The Hunt For The Perfect Christmas Tree

I said yesterday that I would post pictures of the trees we cut down in the Pike National Forest.  Every year, on the day after Thanksgiving, we hike into the park and cut down 2 trees -- one for our friends and one for Brian and me.  With USFS tree cutting permits, of course.

Our friends like big Christmas trees.  They usually scout out a 16 foot tall or so spruce before the snow falls.  Usually not too much more than a mile or two off the road.  And they usually try to find a tree that is uphill from the road, so the hike back, carrying the tree, isn't too awful. NOTE:  the first year of the annual tree hunt, 10 or so years ago, we carried an 18 foot spruce through a foot of freshly fallen snow uphill to the car.  We learned our lesson.

This year the tree was big, even by our friends' standards.  Bigger/wider than the car.  It was also very sturdy.  Usually we plop the tree next to the car and there is a little compression.  But this tree was stiff. And very challenging to secure to the top of the van.
Channeling our inner lumberjacks - TIMBER!

Brian working hard

Their tree waiting to be loaded on the car
To give you a sense of how big this tree actually is, Janet just sent me this picture of Erik hanging the strings of lights.
15+ feet of spruce
Brian and I always go for something rather smaller.  This year, though, I think we set a new record for smallness.  Our chosen tree is less than 3 feet tall.
Our tree
One big advantage of a small tree -- it fits inside the car.  Both on the way home from the National Forest and on the way home to Texas.  Can you imagine driving 750 miles with a tree tied to the top of the car? Sheesh.

So our new tree will be set up on a tabletop, probably in the sun room.  And we'll have to buy a tree for the living room.  But the little tree will be much more special...

And yes, I still have pumpkins on the back porch.  Perhaps it's time to get rid of those...

Comments

Vivien Zepf said…
We go Christmas tree shopping the day after Thanksgiving, too, but in a far less adventurous way. WOW!
Jaye said…
What a great tradition! My fall stuff goes away today too!
Stitchwhiz said…
My day after Thanksgiving is my Black Friday Blogiversary. I think it's eight this year. I truly admire your fortitude wrangling those trees from the forest of Colorado to Fort Worth.
Shannon said…
I am so glad we are not the only ones that do this!! I loved reading about your Christmas tree Trek, and it hit home in your next post when you mentioned Capitan! We live now in Oklahoma City, but every year head home to the mountains of Ruidoso NM (just a bit away from Capitan) over Thanksgiving and up into the Lincoln National Forest to cut a Christmas Tree to haul back. Where we are the elevation isn't quite high enough for spruce so we always get a traditional New Mexico Pinon. Everyone here makes fun of it, but it doesn't feel like Christmas without tying it to the top of the car and driving 500 miles...

We too got a smaller tree this year, just by happenstance, but not as small as your adorable one! Happy Happy Christmas Season!