2010-12-04: Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest: Christmas Tree Hunting

[theksmith 5,778]

With the $15 tree cutting permit in hand, we spent all yesterday cruising the backroads of the Apache-Sitgreaves national forest (between Payson and Heber, AZ areas) enjoying the scenery and looking for a Christmas tree.

 

We found some areas of decent snow, had some snowball fights, and saw lots of the area that I hadn't visited before. Everything was easy 2WD except where there was decent snow left in some valleys. There was one shelf road we had to back out of because it had a a fairly thick layer of ice frozen on it and leaned away from the mountain.

 

We had dinner at Famous Sam's in Payson and it was not great. We've also eaten at the Chinese Wok before there and been unhappy... seems we can't find anything except fast food there. Perhaps next time we'll just see if the adult cabaret with the big cow on the sign in Star Valley has a buffet!

 

 

the first bit of mud on a clean jeep...

 

throwing rocks at a frozen pond is fun at any age

 

some of the areas with snow:

 

finally found the "right" tree:

 

nice sunset on the way home:

 

the saying "what looks smaller in the forest will look bigger in your house" is true!

[GOTMTNS 2]

Great pics, know that area and water hole well (hunt there half the time). Another great area to cut down Christmas trees is out by Big Lake, just a lot colder and have to watch your surroundings a little more. Plus there are a few great spots outside of Flag that we went for over 10 years when I was a little kid.

[dzJeepChic 2,897]

There was one shelf road we had to back out of because it had a a fairly thick layer of ice frozen on it and leaned away from the mountain.

 

We had dinner at Famous Sam's in Payson and it was not great. We've also eaten at the Chinese Wok before there and been unhappy... seems we can't find anything except fast food there. Perhaps next time we'll just see if the adult cabaret with the big cow on the sign in Star Valley has a buffet!

 

 

 

 

 

I'm glad you backed out of the shelf road that had ice on it - especially since you guys were out there alone!

 

Woohoo, will you look at the arm on that kid - looks he threw a potato at the ice.

 

That looks like it was fun. How many mods did you have to make on the tree to get it to fit inside the house? Remember to post pics of it decorated! d

[oldhockeyvb 1]

Nice pictures! The buffet at the casino is pretty good

[Project510 24]

Bummer on the resturants, I cant imagine Chinese food in AZ is anything close to authentic! Nice tree! That sounds fun, taking the kdis out hunting for a tree instead of buying a fake one at Target.. but who would do such a dastardly thing...

[GOTMTNS 2]

For food in Payson hit Macky's or Tiny's. Macky's has great burgers and heard nothing but good about the other food, and Tiny's has the best breakfast in town (go there with my grandparents almost everytime I visit them).

[mkitchen 0]

But it certainly looks like it was worth it. I second the motion to see the tree once trimmed. I seem to always be on the way to somewhere else when in Payson and usually get a burrito at Alfonso's. They are in an old drive in but the food is very good.

Mikey

[stockjeep 43]

cool, didn't know tree permits were available. we used to stop at Clines Corner, had the biggest pancakes I have ever seen,-you can never go wrong with Alfonso's-

[scottL 185]

that tree looks massive K, i like it!

the other day Mason and i were talking about hunting down a tree when he's here next year. that'd be cool if we could combine a trail run/tree hunt. looks like good times from your photos.

thanks for sharing.

i gotta agree with Dan. macky's would be the only stop in payson worth paying for non-fast food from my experience. never tried tiny's before but i have had some success at the local chili's.

[theksmith 5,778]

Aimee and Brady did an excellent job decorating. Brady chose the colored lights, they did have to go buy more lights twice though!