Last year I discovered the ability to obtain a forest products permit specifically for individuals seeking Christmas trees from the Monongahela National Forest. Although it was too late to take advantage of then, I decided to give the process a try this year.
On my way west, I swung by Charlottesville to pick up my friend Jeremy. He was intrigued by the search for Christmas trees, so he obtained a pass as well and joined me on the trip.
Our activity for that afternoon was target shooting at the Bath County Shooting Range. Jeremy brought his shotgun and a .22 revolver, while I shot my XD-S 3.3 9mm.
After a quick session there, we hit the road with hopes of setting up camp before dark at Blowing Springs Campground.
Early (like 5am early!) the next morning we brewed coffee and struck our campsite before heading toward the Highland Scenic Highway where we planned on finding our trees. The road soon revealed itself to be completely covered with ice, but the Subaru did well to navigate the road, especially with its winter tires I'd wisely swapped two days before.
Within a couple minutes, we spotted two trees relatively close to each other and were soon trudging through the snow toward them. A simple bow saw was all it took to fell the trees, but considerable effort was expended to drag them back to the road. Once there, I wrapped mine in a moving blanket, cinching it with several cam-straps. Jeremy and I hoisted the tree to the roof, but almost immediately decided that TWO were not going to fit. With that revelation, we stashed his tree off to the side and decided he'd come back for it later.
Next, we pointed our sights toward Snowshoe Mountain where my friend Tony was set to meet me for a day on the snow.
Right on time, Tony and I rendezvoused and began shredding the slopes to kick-off the resort's opening weekend! Although east-coast resorts are primarily icy, we always seem to find plenty of soft stuff on the edges of the slopes. That was no different this time as we had a blast knocking off the cobwebs from last season.
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