Second Annual Christmas Tree Hunt

Trip Date: November 2013

On the last day of November seven of us ventured into the Ghost wilderness in search of this year's elusive Christmas Tree.  2013 marked the second year in a row that we searched out and cut down our very own trees.  This is an option for anybody living in Alberta.  All you need to do is purchase a permit from Alberta Sustainable Resource Development and you are allowed to cut down up to three Christmas Trees that are under a specified height.  If you'd like to read about last year's hunt, I briefly mentioned it in my previous post about the Ghost Valley.  

Driving down the rough Trans-Alta Road into the Ghost

We couldn't have asked for better weather for our day in the wilderness.  The sun was shining and the temperature was somewhere between 0° and +5°.  After cooking up some pizza pops and smokies over a roaring bon fire the hunt began!  There was bushwacking, creek crossings, and a lot of searching for that perfect tree.  Come see for yourself...

Ben and Jess cutting down their tree after a soggy walk through a partially frozen wetland!

It was worth it!

While walking back to the trail after Ben and Jess got their tree, Christine spotted this beauty

It became our Christmas Tree for the holiday season!

Nath was rolling solo on the day, but had no problems cutting down their tree!

The perfect sized tree for their condo

Last, but definitely not least, were Ryan and Ashley who also found a great looking tree this year

The tree hunting crew.  We even managed to squeeze Dan in for the group photo!

Another year and another good day outside with great friends.  We capped the day off with a little soiree at Ryan and Ashley's place, where the laughs and good times just kept coming.  It would seem that everyone is pretty excited that this has now become an annual tradition for us and I would hope it continues for years to come!

Our tree fit perfectly in our living room.  It's just waiting to be decorated.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I wrote a brief story for Calgary is Awesome that outlines how to harvest your own tree if you've never done it before.  The story, titled The Search for the Perfect Tree, was published on their blog in late November 2014.