‘I loved walking into that tree’: Docent waits on the fate of one beloved Big Basin redwood

Estimated to be more than 1,500 years old, the Auto tree was one of the oldest trees in Big Basin Redwoods, and it stretched 282 feet in the air from not just one but two trunks. Over time the tree had endured so many fires that its heartwood had burned out, leaving its interior hollow and distinguished by a large scar. It seemed miraculous to Scripps, but somehow the tree was still alive, and continued to grow. Even more amazing, the gap seemed to be shrinking over time, a tree healing its own wound.