A broken chunk of a large madrone (Arbutus menziesii) has fallen to the ground after a windstorm. The branch wood shows the richness of the madrone wood colors: to the right is a dark, almost black area (possibly disease damage) and then you can see the grainy wood flowing to the left, with shades ranging from a deep orange red heart to a pale tan at layer at the edges. There are a couple ofknots, with convolutions in the grain, like a swirl in a stream. The branch is resting on a bed of dead leaves.
Several large but unhealthy madrone trees fell this winter. The park rangers have been removing them from the trails, and cutting some down, but the litter usually gets left in place, providing shelter for critters and an insight into the decomposition process. It is untidy and sometimes jarring, but the parks department tries to follow nature as much as possible in the trail system.
