Madrone

We have a lot of madrone trees here on the ranch. They look naked compared to the other trees, especially when the light is right. Here's a photo I took of the peeling bark of a madrone (bottom left of pic), and the smooth, almost sensual wood that has no bark left on it (upper right). The little tendril of plant growing across it is poison oak. The reddish marks on the madrone are scars of some kind, perhaps a buck trying to shed his antlers, or marks from when the branches of the tree next to it struck it when felled. The second picture is the same tree from further away.

This tree sits on the edge of a cliff; some of its roots are exposed. A big wind might blow it down. So I am documenting it now, in the prime of its life.