Screaming Titans coast redwood, double trunks
by Mario Vaden
Screaming Titans are the first extraordinary size redwoods that Steve Sillett and Michael Taylor saw as they entered the Grove of Titans on The Day of Discovery in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, May, 1998. Just before they discovered El Viejo del Norte. Screaming Titans are a twin redwood and not on the list for 30 largest coast redwoods. Two images are provided below to show impact within the grove after someone triggered a surge of foot traffic.
Apparently Michael Taylor was the first of the duo to notice these redwoods. Standing on a log to get a better view after a brutal bushwack, he let out a scream after spotting the trunks. These coast redwood's name is plural because there are two. The discoverers recognized the double trunks and named accordingly.
Fogbelt Brewing Company named beers after several coast redwoods in the grove. Because one brew is called Screaming Titan IPA, it begs the question, which trunk did Fogbelt favor?
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The first image shows Screaming Titans in 2010 when the area was pristine. That historical view is no longer available to experience. It changed soon after a guy from Medford made it his mission to leak the location. A surge of foot traffic followed. Upwards of 10,000 sq. ft. of plants was destroyed in the grove between 2011 and 2016. July 2016, Redwood National and State Parks posted a sign in Jedediah Smith redwood park. The text said 3300 square meters damage happened, equal to about 7 basketball courts.
For the average hiker, Screaming Titans can be enjoyed as one redwood. The mass of wood has merged around the base. The combined diameter is said by some to be 30 feet, but a tape wrap would probably show closer to 27 feet
In the 3rd image, the coast redwood to the right of Screaming Titans is Eärendil, the one with the fallen log jammed into it. In 2001, both of these redwoods were climbed for the first time for research by Steve Sillett and Marie Antoinne. In a book The Wild Trees, author Preston said that Sillett spotted "death traps" in Screaming Titans. So Sillett got a line into Eärendil and crossed over for an alternate route to the top. Using a zipline, they accessed canopy of both redwoods. Nearby is another redwood called Elwing. In Lord of the Rings, Eärendil and Elwing were husband and wife, parents of Elrond the half-man half-elf king who protected Frodo and his companions in Rivendell. Elrond had a daugher Erwen, who married Aragorn (the name of another redwood in this grove). After exploring both canopies, they watched the setting sun from over 300 feet overhead.
The death trap thing is why I think some people may have legal leverage against the parks someday if the park management and rangers start drawing tourists directly beheath using paths, decks and boardwalks. Time will tell when the design is opened to the public. There's a big difference between people infrequently going near old, breaking redwoods versus a near continual flow and presence of bodies under hazards.
Images: The 1st photo is Screaming Titans in 2010 when the grove was a pristine oasis. Compare to the wider photo below from 2015, and how much changed.
The scene below is 2015 showing how much vegetation was trampled
