Webmaster
12-10-2006, 08:26 AM
I'd like to add a note to the following: The roads are icy in the extreme. Use great caution when traveling the back roads in winter. Every year we have several terribly unfortunate folks who loose their truck and suffer physical damage to themselves due to the dangerous and steep mountain roads
On the day after Thanksgiving, a local family tradition kicks in – the search for the perfect Christmas tree in the mountain forest.
Hundreds of families – some with playful dogs or happy children, some with the opposite – hop into their SUVs or pickup trucks and head for the hills to play in the snow and find their holiday trees.
“It makes the whole day an adventure,” said Marlene Wright of Puyallup. “It makes for great memories. We have a fire, we eat chili.”
Jarod Wright, 8, added: “I like to see all the shiny snow. I like to get big giant trees.”
This year that’s the trick.
Roads that usually are wet, muddy or slightly snowy have up to 2 feet of snow on them. Vehicle undercarriages are plowing snow as drivers follow windy, steep roads into higher elevations. U.S. Forest Service officials advised people without chains to turn back or not even try.
Most people are coming prepared: a four-wheel-drive vehicle, tire chains, and some with tow lines and sandbags. Plus $10 to pay for a Christmas tree-cutting permit from the Forest Service’s Enumclaw office.
The office sells 4,000 to 5,000 permits during the holiday season, the most of any office in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, said Bob Pacific, Forest Service Christmas tree field coordinator at Enumclaw.
“We have noble fir here,” he said. “Everybody goes after them.”
Many tree hunters go to Forest Service-designated areas in snowy Cascade mountain valleys of the Greenwater River and the West Fork of the White River, both off Highway 410.
Some get stuck in the snow or slide crossways on the icy, single-track logging roads. But others are quick to help with a tow, a shovel or a push.
Phillip Ogle’s black Ford SUV partially slid off a logging road near the Greenwater River into deep snow about 9 a.m. Friday.
“I didn’t know I was going in the snow snow,” he said as others helped him get the rear-end of the vehicle back on track. “Last year I went down to the lot and got a tree. Get me back to Olympia.”
The Dahlquist family and several carloads of friends took their vehicles as high as they could up the road Friday. They’d been there before, but this year couldn’t get as high as they had in the past.
Still, they parked alongside the road east of the community of Greenwater after scoping out solid ground under the snow.
As a sprinkle of snow fell from overcast skies, small convoys of vehicles crawled their way up, inched their way down or stopped along the way.
While happy children slid and rolled down a nearby steep slope, adults built a campfire and broke out hot cocoa and food. Some hiked up the snowy road in search of high-mountain noble firs, a species known for the beauty and symmetry of its limbs.
“We’ve been doing this for 15 to 20 years,” said Susan Dahlquist of Enumclaw. “We did it with our four kids and now they want to do it with their kids.”
As for all the snow and ice, Rob Outcalt of Issaquah said, “If it’s too easy, it wouldn’t be fun.”
Others who made it up to higher elevations said this year’s snow buildup is more of a concern.
“It’s pretty wild,” said Ben Soper of the Parkland-Midland area. “A little too much snow. It takes one person to go sideways and it makes it so difficult.”
But he backed his big pickup smoothly onto a snowy spur road and went hunting for a tree with his family, as he has for two decades.
Mark Howe of Orting was among those wielding a shovel, quickly digging out a turnaround area for those who decided to go back to flatter areas. He also helped direct nervous drivers as they backed up to turn around on the steep road. “We just want to get everybody (safely) out of here,” he said.
Jack and Kellie Andersen of Enumclaw got out with a 10-foot noble fir tree in the back of their pickup. Jack worked for it, hiking down a steep hillside and then back up. “He travels until he gets the noble,” Kellie Anderson said.
Linnea Sager of Tacoma said she and her husband, Steve, found a good Douglas fir in 10 minutes, but it took longer to get out because of all the vehicles on the narrow roads.
Ron and Christy Capps of Enumclaw said they had been going for trees for 15 years, but this year couldn’t get to the top where the noble firs were. So they inched their four-wheel-drive pickup down the mountainside in a line with others.
“It’s a tradition,” Christy Capps said. “Come up early and go back and have leftovers.”
But this year, Ron Capps said, “It looks like we’ll have to go to a (Christmas tree) lot. Either that or we’ll just have Christmas up here.”
Brad Ziemke, owner of Farm Fresh Produce Christmas tree lot between Bonney Lake and Buckley, said he expected to sell more trees this year. He said more people with Forest Service permits are coming in to buy a tree instead because they can’t beat the snow and get what they want.
“They can’t get high enough,” he said, “so they come here. The more snow we have, the taller the trees we sell.”
Terry Harman of Browns Point said he was pushing too much snow with his bumper, so he and Dudley Yamane of Puyallup, along with Cage, the friendly German shepherd, left the mountains and returned to bare, more friendly roads.
They turned off Highway 410 into Ziemke’s tree lot. Harman bought two noble firs for $89.95 and $49.95, respectively. He planned to take the trees home and possibly fudge their origins.
“The trick,” he said, “is if I can convince my wife that they (wild trees) were just a little fuller this year.”
Get permit, grab ax
The Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest will sell tree-cutting permits at all offices and ranger stations until 4:30 p.m. Dec. 22.
Permits are $10, one tree per permit and five permits per household. Trees up to 12 feet can be taken.
A taller tree will require a special permit with a minimum price of $20, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
People who cut or remove a tree on the National Forest without a permit can be fined $100.
Road and weather conditions can change rapidly. If you plan to travel to the national forest, check in at the nearest Forest Service office.
The station in Enumclaw can be reached at 360-825-6585.
source http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/6253462p-5458525c.html
On the day after Thanksgiving, a local family tradition kicks in – the search for the perfect Christmas tree in the mountain forest.
Hundreds of families – some with playful dogs or happy children, some with the opposite – hop into their SUVs or pickup trucks and head for the hills to play in the snow and find their holiday trees.
“It makes the whole day an adventure,” said Marlene Wright of Puyallup. “It makes for great memories. We have a fire, we eat chili.”
Jarod Wright, 8, added: “I like to see all the shiny snow. I like to get big giant trees.”
This year that’s the trick.
Roads that usually are wet, muddy or slightly snowy have up to 2 feet of snow on them. Vehicle undercarriages are plowing snow as drivers follow windy, steep roads into higher elevations. U.S. Forest Service officials advised people without chains to turn back or not even try.
Most people are coming prepared: a four-wheel-drive vehicle, tire chains, and some with tow lines and sandbags. Plus $10 to pay for a Christmas tree-cutting permit from the Forest Service’s Enumclaw office.
The office sells 4,000 to 5,000 permits during the holiday season, the most of any office in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, said Bob Pacific, Forest Service Christmas tree field coordinator at Enumclaw.
“We have noble fir here,” he said. “Everybody goes after them.”
Many tree hunters go to Forest Service-designated areas in snowy Cascade mountain valleys of the Greenwater River and the West Fork of the White River, both off Highway 410.
Some get stuck in the snow or slide crossways on the icy, single-track logging roads. But others are quick to help with a tow, a shovel or a push.
Phillip Ogle’s black Ford SUV partially slid off a logging road near the Greenwater River into deep snow about 9 a.m. Friday.
“I didn’t know I was going in the snow snow,” he said as others helped him get the rear-end of the vehicle back on track. “Last year I went down to the lot and got a tree. Get me back to Olympia.”
The Dahlquist family and several carloads of friends took their vehicles as high as they could up the road Friday. They’d been there before, but this year couldn’t get as high as they had in the past.
Still, they parked alongside the road east of the community of Greenwater after scoping out solid ground under the snow.
As a sprinkle of snow fell from overcast skies, small convoys of vehicles crawled their way up, inched their way down or stopped along the way.
While happy children slid and rolled down a nearby steep slope, adults built a campfire and broke out hot cocoa and food. Some hiked up the snowy road in search of high-mountain noble firs, a species known for the beauty and symmetry of its limbs.
“We’ve been doing this for 15 to 20 years,” said Susan Dahlquist of Enumclaw. “We did it with our four kids and now they want to do it with their kids.”
As for all the snow and ice, Rob Outcalt of Issaquah said, “If it’s too easy, it wouldn’t be fun.”
Others who made it up to higher elevations said this year’s snow buildup is more of a concern.
“It’s pretty wild,” said Ben Soper of the Parkland-Midland area. “A little too much snow. It takes one person to go sideways and it makes it so difficult.”
But he backed his big pickup smoothly onto a snowy spur road and went hunting for a tree with his family, as he has for two decades.
Mark Howe of Orting was among those wielding a shovel, quickly digging out a turnaround area for those who decided to go back to flatter areas. He also helped direct nervous drivers as they backed up to turn around on the steep road. “We just want to get everybody (safely) out of here,” he said.
Jack and Kellie Andersen of Enumclaw got out with a 10-foot noble fir tree in the back of their pickup. Jack worked for it, hiking down a steep hillside and then back up. “He travels until he gets the noble,” Kellie Anderson said.
Linnea Sager of Tacoma said she and her husband, Steve, found a good Douglas fir in 10 minutes, but it took longer to get out because of all the vehicles on the narrow roads.
Ron and Christy Capps of Enumclaw said they had been going for trees for 15 years, but this year couldn’t get to the top where the noble firs were. So they inched their four-wheel-drive pickup down the mountainside in a line with others.
“It’s a tradition,” Christy Capps said. “Come up early and go back and have leftovers.”
But this year, Ron Capps said, “It looks like we’ll have to go to a (Christmas tree) lot. Either that or we’ll just have Christmas up here.”
Brad Ziemke, owner of Farm Fresh Produce Christmas tree lot between Bonney Lake and Buckley, said he expected to sell more trees this year. He said more people with Forest Service permits are coming in to buy a tree instead because they can’t beat the snow and get what they want.
“They can’t get high enough,” he said, “so they come here. The more snow we have, the taller the trees we sell.”
Terry Harman of Browns Point said he was pushing too much snow with his bumper, so he and Dudley Yamane of Puyallup, along with Cage, the friendly German shepherd, left the mountains and returned to bare, more friendly roads.
They turned off Highway 410 into Ziemke’s tree lot. Harman bought two noble firs for $89.95 and $49.95, respectively. He planned to take the trees home and possibly fudge their origins.
“The trick,” he said, “is if I can convince my wife that they (wild trees) were just a little fuller this year.”
Get permit, grab ax
The Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest will sell tree-cutting permits at all offices and ranger stations until 4:30 p.m. Dec. 22.
Permits are $10, one tree per permit and five permits per household. Trees up to 12 feet can be taken.
A taller tree will require a special permit with a minimum price of $20, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
People who cut or remove a tree on the National Forest without a permit can be fined $100.
Road and weather conditions can change rapidly. If you plan to travel to the national forest, check in at the nearest Forest Service office.
The station in Enumclaw can be reached at 360-825-6585.
source http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/6253462p-5458525c.html