Creek which has a lot of old redwoods and itself covers an extensive area. Forty Four Creek falls a bit closer to a 4.5 mile walk from trail parking: provided one skipped using a forest road on the SW slopes of the park.
How far up a creek can old growth coast redwood be found?
There is no rule of thumb for how far up a creek one can bushwhack to find old growth. In some valleys it begins almost right away, then fizzles out, like up McArthur Creek. In other places, like Bridge Creek, there is hardly anything until several miles later. Then the valleys have some really big stuff. You would never realize this from a couple of trip reports where people went a mere mile up, but judged the entire area from that short distance. That's been confirmed by Michael Taylor as well as satellite images.
A way around that potential confusion is using Google Earth. It makes it relatively easy to tell the difference between old growth and new or second growth. And just one more way to test whether the trip report from another searcher is worth considering.
The old growth tops look bigger and more chunky. The younger stuff, logged areas, or Alder patches seem lighter color and smoother textured on the satellite image.
Images at right
The top image shows the upper region of a creek in Redwood National Park. Just one valley alone dotted with old growth is almost a mile long. The finer texture areas are the logged regions or Salmonberry in low spots.
By zooming in, the scale can even show how broad the tops are. In one image, the Redwood crown is over 100 feet wide. The upstream region of this particular creek has all kinds of old growth Coast Redwood.
Check it out for yourself. McArthur starts out heavy with big stuff and gets thin before half way up where a huge elevated basin stretches old-growth-free, picked clean to the bone by loggers. Tom McDonald Creek is sort of a skinny finger of old growth for much of it's length. Elam Creek has lots initially and the old growth there spans the hilltop to McArthur. Bridge Creek does not look too grand for the first mile or two, but there are a bunch of valleys upstream loaded with giant old growth. The amount of old growth varies along Redwood Creek, ranging from vast groves to narrow patches: on the satellite image, some even look like the teeth carved in a Halloween pumpkin. Anyway, take a look yourself, zoom in and out and spin it around.
Words can be remarkably vague
Every so often, I find myself rereading the Above and Beyond article by Clynes, which I mentioned earlier. Summer 2011, something caught my eye for the first time, especially as one who knows the location. Clynes wrote the following:
"We thought we had been in big-tree country before, but as we walked farther into the grove, we realized that we had now entered a new realm. All around us, 20-foot-wide trunks rose in great grooved columns"
If that is correct, the description does not sound like the "right place" as stated by Atkins (discoverer) in the article. There would be no abundance of trunks that big at the particular stage of progress described by Clynes and his group. There are some 20 footers nearby though. I'm surprised that the particular sentence never jumped out before. Also, compare Clynes description above to the "stumps ten to fifteen feet across" and redwood "beanpoles" mentioned by author Preston.
One must keep in mind that words like "place" can mean a hugely wide expanse, and still be telling the truth. Likewise, walking "right past it" does not necessarily mean someone came within a hair's breadth of something. A person could be a 1/2 mile away from their target walking parallel to it's easiest approach, and walk right past it. Without knowing exactly where Clynes was (and he did not say in an email one time), I can't say whether Atkins replied over a phone line with pin-point reference, or whether it was very vague to guard the location. It could have been either, and he'd still be telling the truth.
The Conspiracy Theory
It has been suspected by a few people, that discovers, researchers and park staff have laid an elaborate web of false clues: substituted canopy view vistas, altered time-lines, etc.. I will not confirm or deny that theory, but since a few Grove of Titans clues are known to be backwards, that does lay a basis for suspicion.
Because if it were true, searchers would be drawn continually into a modern redwood version of Greek mythology: the legend of Sisyphus and his impossible task.
The only free "bone"
About the only clue that can be offered, is the fact that at least one of the existing Hyperion clues is very wrong or out of whack. It is either a typo, an unintentional mis-statement, a figure of speech which appears literal, or a mix-up of facts about locations and boundaries. The contamination to the pool of clues stems from a person whose name would be well known to any seeker who had expended effort for a month or more. It is either an author, a researchers, a character, a website owner, or employee of the parks. If the error was intentionally tossed into the public arena, I would not know, because I did not ask, and have no need to know. Something makes me think it was an accidental slip-up.
That "bone" really does not say much, otherwise I would not have even offered it. About all it does is open your mind to huge possibilities far exceeding what you may have expected.
A final Chapter
A few of you may have read Preston's book which ended with the discovery and and first climbing of this redwood: attended by National Geograpic. I heard through the grapevine that Preston had finished his book before the discovery, but it was not yet published. Then Michael Taylor and Chris Atkins found the world record redwood in 2006. So Preston added the final chapter Michael Taylor's Dream. How different the book would be without that discovery to cap it off.
Some folks consider Hyperion as the holy grail of redwoods. One naturalist wrote that they would not set foot on that earth because it was sacred. But its not quite like the banana slugs and bears there genuflect.
For now the location remains secret and unpublished. Hyperion is fairly remote. Maybe it's location should be called Hyperion Hill since it's on a hillside.
Redwoods like this are still inconspicous, because there are super tall redwoods all around. They literally cloak each other. And the tip tops are commonly out of view of a rangefinder.
About a previous Panoramio / Google Earth photograph of Hyperion: a few folks were curious about the Hyperion photo which used to show on the Lady Bird Johnson Grove side of Lost Man Creek in Redwood National Park. I removed it indefinitely, in case one may wonder where it went. Some images remain in my albums.