We don’t have trees like this in South Dakota – at least in my part of the state. I think it is an oak tree and oak trees have a very distinct form of brachiation. The branches are twisted and, in my mind, gothic. I would have bare, twisted oak trees in front of my haunted house, if I owned one.

This tree is about to leaf out and lives (happily or hauntedly?) on San Juan Island in Washington state.