A few years ago, my family and I spent Thanksgiving salmon fishing on the Smith River up around Crescent City, Ca.
We had a motorhome and pulled a '66 Landcruiser that I had fabricated a boat rack to fit over the soft top that carried our 14' aluminum. It was a great trip with a lot of rain and snow. It put some color in the river and I landed a 45# hen that still had sea lice and also caught a few jacks.
My brother and I decided that to top off the perfect trip, we would go cut a tree in the National Forest. We loaded up the cruiser with tire chains, lunch, extra fuel cans, and I told my brother to be sure we had the ax. We stopped in at the ranger station to get a tree permit. The ranger gave us a bright orange band which she instructed us that it had to fit around the base of the tree in order for it to be legal. No problem.
We didn't have any maps so I asked her where the best place might be to find a good tree. She smiled and pointed to a map under the glass on the counter and informed us that we could find trees anywhere in the green shaded area but the "best" trees were in an area off of something-or-other "bear or lion something road". It was the highest elevation in the area and had silvertips. That was all we had to hear, looking back I guess you could say that we took the bait hook, line, and sinker. I took a mental picture of the map and we headed out.
The gates were open for the forest service road and I navigated the intersections in search of the perfect silvertip. It was raining and the defrost couldn't keep up and I was clearing out a hole with a rag. Then we hit the cloud deck and everything went white. Literally. We thought the snow was the perfect touch. It started to get slick so I stopped and chained up. I was thinking that I hoped nothing went wrong because it could be years before anyone could find us. We drove for hours, busting through the snow and finally broke into a basin that had been logged and replanted and there they were just like she said. Beautiful silvertips everywhere!
We found one that we both agreed on. Had pinecones and everything. That was when I made the first of two discoveries. I told by bro to get the axe and he gave me this funny look. "I thought you were going to get it?" Couldn't believe it. We tore that rig apart and all I could come up with was some ham sandwiches, a big bag of nachos, a case of Mt. Dew, n 870 12-gauge, a roll of duct tape, some wire, a fencing tool and a high-lift jack.
I got to thinking, that 12 blows a pretty big hole in plywood, why not a tree? Took about 6 shots and down she went. That was when I make the second discovery. It is a little known fact that an 8 foot tree will double in length as it falls. Trying to get that tree tag on was like watching my uncle Bucky trying to adjust his belt after Thanksgiving dinner. We had to heat it on the valve cover but got it to properly fit.
Took some doing but we got it winched on to the boat rack and tied off. I looked like a tree just fell on our cruiser. I just hoped that we didn't get pulled over and accused of running an illegal logging operation.
At any rate, we made it out of there and got back to camp well after dark. Made it home in good form. One of our best trees ever. Kind of like hunting, not always what you got but how it all came together. Merry Christmas.
We had a motorhome and pulled a '66 Landcruiser that I had fabricated a boat rack to fit over the soft top that carried our 14' aluminum. It was a great trip with a lot of rain and snow. It put some color in the river and I landed a 45# hen that still had sea lice and also caught a few jacks.
My brother and I decided that to top off the perfect trip, we would go cut a tree in the National Forest. We loaded up the cruiser with tire chains, lunch, extra fuel cans, and I told my brother to be sure we had the ax. We stopped in at the ranger station to get a tree permit. The ranger gave us a bright orange band which she instructed us that it had to fit around the base of the tree in order for it to be legal. No problem.
We didn't have any maps so I asked her where the best place might be to find a good tree. She smiled and pointed to a map under the glass on the counter and informed us that we could find trees anywhere in the green shaded area but the "best" trees were in an area off of something-or-other "bear or lion something road". It was the highest elevation in the area and had silvertips. That was all we had to hear, looking back I guess you could say that we took the bait hook, line, and sinker. I took a mental picture of the map and we headed out.
The gates were open for the forest service road and I navigated the intersections in search of the perfect silvertip. It was raining and the defrost couldn't keep up and I was clearing out a hole with a rag. Then we hit the cloud deck and everything went white. Literally. We thought the snow was the perfect touch. It started to get slick so I stopped and chained up. I was thinking that I hoped nothing went wrong because it could be years before anyone could find us. We drove for hours, busting through the snow and finally broke into a basin that had been logged and replanted and there they were just like she said. Beautiful silvertips everywhere!
We found one that we both agreed on. Had pinecones and everything. That was when I made the first of two discoveries. I told by bro to get the axe and he gave me this funny look. "I thought you were going to get it?" Couldn't believe it. We tore that rig apart and all I could come up with was some ham sandwiches, a big bag of nachos, a case of Mt. Dew, n 870 12-gauge, a roll of duct tape, some wire, a fencing tool and a high-lift jack.
I got to thinking, that 12 blows a pretty big hole in plywood, why not a tree? Took about 6 shots and down she went. That was when I make the second discovery. It is a little known fact that an 8 foot tree will double in length as it falls. Trying to get that tree tag on was like watching my uncle Bucky trying to adjust his belt after Thanksgiving dinner. We had to heat it on the valve cover but got it to properly fit.
Took some doing but we got it winched on to the boat rack and tied off. I looked like a tree just fell on our cruiser. I just hoped that we didn't get pulled over and accused of running an illegal logging operation.
At any rate, we made it out of there and got back to camp well after dark. Made it home in good form. One of our best trees ever. Kind of like hunting, not always what you got but how it all came together. Merry Christmas.
