Tree 9

:D I’m glad this is on Unilocal.Climbing this thing was one of the best memories I had on my road trip. Would climb again!

No longer here :(

Great spot on a beautiful campus. Too bad the lower branches were cut — but worth the hike with my two boys, looking for adventure. Not for the younger kids.

There is a 120-​foot redwood tree in the middle of the Santa Cruz forest just off of the UC campus area that tons of people climb every year and is incredibly fun, but you should have kids who are confident in their climbing abilities/​not afraid of heights before they attempt it.
Also, the area around there is incredibly fastening for anyone interested in the outdoors with banana slugs galore and extremely verdant vegetation. On a clear day on top of the tree you can see all the way out into the ocean, completely unobstructed. It’s incredibly peaceful and calming. I can’t really give you directions on how to get there, but if you were to ask anyone on campus (or if someone on here was better at directions) you should be able to find it, but not without some fun adventure first!

Tree 9 on Unilocal???hahaha, LOVE IT!
Climb it, breathe it all in, and exhale. It’s beautiful beautiful beautiful =)

The school cut down the lowest branches in order to discourage the students from climbing Tree 9.
Too bad, it’s the perfect climbing tree! You’ll just have to find a way to get up there.

Tree 9 is alright, it’s really just another tree, there’s nothing majestic about it.

Tree 9 on Unilocal?!WHAT?! Lemme get on this review!
First of all, Tree 9 is one of the landmarks of UCSC itself. It’s called Tree 9 because it rests right next to College 9. I’ve been here plenty of times during my freshman year, but every person I visited there with never had the guts to climb it and I didn’t want to climb it alone. (Ok, ok… I was the one that didn’t have the guts either. Hahah.) Every time I’d look up unto the branches, I’d get chills down my spine. I’m naturally afraid of heights and there was no way I wanted to know how it looked like resting at the top of the tree. Forget that, I admired it from afar instead. And every time I did that, I’ve always seen many tourists visit and climb it while I was there. It’s a really popular landmark!
So that was my experience with the tree during my 1^st year as a UCSC student. Two years later, I’ve heard so many good stories from friends, acquaintances and even strangers that has climbed the tree. Because of these stories, my curiosity to know how «amazing» and «breath-​taking» the view from up top was starting to grow bigger and bigger as time went by.
Now, as a graduate, I decided to take that leap into curiosity and do it before moving back home. The hike was easy peazy. Being underneath the tree was easy peazy. Looking at the tree was easy peazy. But climbing that tree?! Scariest thing I have ever done in my life! (Earlier, I mentioned I was scared of heights and I totally forgot I was until I got to the first branch.) Boy, every branch I climbed made me more frightful than how I was at the beginning. I had to hear a lot of encouragement from the person I was with in order to move forward. And every time I got higher and higher, the tighter I held onto the bark. I was hugging it for dear life (consequence: tree sap all over my hands, arms and legs). There were times where I just wanted to climb back down because I was too scared. But I kept thinking to myself, «You’re almost there. You didn’t go this far for no reason!» That helped me a lot!
And the moment I was finally on top, when I looked around to check out the scenery, I inhaled and exhaled the crisp air and realized it was one of the most amazing and breath-​taking scenery and experience I ever had (just how I heard it in other people’s stories as well). You can overlook the bay and the forest. It’s beautiful. It also became very relaxing and it was as if I conquered my fear of heights. I screamed outloud, I laughed, I tried to catch my breath after a hard work of climbing… IT WAS ALL WORTH IT.

Tree 9 is the best thing about the UCSC campus. I climbed it every chance I got and I brought countless friends to it in the years I lived there. I really, really love it.
It’s such a beautiful and relaxing experience to sit at the top and look out over the bay.

For my first review of 2010, i’ve decided to do a review on something that holds a special meaning to everyone who has visited it.
Tree 9.
This majestic and gorgeous tree towers above all the other redwoods around it. once you make the hike up and enter the clearing, the branches beg you to climb it and look at the view it has to offer.
The first time i visited the tree, it was in the middle of the night. But the day i saw it in broad daylight, i was blown away by its presence. The branches are smooth from the hundreds who have climbed it before. They stick out in all directions to give even the most fearful the chance to brave it and climb up.
2010 is a new year for me, and it is a new year for this tree. This tree has so far survived all who has wanted to cut it down for the purpose of expanding ucsc. The Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) has been put on hold so far, giving this tree another year to bask in the sun.
Contrary to what people think about the name, whether a girl died by hitting 9 branches on the way down, that 9 people died so far, to the fact that it’s located above College 9, the name comes from the fact that way back in the day, the tree was actually stop #9 on the ucsc trail tour.
and so now the winter is slowly drawing away and the branches call out again to all the banana slugs. I will be back soon. and this time i’ll make it to the top!
If this tree falls, we will all fall with it. but keep standing tall Mr. Tree 9.
another amazing thing: the tree is minutes away from the open field where full moon drum circles are held every month. *wolf howling*

I spent the first two months of my freshman year trying to track down this tree, everyone we asked gave us different directions, and eventually, we just brute forced it. I mean… it’s a tree, it’s not going to move anywhere. When we did find it it was amazing. I never made it all the way to the top, but am hoping to do so before I graduate or they cut it down (curse the LRDP).