I came across this in northern VT. Looked like a dragon in the woods. The area had been select cut a few years ago....guess they didn't want this one. It is a big tree for being so deformed. Wonder what caused it to grow that way?
(http://i.imgur.com/dVfVaSk.jpg)
I have heard of such things being done to mark paths and trails.
But it could also have been a snow and ice crushed tree that snapped and remained alive enough to grow upwards.
I agree with StumpKiller. No way to know for sure but my grandfather used to leave trees like that as landmarks on his property which covered several hundred acres. If he told me he saw some pretty fox squirrels up thar by the gnarly pine I knew exactly were he was talking bout.
There is treasures in those hills. We just have to get out there and enjoy them.
I like stuff like that in the woods.......makes things interesting.
That is how native Americans used to mark trails or direction. That may have been a human that did that...
I bet there's some sick grained wood in the break/burl for limb veneers or turkey call pots.
Closest I have come to a dragon is a 390# alligator!
Bisch
No matter the cause it's pretty cool.
In Jackson WY there is a hotel with all of the posts surrounding the outside deck eave crooked like this, although not as extreme. I was told that snow pushing the trees down causes this.
That's similar to the tree I built my first stand in about '93.
Sasquatch.