Hiding the world’s tallest tree from Insta-sleuths

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2022. I’m Gale Holland, Los Angeles Times assistant editor and staff writer, coming to you once again from the canyons of Echo Park.

Hyperion, the 380-foot coastal redwood named after the Greek Titan god of heavenly light, is in California’s Redwood National Park in Humboldt County, a six-hour drive north of San Francisco. The tallest tree in the world, the 600- to 800-year-old Hyperion behemoth is deep in the park, away from any trail and behind thick vegetation at a site that can be reached only by bushwhacking. For at least 16 years, the park has refused to disclose the tree’s location.

But as with vertiginous Yosemite precipices, the Rio de Janeiro Christ the Redeemer statue and most recently our own 6th Street Bridge archways, these precautions have proved small deterrent. Sturdy, Instagram-ready thrill-seekers are entranced by the behemoth’s size and challenged by the secrecy. Reaching the tree has birthed hundreds of Reddit threads with comments including “Give me 7 million dollars and a plane, and I will find it” and, more disturbing, “Think of all the napkins we could make out of that thing!”

Finally, the park last week declared that visitors caught near Hyperion could face six months in jail and a $5,000 fine.

[Read “California is trying to make the world’s tallest tree invisible. Now visitors face jail, fines,” Los Angeles Times.]

Will that stop people? Given the self-inflicted peril some people face just for a photo, it’s not a given. Between 2011 and 2017, 259 people died in the pursuit of a supposedly death-defying selfie, according to a study published by the Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care.

The worst hazard for a person on the hunt for the Hyperion might be a bad case of poison oak. But, if a possible jail term isn’t enough, maybe knowing the harm they’re causing the tree could discourage visitors. A single visitor can bring drastic and irreversible environmental damage, degrading the tree’s base, increasing soil compaction and harming its shallow roots, the park said in a statement.

California can ill afford to lose any of its magnificent woodlands. After the KNP Complex fire in 2021, upward of 10,000 fire-damaged trees near the state’s most magnificent sequoia groves had to be removed, and 3,600 sequoias died when that blaze combined with the Windy fire. General Grant, a sequoia giant that draws international tourists, was saved by firefighters wrapping its base in fire-resistant material.

Last year, the Castle fire in Sequoia National Forest and Giant Sequoia National Monument killed an estimated 7,500 to 10,600 sequoias — 10% to 14% of the world’s natural population. And last month, the Washburn fire threatened 500 sequoias in Yosemite Park’s famed Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias.

The park in its statement acknowledged that Hyperion was just one tree. But “although you may feel like you are not making an impact, many people making a small change creates a lasting and devastating effect,” the park said.

And now, here’s what’s happening across California:

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L.A. STORIES

Melando Woo, left, sits with Gabriella Walsh on July 16 in Santa Paula, Calif. A few hours later, Walsh would die through medical aid.

(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

Going out on her own terms: Gabriella Walsh knew she wanted to die on a Saturday. So July 16, she donned a flower crown and a T-shirt printed with a dragonfly and prepared to drink a fatal dose of medications prescribed under California’s death-with-dignity law. The law allows some terminally ill patients to request drugs to end their lives; knowing she could choose her own exit gave Walsh comfort in the final weeks of her struggle with cancer, writer Marisa Gerber explains in this moving account of Walsh’s decisions and final hours. Los Angeles Times

IMMIGRATION AND THE BORDER

Supreme Court certifies border ruling: The Supreme Court on Monday certified its month-old ruling allowing the Biden administration to end a cornerstone Trump-era border policy making asylum-seekers wait in Mexico for hearings in U.S. immigration court. VOA News

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Crunch time for Garcetti’s proposed ambassadorship to India: It all comes down to whether Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) will set a hearing next week to vote on Garcetti’s nomination — giving the soon-to-be-termed-out L.A. mayor his next political act. Garcetti’s parents hired lobbyist Breelyn Pete to advocate for their son. The lobbying firm where she works reported $30,000 in income during the second quarter tied to Garcetti’s parents, according to the firm’s filing. L.A. on the Record, Los Angeles Times

CRIME AND COURTS

Kristin Smart murder trial begins with roommate’s testimony: The trial over Smart’s disappearance from the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo campus in 1996 featured testimony this week from Smart’s former roommate, who said law enforcement didn’t take her seriously when she twice reported the student was missing. Prosecutors say Paul Flores, now 45, killed Smart after a frat party, and his father, Ruben Flores, 81, is accused of having buried Smart’s body under the family’s Arroyo Grande home. Paul Flores was arrested at his San Pedro home in 2021. The father and son have pleaded not guilty, and they are being tried simultaneously with separate juries in Monterey County, where the case was moved because of prejudicial publicity. KSBY-TV Channel 6

HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT

The second time with COVID-19 is a worse time: People who catch a second case of coronavirus are at 2½ times greater risk of developing heart or lung disease and blood clotting issues, a preprint study of veterans found. “The additive risk is really not trivial, not insignificant. It’s really substantial,” said Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, clinical epidemiologist at Washington University in St. Louis. Los Angeles Times

COVID redux — how to know you are no longer contagious: Like everything else with this infernal virus, it’s tricky. Especially as peak transmissibility occurs before any symptoms emerge. Washington Post

Dozens of hikers rescued from McKinney fire: At least 60 hikers were evacuated from the Pacific Crest Trail as the McKinney fire exploded along the California-Oregon border. Los Angeles Times

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

Nichelle Nichols — Lt. Uhura on ‘Star Trek’ — was a seminal figure in entertainment: With her dancer’s grace and elegantly modulated performance, actress Nichelle Nichols, who died Saturday at the age of 89, made the “ Star Trek” character, communications officer Lt. Uhura, the heart and soul of the series, television critic Robert Lloyd says. She was also an inspirational figure of historical import, writes Lloyd, who called her one of TV’s “models of dignity who pointed to a better future simply by doing their jobs.” But she was underused on the male-dominated series, he added. Los Angeles Times

Meanwhile, Times editorial board writer Carla Hall recounts how Nichols playing a Black character who was not a slave, not a servant and not defined entirely by race was remarkable then — and unfortunately, to a certain extent, now. “I remember watching the show as a little girl and marveling that she was even there,” Hall says. “She was smart and beautiful and clad in a red thigh-high form-fitting tunic that somehow she managed to carry off as legitimate astronaut wear.” Los Angeles Times Opinion

Hungry at Disneyland? It’s going to cost you: Along with jumps in ticket prices as high as 8%, and a 20% leap in parking rates, food prices at Disneyland are going up. An Angus beef burger will now set you back $15.49. “I’ve definitely noticed that the prices are going up, and that the ‘price floors,’ depending on the dish, are getting higher and higher,” said Hastin Zylstra, a longtime theme park fan in Santa Ana. He was particularly upset at recently paying $12 for a sandwich without sides at the Sonoma Terrace restaurant at Disney California Adventure: “No chips or anything.” Los Angeles Times

SPORTS

Bill Russell at a 2009 news conference in Phoenix.

(Matt York / Associated Press)

The NBA needs to honor Bill Russell as a racial justice game-changer: L.A. Times NBA writer Dan Woike is calling on the NBA to elevate Celtic great Bill Russell’s legacy by retiring his No. 6 uniform leaguewide, as Major League Baseball did for the Dodgers’ Jackie Robinson.

With high-flying athleticism, Russell led the Boston Celtics to 11 championships, including a record-shattering eight consecutive titles, turning the NBA from a scoring contest to a defensive juggernaut. But Russell’s greatest legacy is as one of the rare star athletes who spoke out against racism at a time it could have destroyed his career.

“The parallels between the two men, all-time great athletic performers who fought against prejudice and bigotry with the same intensity, makes the tribute an easy choice, “ Woike writes.

The Los Angeles Lakers’ history is intertwined with that of Russell, whose Celtics beat the Lakers in seven NBA finals from 1959 to 1969. Russell was close to Lakers icon Kobe Bryant, and as word of Russell’s death spread, a video of the older player’s message to the late Bryant at the 2006 All-Star game went viral: “I couldn’t be more proud of you than if you were my own son.” Los Angeles Times

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

Los Angeles: mostly sunny, 84. San Diego: patchy fog then sunny, 82. San Francisco: mostly sunny and breezy, 70. San Jose: partly sunny, 84. Fresno: hot, 100. Sacramento: hot, 98.

AND FINALLY

Today’s California memory comes from Brian Champagne:

If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. (Please keep your story to 100 words.)

Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.