This One Time...: A Wild Tree

Living in Colorado has really opened my eyes to a lot of new and exciting things - like wool socks, flannel sheets, the NFL, and now...cutting down my own Christmas tree.

This is my first Christmas in my new home and seeing as how I'm not flying to Florida until Christmas Eve, it's time to be a real adult and have my own tree. Earlier this week my Dad texted me a picture of their tree. He was so proud to have one of the first trees of the season delivered to Lowe's - the cream of the crop and it really is picture perfect.

I was after something a little different though. This year I was after the personal conquest and simple charm of a wild tree growing on a real, snow covered mountain. Apparently this adventure is all the rage in Colorado and now that I'm a home-owning local, I should probably give this ritual a try. If nothing else, I would have a $10 tree, another fun memory with some sweet friends, and a great blog entry. Plus, I could rest assured that no matter what my Colorado tree looks like, I would wake up Christmas morning to Lowe's finest at my parent's house.

At 8:30 this morning our adventure began. We loaded up two trucks and a suburban with 7 adults and 9 kids and headed toward Woodland Park, Colorado - about a 45 minute drive west and up into the mountains. Our first stop was to get our $10 tree permits. Once you cut down your tree you have to put your bright pink permit sticker on it so the park ranger people know it's legal.

Next we began the drive up into the mountains in search of the perfect Christmas trees. Well, the perfect ones don't really exist, so really we were just looking for ones that would look nice and fit in our houses. The guys were pretty bent on winding up the mountain until there were no more tire tracks in the snow. I tried to explain to them there is a difference between the road less traveled and the road never traveled, but apparently all the good trees are in places people don't go. So onward and upward. I'm just glad I didn't have to drive. There is no way me and my SUV would have made it up that mountain.

Finally we found a clearing we were happy with so we bundled up and piled out of the cars. There was so much snow! Every time I took a step my foot sank and the snow crept half way up my shin.

The kids were loving the snow. They went crazy. I have to admit, I had to remind myself I was an adult at least three times. Part of me just wanted to jump in there and start throwing snowballs and leaping head first into the snow drifts.

My goal was a tree that towered somewhere around 6 feet and obviously the fuller the better, but more importantly I wanted something cute and charming. So the hunt began - for a 6ft cutie. I found one I liked right off the bat, but I didn't want to get too excited too quickly. There is a forest full of trees out there. You can't just pick the first one you think you like.

After walking around in the clearing for a while, Adam and Matt found one that looked really nice, but was a little smaller than what they wanted. This is not their first tree cutting adventure so I trusted their judgment. If they said it was a good tree, it probably was. Plus, I kind of liked it. It was just the right size and seemed as full as full was going to get for a wild tree.

Adam started to cut it down for me - oh, by the way, you aren't allowed to use a chain saw so you have to do all of this with a hand saw. This adventure was getting more and more primitive by the second. A few seconds into Adam sawing, I asked if I could take over. I mean here I am in the mountains shopping for a tree on the side of a mountain. I'm this far, I might as well cut the thing down myself.

Now it was time to carry the tree back up to the cars. Obviously, Matt and Adam offered but again, if I'm on the side of a snow covered mountain cutting down a tree, I need to make the experience complete by carrying it back to the car.

The whole experience was fantastic. What an adventure. It's pretty much nothing like going to Lowe's or a neighborhood tree lot, but you definitely have a stronger attachment to your Christmas tree when you cut it down yourself. It's like the ultimate do it yourself project. I am so thankful for my friends and our adventures. What better way to get into the Christmas spirit?