The popular shoe tree that sat next to Highway 395 in Lassen County had to be removed Tuesday, as wear and tear from all the hanging shoes deteriorated the tree over time. Now, only a pair of shoes and a dirt pile remains.
Arnold Gomes IIIÂ is from Dayton and sells jerky by the shoe tree. He showed up this morning surprised to see the tree gone, even though he's noticed some branches fall off, and even witnessed some shoes falling off a drooping branch.
"Unfortunately, it was destroyed by the people who enjoyed it." Gomes III said.
Gomes III said he first saw the tree a few years ago when there was only a few pairs on the tree. He said by the end of that year, there was no more green on the tree. He said he's noticed the decay since then, but it's still tough to see it go.
"This morning when I first got here one of my first customers," Gomes III said. "There was a girl that stopped and she had a pair of shoes in her hand, her and her mother stop here once a year on their way to red bluff and she always throws a pair of shoes, and she had a tear in her eye because the tree was gone."
Richard Poma is from Mill Valley, California and owns a ranch in Susanville. He said he and his wife found the tree about a year ago and have stopped at it at least 10-15 times.
"The first time I came here about a year ago I saw it," Poma said. "And me and my wife stopped, and we said 'what an awesome place to stop.'"
Poma said he still plans on stopping to rest where the tree used to stand, and hopes they put something their to memorialize it.
Gomes III hopes that if they do put something there, it's a metal structure rather than a tree, so it can last a long time and they don't have to waste trees.
