evergreen I found in the
valley below me. Weirdest thing I ever saw. About 10 feet tall, sparse
and about 50 purple globs on it with orange tentacles coming out of
them.

You don't say where you are, but I assume somewhere in the eastern US. The tree
looks like a juniper. Does it have little gray or purple berries? The globs are
the fruiting body of a disease, possibly cedar-apple rust.
Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)