Cypress Roots and Cliff Face. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. January 8, 2011. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Weathered Monterey Cypress roots grow on the face of a cliff at Point Lobos State Reserve.

This tree is getting a lot of exposure this week – it is the second or third photograph of the tree I have posted. To echo what I wrote regarding the earlier posting – though briefer this time – these stark and weathered roots growing on top of rocky ground – a cliff face in this case – remind me in some ways of gnarled timberline trees high in the Sierra Nevada with their old roots weathered to the point that they look almost as much like rock as like living things.

Some might think it odd, but I partially plan my wanderings around Point Lobos to avoid the sun as much as possible! I try to go there on days when it is overcast, and on days like this one where there is sun (though filtered by haze this time) I often search out shaded, north-facing areas so that I can shoot in soft, diffused light that fills in the shadows and does not sun-blast the bright areas of the scene.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Montery Cypress Roots and Cliff Face. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. January 8, 2011. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The gnarled and weathered roots of an old Monterey Cypress tree on a rocky cliff face at Point Lobos State Reserve, California.

These old, twisted, gnarly, and very weathered roots belong to a stout Monterey Cypress tree standing near a trail at the edge of the cliff above the ocean. The main trail travels closely behind it from the perspective of the photograph, but I photographed it from a dead-end spur trail on the other side of a very narrow inlet.

In many ways, the cypress trees that end up growing in the most hostile spots – on top of rocks, at the edges of cliffs, exposed to the full brunt of the ocean wind – remind me a lot of certain high elevation trees at timberline in the Sierra, where we also frequently find trees that seem to grow on virtually nothing. The roots of these old trees are gray and weathered to the point that they are almost closer to rock than wood and these roots travel across barren rocky areas to reach some bit of soil.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
Flickr | Twitter (follow me) | Facebook (“Like” my page) | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.