gnarly and muscular

I don't consider myself a tree hugger. At least not literally. I tried it once and it was uncomfortable. I think it was a huge redwood tree, a tree whose bark is rather spongy, and whose size is so impressive, that of any tree, a redwood is one that looks like it should be hugged. The bark poked me in the face as I attempted to wrap my arms around it, then my finger hit something soft and wet and squishy. My other hand encountered something suspiciously like a spider web, which freaked me out. I let go after this gesture, left with a liberal coating of bark bits, leaf bits, moss bits and various other things. That was the end of my tree hugging career. Maybe I should have tried an aspen.

That, of course, is not to say that I don't love trees. I suppose that I am a tree hugger in a philosophical sense rather than a literal sense. I love the twisted branches of certain species of trees, and as much as I dislike winter, the cold season is when the branching structure becomes the most obvious and appreciated.

The winter silhouette of oaks are some of the most handsome, even if it takes a lifetime (or two, or three, or...) for them to achieve the gnarly form that I love. The incredibly large coast live oak specimen (Quercus agrifolia) in the top photo is probably a couple of hundred years old. At least. The smaller grey oak (Quercus grisea), photographed on the Sandia foothills, is harder to guess, since they stay pretty small and grow so slowly. If my still tiny 5 year-old Quercus turbinella's are any indication, this photographed oak could be nearly as old as the big coast live oak. The valley oak of central California is one of my all-time favorite oaks (bottom photo, shot through a car window). The curvaceous branches have an almost muscular appearance. There is a mystery as to why they are not reproducing, however, and old trees are dying without being replaced by seedlings. Some people blame the cows, other people blame pollution. I hope a solution is found soon, before we are deprived of the incredible beauty of these trees.

I also like apple trees, which also can get gnarly.
What other trees do you enjoy for the winter silhouette?