For Thanksgiving the six of us plus Michelle’s parents drove up from Austin to the YMCA of the Rockies Snow Mountain Ranch in Granby, Colorado, where we met my parents. For extra room, we rented a Ford Transit 15-person van in Austin. As we were going over Berthound Pass and taking in the winter wonderland of thousands of evergreens covered in snow, Michelle jokingly wondered aloud: “wouldn’t it be nice if we could have one of those be our Christmas tree.” Was that a challenge?
Sensing an opportunity for some whole-family Type II fun, when we got to the cabin, I did some quick research and discovered that in much of the Arapahoe Roosevelt National Forest, you are allowed to cut your own Christmas tree for $20. We took a quick trip to the Ace Hardware in Granby to buy our Christmas Tree Permit, a hand saw, and a couple of straps and rope to attach the tree to the roof of the van.
Most of the cutting areas are at high elevation on forest-service roads, requiring five to ten miles of driving on snow and ice and the Forest Service requires either a 4×4 or snow chains to access the tree areas. As we were rolling in a rear-wheel drive van with smooth highway tires, I bought a cheap set of snow chains from the Granby auto parts store. Luckily, these never left the box, and we returned them unopened for a full refund.
We drove up to the Meadow Creek cutting area in the Sulphur District of the National Forest and began our search for the perfect tree. It took almost three hours of walking through the snow. With the sense of Christmas adventure and enthusiasm in some of our crew waning, I finally found the Smith Family Christmas Tree at 9,134’ at the edge of a meadow about a 15-minute walk from the van.
It took about 20 minutes to cut it down with all the kids getting a turn at working the saw, then we hauled it back to the vehicle.
For the drive to Texas, we wrapped the tree tight with twine, then attached it to the bare roof with a tiedown strap run through the front door frames, and the top of the tree held with paracord to two of the back seats.
This setup held for the 996-mile drive back to Austin.
When we got home, I ended up cutting about 2 feet off the bottom to make it fit; we used the branches for greenery on the mantle.
We spent Sunday decorating the house, and putting lights and ornaments on the tree. I think this is my favorite Christmas Tree ever, even if the angel is smashed against the ceiling.
Merry Christmas.
Vamonos Baby! 