These roots are quite something!
We came across this tree very close to the Bruce Caves, near Wiarton, Ontario. The Bruce Caves, oddly enough, are not named after Bruce county (in fact, they're in Grey county), but are rather named after an old hermit who lived in them in the spring, summer, and autumn seasons in the late 19th century.
I'm not sure how old this tree would have been back when he lived there. It may not have been more than a sapling, it may have been only half its current size. It's hard to tell, because many trees in the region -- especially those growing from or on rocks -- grow very slowly. Many cliffside white cedars are thought to be potentially thousands of years old.
Roots like we see there, don't just grow overnight. It takes them a long time to find their way to soil, surviving off the moisture collected off the rock until then.
A hundred kilometres south, in the Kinghurst Forest Nature Preserve, another simiiar set of cedar trees resides. These ones, however, are nowhere near the Niagara Escarpment, and are rather placed upon one of many boulders scattered sparsely by the last ice age.
While I'm not the sort of person to admit to "one favourite" -anything, The first picture is one of my all-time favourite photos. I'll have to go back some day when I have better equipment, and can potentially fit better more of the tree in a single shot.
