December 10th is Nate’s birthday. For the second year in a row, we spent it at the cabin. Going up to the cabin at this time also gives us a good opportunity to get a Christmas tree for the house. We have many people renting the cabin over the holidays, and it wouldn’t seem right not to have a Christmas tree.
Last year, we stopped at a Christmas tree lot on our way to Detroit. We tried to find the same place this year, but ended up on a long detour and no Christmas tree. This gave us a wonderful opportunity. For $5 you can buy a Christmas tree permit to cut down your own tree off of BLM land.
We got our permit at the Detroit Ranger Station. We found out they were also available at the Mountain High Grocery in Detroit. They have maps that mark the land that you are allowed to cut on.
To find our tree, we drove up McCoy Creek Rd just west of Idanha off of Hwy 22. This was by recommendation from the volunteer at the Ranger Station. There were several sites with beautiful trees along this road, but we enjoyed the drive and the search, looking for the perfect tree.
The only road bump we ran into was that the only saw we had with us at the cabin was an old, rusty, two man, lumberjack saw that we brought up to hang on the wall. You can see the saw in the picture above. Cutting down the tree took the two of us (Nate and I) and some extreme teamwork. We finally got the knack of it, and the tree came topling down.
Here’s our tree all set up in the cabin. Last year I scrounged up a whole heap of vintage and new fishing lures to decorate the tree with. I thought it was good idea, but our 6 month old dog wound up with a hook through her lip. So, this year we decided to snip off all the hooks. You still get the same effect minus a frantic puppy owner.
Hopefully you’ve been inspired and will go hunt down your own next year. Christmas is a whole year away, but it’s never too early to start planning ahead. We hope all you Christmas wishes came true you have a Happy, fun filled New Year. For more information about cutting down your own Christmas tree, check here: http://www.blm.gov/or/faq/files/Christmas_Tree_FAQs.pdf
