philomena wrote: ou have to go into the mountains around Tucson to climb public trees. I chose to go into the Santa Catalina Mtns in the Coronado National Forest. Along the highway they have a bunch of pulloffs for scenic viewing. I found a stand of sycamore trees in a dry riverbed next to the road. I had to climb down the side of the road about 50' to get to the riverbed, but it wasn't too bad. I climbed a sycamore that seemed to have the least amount of lean (the one furthest to the right in the picture below). Second picture was taken when I was in the tree at about 50'. It's a view of the canyon I was in.
Until I was in the tree, I had forgotten about the discussion of the white powder on sycamores. Although there was a lot of dust, it didn't bother me. I did take a shower as soon as I could, though.
I didn't spend quite as much time in the tree as I would have liked, but the canyon was starting to get dark and I didn't feel like making a mistake while I was alone in a new area. I had a headlight and a phone, but why take chances? Overall, a great climb in a great area.
Patrick
Sycamore is a favorite of mine for climbing. If I recall correctly the irritant from sycamore comes more from the underside of the leaves more than the bark powder. At any rate I've never had a problem from a sycamore. It may be that tree workers who have more "tree contact" are getting the worst effects pruning branches, running wood and leaves through chippers and inhaling sawdust.
Sounds like an excellent climbing area!
-AJ
