Highway 50 Shoe Tree, near Middlegate Junction...

U.S. Highway 50, as it passes through central Nevada, is known as "The loneliest highway in the world," for good reason - you can drive for many, many miles without seeing another vehicle, another human being, or even an isolated ranch. If you crave highway solitude, then Highway 50 is your road to drive. However, you will be rewarded with breathtaking views of snow-capped mountains, wide, open valleys, sagebrush, spectacular Great Basin Scenery, and one of the most spectacular shoe trees in the entire United States.

Photo: Compare the size of this shoe tree to my truck, and note the many pairs of shoes, dangling high up in the branches, 40 or 50 feet above the ground. This is truly an impressive shoe tree, and it appears to be very healthy.

The famous Highway 50 shoe tree is a 70-foot tall cottonwood, growing is a shallow gully, just a few yards north of the highway. It looms from the sagebrush-covered desert floor like a lonely sentinel, and a testiment to the prowness of shoe-throwers. As you head east from Middlegate Junction, and you see the tree in the distance, it appears to be covered with birds - hundredds of 'em - but as you come closer, you close your eyes, maybe rub them, and when you open your eyes, you're confronted with an unbelievable sight, as dangling from seeming every limb of the tree are every type of footware in to be found on the planet - shoes, sneakers, cowboy boots, sandals, running shoes, golf shoes, rollerblades, motorcycle boots - you name it, in all shapes, sizes and colors. Most hang from the branches by shoelaces tied together, but others are supported by bras or underwear. Some hang singular, others dangle in groups, yet more hang from the tree in gigantic clusters, similar to clusters of bananas, hanging from banana trees. There are hundreds, maybe even thousands of pairs of shoes hanging from this tree, and many more piled around the base of the tree, in the dry wash that it grows in. On the bank of the gully, behind the tree, the words "The Shoetree" are spray painted to proclaim the title of this unique tree.

Photo: A few of the many pairs of shoes, lying in the dry wash, at the base of the tree. Note "The Shoetree" spray painted on the bank, in the upper rear of the photo.

Photo: These fine shoes are up about 30 feet above the ground.

What botanic wonder caused this tree to grow shoes instead of fruit? Is is something to do with the harsh, high desert climate, with the hot, dry summers, and the brutally-cold snowy winters? Or maybe it's got something to do with a quirk of fate, or a mix-up in cross polinization? Perhaps some raven picked up a very fertile shoe and deposited it on the tree, and the shoe took hold, and became fruitful and multiplied, hundreds of times over. I took a course in botany in college, (but barely passed) and I couldn't recall of being taught which kingdom or division that a shoe tree belongs to...

As I stood in the hot Nevada sun, pondering this botanical wonder, a car pulled up, and out stepped a man and a woman, who seemed as dazzled and amazed at this natural wonder as I was. The gal did the usual thing, and pulled out a camera and began to take photos, not doubt as a trophy to brag about to her grandchildren, but the guy had other ideas - he pulled a pair of running shoes from their car, tied the shoe laces together, and made like an ace softball pitcher, with a warm-up fueled on steroids, and tossed the shoes high into the tree, and added them to an already huge cluster of shoes.

Photo: Looking at the trunk of the tree, where many pairs of shoes are growing.

Photo: Against the "Kodachrome" Nevada sky, Jason winds up, and prepares to toss an old pair of running shoes into the tree, to add another pair to the bumper crop os shoes that the tree produces.

I was left in awe, and totally speechless, at the athletic prowness of this gentleman, who's name just happens to be Jason. All I can say is that Jason is not only a world-class athlete, but in only a fleeting moment, I learned more about shoe tree genetics than in the entire semester of botany that I suffered through in college. Jason provided me the answer of how shoes grow on trees. Heck, I'd assumed it was cross-polonization magic...

If you want to see this awesome tree, you'll have to travel about 44 miles east of Fallon, Nevada, which is the closest town to this tree. It's located 2.3 miles east of Middlegate Junction, where state highway 361 meets U.S. Highway 50, in the middle of nowhere. If you have a GPS, plug in the coordinates N39.17.653, W117.59.195, elevation 4719 feet. It stands just north of the highway in a dry wash - you can't miss it, as it's the most spectacular shoe tree in the state of Nevada, and maybe the entire United States.

Photo: Closeup of one branch, with an amazing variety of footwear dangling from the tree.

Anyway you look at it, "The Shoetree" is a tree with lots of soul... errrr ... sole.

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