Many of you may have heard that the TCI grove's white oak Nimrod is finally going to come down after being fatally infected with fungus carried by the exotic Asian ambrosia beetle. Here are a few photos of Nimrod from when I took the BTCC in the Founder's Grove in '05.

The mighty Nimrod


Nimrod and Dianna's branches meet up high


-moss

Considering how many people have trained and/or partied at the TCI grove, and most all have taken photos while there. . . I would assume that there are more photos of Nimrod & Dianna than just about any other tree in the state!

What is the estimated age of Nimrod???
Just wondering,
-Electrojake-

P.S. How’s the weather up there moss?
Boston says 15 degrees and 40 MPH winds - Wow!
Stay warm!
Regards,
"Chicken George"
Waitin' for Spring in Jersey
-Ej-

Sorry to hear about death in your "family". I have four white oaks in my yard - what are the symtoms of this fungus and is there any way to prevent or treat this if caught soon enough? Thanks in advance to any and all replies in the future. Sincerely Todd

One of my first high climbs lead by Abe Winters( At that time 40 feet )was in Nimrod. I thought that I had climbed a mountain. What a great view from a truely beauitful tree. Many things come and go but Nimrod will be missed. If there are trees in heaven then Nimrod will be there waiting for us. Trailwatcher

The fungus that ultimately killed Nimrod was hypoxolon canker. It is a latent colonizer that can be present on health trees for years, sometimes its entire life, and do no harm until the tree suffers a sudden stress event- such as an attack of an imprted insect, lightning strike, root loss to contruction, draught etc. Hypoxolon is not curable, if caught early and if conditions are favorable it might be managed.The trick is catching the symptoms early and pruning out the infected limbs before the fungus reaches the main trunk, and sometimes you just can't be fast enough. I don't want to give anyone the impression that the chances of survival are good; however, because this is a natural, native and yet fatal disease of forest trees.
Peace
Sadams

The infected sections of the tree were cut out quickly. For a while I thought there might have been a chance to manage the fungus. Then the bark would pop off another branch and it would be cut off. The grim part was that the branches that showed the fungus were in the tops of Nimrod- which is always a bad sign. Much better to have the low branches affected than the important top that gets the most sunlight exposure (trees eat sunlight).

Dianna, the neighboring oak, has been hit with the fungus as well. Her decline is a bit slower than Nimrod. She will probably expire in a year. It is all a bit depressing- seeing friends decline and fade away.

I will be saving sections of Nimrod for a time. There is not going to be much high grade wood, as Nimrod has a hollow. The two lower branches, the main branches that climbers used, will be saved entirely as well as some of the trunk sections and tops.

I need to get a barometer on wood people may want. I personally will get some of the local wood turners to make me some pieces. I might get a short section milled but there is not a lot of usable trunk wood for that purpose.

What do you folks want? I do not want to prolong parting out my friend Nimrod over an extended period of time. I need some ideas here, usable ones at that please.

I'm having a hard time with the loss. Nimrod was the tree where I conceived the idea of technical tree climbing and brought out the idea to the public. I do not know how many thousands of climbers went up into his branches. Nimrod only broke two branches in my relationship with him and he broke them harmlessly in the night when no one was around. He was gentle to the climbers and put up with our treading on his limbs. I'll miss him.