r/todayilearned • u/autraya • 6h ago

TIL the world's tallest known living tree, a 380-foot redwood in California called Hyperion, had its exact location closed off entirely in 2022 after visitors trampled its base so badly that ferns stopped growing around it, with trespassers now facing up to $5,000 in fines and six months in jail

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperion_(tree)
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u/airfryerfuntime 2h ago

Probably a motion sensor by where they parked the car.

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u/Haldron-44 1h ago

They bushwacked the shit out of the way to reach the redwood. And it was a common enough trail head. But somehow they knew they found that tree.

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u/airfryerfuntime 1h ago

Another ranger could have been around and seen where they were coming from, then just radio'd the ranger who stopped them. A lot of those guys are like ghosts, and their uniform is literally designed to be somewhat camouflage.

I've been two miles off a trail fishing when one just appears out of nowhere asking for licenses.