Hello all,

My family is the fortunate owner of some incredibly beautiful Claro walnut lumber from the family home in Northern California. The tree was felled and the lumber milled in September 2023 and has been stacked and stickered there in Sonoma County ever since.

I'm the family woodworker, and I'm in Phoenix, AZ. My brother lives in Flagstaff, AZ. My parents are planning to drive to AZ in September 2024 and have offered to put the lumber on an open trailer and haul it down to us, where it should air dry considerably faster than in California. We would probably put most of it in Flagstaff; maybe a slab or two in Phoenix.

I'm wondering if I should be concerned though. I've seen some kiln dried white oak get some surface checking when sitting out for an hour in summer sun in Phoenix. Should I be concerned that, exposed on a trailer for 12-18 hours, driven on the interstate, and eventually into late-summer Arizona, this lumber is going to dry so dramatically quickly it suddenly checks horribly?

Any thoughts on this idea? Getting it to Arizona is worth it, I think; these slabs are 2-3" thick, and could take several years to dry in CA, but perhaps faster if carefully arranged in a shady/indoor place in Arizona.

Pictures of some slabs, attached.

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