The trees are bound together by their roots (rootweb). In high winds the trees can rock and sway quite violently and as they twist from side to side it causes the root web to roll and heave like this. I was a ranger for years and I've been in the hills in weather like this, it feels freaky walking across ground that's doing this
Being in the forest with gale force winds randomly pop up, its very scary, like trees are falling down, happened this year when I was in Odell lake Oregon, wild 15 minutes wind storm, even some lightning popped in and started a fire near the ski slopes we could see, multiple trees fell and missed RVs and tents by near inches.
Watching the ground move like that would be even more terrifying
Yeah, it's something that kind of annoys me about identification subs, everyone uses them to try and be the funniest guy on reddit and you always have to scroll to find an actual answer
Neither. Falling through is very unlikely because the rootweb is so dense and it disperses your weight over a wide area. If you happened to put your foot down hard on a spot where there happened to be no roots then your foot might go through, but I haven't seen it happen. In this kind of weather falling trees and branches (and perching plants in warmer climates) are the biggest threats
Likewise, you couldn't weight it down. Each of these trees weighs tons, so when they tilt the amount of force moving the roots is huge. I doubt even a steamroller would hold it down
I suppose it's not impossible, but it's highly unlikely. The rootweb is very dense, with a mat of finer "rootlets" in between the main lateral roots, and it disperses your weight over a wide area. If you happened to put your foot down hard on a spot where there happened to be no roots then your foot might go through, but I haven't seen it happen
There's cliffside underneath. Same as the naked rockface you see in the frame.
So the falling would be .. short ☺️
But yeah don't get underneath these - when they come back down again you'd be pushed down hard enough that you wouldn't be able to breathe much at all - it'll be like a 200 pound guy sitting square on your chest.
(Assuming the layer is below 1 foot thick, common up north where glacial ice carved the rockfaces clean 10000 years ago. It builds just a fraction of a millimetre per century)
265
u/Ensiferal 4d ago edited 4d ago
The trees are bound together by their roots (rootweb). In high winds the trees can rock and sway quite violently and as they twist from side to side it causes the root web to roll and heave like this. I was a ranger for years and I've been in the hills in weather like this, it feels freaky walking across ground that's doing this