Manzanita Trees

A friend and I went hiking several weekends ago and I saw a sight I had never seen. Did you know that older manzanita trees have a red part of their trunks that look like plastic. Really, not kidding. I was standing by one thinking, why would that tree have red plastic (first thought) and second thought that's not plasic it is the bark hence the picture. How cool are these trees, eh?