Living it up in Colorado: A hunting we will go....

...For our tree that is! Last weekend we picked up Daddy's friend Brian and headed up Rist Canyon to his property. Once we arrived we explored a little and then built a fire in his fire pit. It felt as cold as Antarctica, but the fire kept us as warm as a steaming cup of Cocoa. There was a couple inches of snow left over from the storm we had in early November, but the sun was shining and winds were calm. I found a flat, thin rock and used it to boil some water over the fire. I set the metal cup of water on the rock, and put the rock on top of the nearest flame. The rock was resting on a log in the fire and the stone wall of the fire pit. It took about five minutes for the water to begin boiling, but it felt like forever. We scouted the land for the perfect Christmas tree. Brian has several species of trees on his property and as a wild land firefighter he is very knowledgeable about trees. There were Ponderosa Pine and Douglas Fur trees, as well as Juniper. We saw one Juniper growing near a pile of huge rocks, this Juniper was over 400 years old! There were lots of rock cliffs with some fun caves, great for exploring. The view was amazing! You could see all the way to Videavoo, Wyoming if you stood in the right spot. We searched all over his land for that one perfect tree. He told us, that Douglas Fur, grow branches close to the ground, where as Ponderosa Pines, grow banches higher up the trunk. So, Douglas Fur trees are fuel for forest fires. Because of this, he told us he wouldn't mind taking down a tall Fur tree and cutting the top off for us to take home and he would use the rest of the trunk to strengthen his shelter. We chose one that was about 16 feet tall, can you imagine tying that to the top of the car? Good thing Brian cut off the top 7 feet for us to bring home - it fit fine on the top of the car. I helped him choose another tree for his family. It was about 14 feet tall, but again he cut the top off to make it closer to 5 feet. Harrison and I decided to build a shelter. We chose a spot close to the fire or main camping area of Brian's land, it had a few big rocks, so it was a perfect place to build a lean-to. First we rid the floor of our fort of any rocks, so we didn't have to lay on them - ouch! Brian let us use the trunks of the two trees we cut down, instead of using them to add support to his existing structure. We laid them across 2 rocks, in the middle of the shelter there was a tree, so the logs went on either side of it. We then used the branches that were cut off the lower part of the trees to conceal our fort and cushion the floor. Brian helped us move some smaller rocks for our weapons cache, because as Harrison put it, "we are building a fort, we need to defend ourselves." We put the finishing touches on our fort, and played while the fire burnt down, because you cannot leave a fire burning on any level, you have to make sure it is completely out before you leave. After we made absolutely sure the fire was out, we tied the trees to the top of our Pathfnder and drove home. We dropped Brian and his tree off at his house and then went home and put our tree up and decorated it.

Fun Fact: Did you know that not all the cones that grow on evergreen trees are called pine cones? Only the ones that grow on pine trees are called pine cones. The ones that grow on other evergreens including the Douglas Fur are simply called seed cones! I learned that from Brians Mom, Holly! She said she always called them all pine cones and her husband was always correcting her, but Brian just lets it go if she slips up!
Hayden