I happened on this one a few miles west of Delta, Utah, on U.S. Highway 50 (“The Loneliest Road in America“). I saw no other trees at this spot. I don’t know why, but over probably years, people have tossed shoes into this tree. I thought it unusual. But apparently it’s not. RoadsideAmerica.com lists shoe trees in 21 states, and several such trees in many states.
A few days later, on Highway 93 near the Nevada-Utah border, I happened on another tree. Only this one had bottles and cans strewn among its branches. I suspect this one had only a few suspects, as most of the containers were attached to the tree by cord of the same color.
• • •
These are amazing to come across. Amber and I found one in northwest Arizona, I think it was, somewhen around 2001. I heard about five years ago that a shoe tree in that area had been set afire and it was nothing but ashes. Sadness. The image of that tree had worked itself into my mind, and sharing the mystery with Amber, my future wife at the time, had made it something very special.
Every town should have one…