Red Feather Christmas Tree
Activity: Christmas Tree CuttingDifficulty: Easy
Location: Canyon Lakes Ranger District, Red Feather Cutting Area
Description:
The Red Feather Cutting Area was quite the drive for us but most cut-your-own areas closer to Denver sell out of their permits fast. We decided it would be worth the drive to select our own National Forest Christmas tree. The Canyon Lakes Ranger District has unlimited permits so we knew we could just show up and pick out our tree.
On the weekends you can visit with Smokey Bear and take your picture with him. We found his "cabin" and ate our lunch in the truck before taking the kids out in the cold for a visit with Smokey. After a quick photo-op we let the boys run around and play in the snow a little to stretch their legs. We knew we wanted to venture further on the roads, which require 4 wheel drive or chains, to find our tree. I specifically wanted a tall, skinny fir tree.
After driving a short distance on Comet Lane (all the roads in the cutting area have reindeer names) we found a patch of fir trees and a close by parking area. We back tracked on foot a short way on the road to where we spotted the firs and then hiked up into the forest. The tree we ended up cutting was the second one we picked. However, we walked around a bit more to make sure it was the right one. Neil enjoyed helping cut down the tree and carrying it back to the truck. We securely tied the tree down and headed towards Fort Collins. We planned in advance to visit downtown and stop for supper because of the long drive home.
Downtown Fort Collins was a cute, festive area. We ended up eating at The Mainline restaurant. The food was good and the table we sat at had a nice view of the Christmas lights outside. The kids ate everything we put in front of them, not something that always happens away from home. I had a burger and some delicious fries and Brett got the fish tacos. They had great local beers available and I treated myself to a hot chocolate. We headed home and got the boys to bed before bringing the tree inside.
It took me a week to decorate our 11' tree. In past years we have always used a very small, skinny 6' artificial tree. I wanted the tree to look magical. We put 700 lights on our tree, which required doubling our Christmas light collection. I also ended up making some new felt garland and getting some (plastic) glittered icicle ornaments. I felt those two additions really pulled the tree together. I also made a new tree skirt that included moutains for our first Christmas in Colorado. I appliqued all the trees and animals on and straight line quilted. The tree skirt was the final touch and our family room was beautiful!
This will most certainly be an annual tradition!
