When you drive to 6000-7000 feet elevation in the Taiwanese mountains you will begin to see the landslides that mark the steep slopes. They look like “long brown wounds” in an otherwise green landscape. While I was driving with Dr. Ginn Lee and Tiger Lee in the high altitude XiangYang Shan national forest I saw 50-100 of these landslide scars on the mountainsides.
During the monsoon season of July-October each year the soil in the mountains becomes soaked and saturated with water. The topsoil is relatively thin (10-50 feet deep) and lays on the solid rock mountain surface. Because the mountains are so steep the topsoil eventually “creeps” over the solid rock base. When the “creep” movement accelerates a major landslide occurs taking millions of tons of dirt, rock, trees, and plants down into the steep crevices, valleys, and canyons.
Hong Kuai trees go “along for the ride” when the landslide occurs. The branchless logs may be buried in the landslide for 50-100 years. These logs may remain partially trapped – partway buried in the settled landslide where they may remain for 25-50 years. Hong Kuai logs may straddle a stream or river (like a bridge) for 300-500 years.
You might say it is miraculous that these Hong Kuai logs survive this long journey. Yet Mother Nature controls the Hong Kuai harvest. Fortunately there is 9-12 feet/year of rainfall in the southern mountains and 15-23 feet/year of rainfall in the northern mountains of Taiwan. STOP! Read the annual rainfalls again! Look at the rainfall map. Unbelievable, but true. No wonder there are so many mountain landslides!!!!!!!
Because Hong Kuai essential oils is one of my favorites, I’m glad that Mother Nature is in control of harvesting Hong Kuai trees. Mother Nature provides a nice balance of Hong Kuai trees in the high-mountain rain forests and Hong Kuai logs stranded in the rivers after the monsoon season.
This is Dr. Cole Woolley. Hong Kuai essential oil is my “liquid confidence”. Come join our explorations.