Elida Peers | Contributed
Hearing about big trees puts in mind the time the Sooke News Mirror’s front-page photo of a record tree, taken by Chris Arnett, was syndicated across Canada. The date was May 11, 1988, and the trek into the West Coast rainforest was organized by well-known outdoorsman Maywell Wickheim, who had discovered the tree the previous week.
As far as we know, this western red cedar is the largest living tree found in Canada, with a circumference of 60 feet and a diameter of 20 feet. At the time, John Arnett was publisher of the Mirror and his son Chris was doing some work with the museum researching our forest history.
This tree still stands, and many day-long excursions have taken place to the Nitinat Valley area via Rossander Mainline to view it. This trail is not your easy stroll on the Galloping Goose but requires nimble-footed hikers to follow an arduous hour-long trail to the tree.
In this photo, taken 35 years ago, we see perched from left to right in front of the tree Sissel Hammer, Maywell Wickheim, Angela Bailey, Rebekah Hammer, David Hammer, Elida Peers, Kristal Hammer, Phoebe Dunbar, Harry Hammer and Bob Dunbar. In front are Jim Peers, baby Jake Koolman and his mom Liz Koolman. All the kids managed to hike the trail, save baby Jake, who rode the route on my husband’s shoulders.
When we were invited to go on this trip of discovery, we decided it deserved a champagne toast, so we enlisted Chris to pack the bottles in for us, carrying an ice-filled bucket. One of the things that added to the excitement of the excursion to Cheewhat Lake was viewing a partially built large carved cedar canoe which appeared to have been intended for lake transport but had been long abandoned.
A trip to view this forest colossus is an experience one does not readily forget. We’re pleased to understand that it is protected as part of Pacific Rim National Park.
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Elida Peers is the historian of the Sooke Region Museum. Email historian@sookeregionmuseum.com.