Growing up in Florida doesn’t make for great Christmas tree cutting down traditions. Growing up in Truckee does. It is now my favorite family Christmas tradition.
Since the kids were born we have been venturing out into the Tahoe forests, with a permit of course, and cutting down our tree. My kids are 11 and the oldest turns 13 on Christmas day. This has turned out to be the most fun and memorable aspect of Christmas for us, or at least for me! Some of our funniest family stories have come from this day. Someday I will have to present a collection of the best years. I might even release “the” tree video from a few years ago. Pretty sure the statute of limitations will expire against irresponsible endangerment of children during tree Christmas tree cutting adventures.
This year we went to the top of Brockway Summit, which is also commonly referred to as the 267 summit. We parked right where the snowmobile tours leave from. It was great to actually see the snowmobile business roaring this year. We have gone to this area the last few years although not in snow the last few years. This will be our last for this spot, at least for going to the west side of 267.
First of all for a tree cutting adventure you might be out in the woods for awhile so I would always give yourself at least two hours of sunlight to work with. We of course figured we are professionals so we ignored that one. I would also pick an area that the forest service hasn’t been doing extensive defensible space clearing, which means all the small good sized Christmas tree ones are gone. Again as professionals we figured we would just be better at finding the right tree and would do so in a timely manner. It might be a good idea to even scout the area out in advance for trees while on a fall hike. Strike three. Those of course are all rules to follow if you don’t like to live life on the edge. Another good thing to know is that trees are really heavy after big snows. They tend to be very moist and healthy, which means heavier than all get out.
So after hiking in what seemed like a short distance in on the service road that had a foot of groomed snow on it we finally found a few trees that might work. After hiking up and around the hill a few hundred yards we found the one. We have a tall ceiling so we like to get a nice tall one, which means even heavier. This year with the slim pickings we had to get one with a little bigger base than we normal. I now know what a difference that makes. I swear an extra inch in diameter means twenty pounds per foot! So after the fun part of cutting that baby down we tried to lift it. Oh my, was that thing heavy and we were in two feet of snow 40 yards above the trail. So glad we were on the uphill side. Thank goodness my 11 year old brought a sled and we had a rope, but still. After we got it down to the trail we hooked it up to the sled to start dragging. This made it kind of doable but dang I thought we were going to collapse. Thank goodness Erin is a long distance runner which means she likes workouts involving pain, cause it was painful! We took turns on all four sides of the tree dragging that baby up what seemed like a mile long, uphill trail in soft snow! Remember what I said about enough daylight. Yep, pitch dark by the end.
The picture looks like we conquered this tree but that was so far from the truth. We just hadn’t started the trek yet! You should have seen us putting it on the car and then trying to get the base on it. Getting it through the door was even better, think Griswalds at their finest. Usually we refrain from adult beverages on school nights, not that Sunday night. I earned it, I mean them!
I know it sounds like it wasn’t fun but that is so far from reality. It was a blast, in a Flynn Family kind of way. Now as the tree is decorated, lights on and even a couple of presents underneath it all is good. At dinner a few nights later we started telling stories about the tree and trees of the past. We were all laughing and carrying on so much so we weren’t even upset that the Warriors weren’t undefeated anymore. Now that is what memories and traditions are all about.
I hope everyone has a favorite family tradition.
Cheers,
Doug
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