On December 10, 1997, Julia Lorraine Hill climbed the trunk of a 55-meter redwood in Humboldt County, California. She did not imagine that she would not come down until 738 days later.
Up there, on a platform barely two meters by one and a half, she endured rain, wind, and harassment from the Pacific Lumber company, which wanted to cut down the tree known as Luna, about 1,500 years old. She ate what was sent up to her by ropes and slept at the mercy of the wind high above.
She came down on December 18, 1999, after an agreement that protected 60 meters of forest around Luna. The activists raised about $50,000, which they donated to Humboldt State University. Today, the tree is still standing, protected even from tourist access.
