[at-l] Widow maker

[danielsw@bestweb.net (Walter Daniels)]

A hazard tree killed a 10 year old girl in a tent with her parents a couple
of months ago at the public campground in Fahnestock State Park. Many
thru-hikers stay at this campground. They regularly inspect for such trees
but this one was not obvious.

A Window maker is a subset of the more general hazard tree. It drops
branches instead of the whole tree falling.

ATC's guidelines for maintainers include removing hazard trees, particularly
at camping spots or trail intersections, or anyplace hikers are likely to
stop for a bit. If you are moving, you are extremely unlikely to get hit by
a falling branch unless it is a real windstorm, in which case you should
probably have taken shelter somewhere safe. Last weekend on a day hike we
heard a tremendous crash of what sounded like a whole tree downhill and
around the bend from where we were. It sounded like it would be on the trail
but we could not find it anywhere obvious. This was a calm no wind day and
such falls happen all the time.

If a tree falls in the forest does it make a noise?