2nd Annual TW X-Mas Tree Run

subscribed! I'd like to join you guys as well.

 

i vote Dave drives up for the run

 

I'm from cen cal originally...I'm allowed!

 

allowed? nay, required



see you on the run

 

when is this run going to happen fellas?

 

hope so, going to try to make it this year.

 

#technicallythisrunhappenedalready

 

I think @ffdawson may be a bit busy this year and is waiting for someone else to plan this. Mine would not be a day trip, so I am not volunteering.

 

yeah, someone needs to start a 2016 thread.


and no, not me. i'm crap at organizing things, crap at leading runs (good at getting lost tho) and hit&miss on whether i can even make it with work schedule

 

Hope its not another cluster F

 

doubtful

 

As long as I make the left turn at the fork we will be fine

 

Yeah, rule number one - keep up with the group

 

Dawson had another baby this year and has been busy. Last I heard from him he wasn't panning on doing a tacomaworld Christmas tree trip because of how crazy it was last year. If someone else wants to start a thread and plan the trip that's fine but I don't want to be responsible for 60 trucks with an different driving levels in the snow on top of a mountain in the woods.

 

I promise I'll follow the trail and behave...

 

Agreed. If somebody wants to give it a whirl, this was the recorded route we took. Note that we got separated from the main group after getting belly-bucked off the mountain and found our own way out. We did eventually cut our own tree - at a tree lot in Petaluma the next day.


Time latitude longitude Elevation

1. 9:33:15 AM 39.238680 -123.146675 833
2. 9:43:15 AM 39.170605 -123.007971 1,412
3. 9:53:15 AM 39.163116 -122.920381 1,316
4. 10:03:00 AM 39.162976 -122.919995 1,339
5. 11:23:00 AM 39.171301 -122.907421 1,342
6. 11:33:15 AM 39.243678 -122.947396 1,522
7. 11:43:15 AM 39.272755 -122.923665 1,481
8. 11:53:15 AM 39.258151 -122.893388 3,034
9. 12:03:15 PM 39.269170 -122.887401 3,555
10. 12:13:15 PM 39.298546 -122.928515 3,622
11. 12:23:15 PM 39.346043 -122.969026 3,630
12. 12:33:15 PM 39.387231 -122.980506 3,034
13. 12:43:15 PM 39.423666 -122.979111 1,744
14. 12:53:15 PM 39.447001 -122.943878 1,778
15. 1:03:00 PM 39.447108 -122.943856 1,831
16. 2:23:00 PM 39.438858 -122.936153 1,847
17. 2:33:30 PM 39.447623 -122.919480 2,254
18. 2:43:30 PM 39.458803 -122.913473 2,724
19. 2:53:30 PM 39.472481 -122.905598 3,764
20. 3:03:30 PM 39.483200 -122.913236 4,004
21. 3:13:30 PM 39.494561 -122.931196 4,850
22. 3:23:30 PM 39.504893 -122.939715 5,430
23. 3:33:30 PM 39.509486 -122.936175 5,697
24. 3:43:30 PM 39.512318 -122.939243 5,984
25. 3:53:45 PM 39.514045 -122.939671 6,125
26. 4:03:45 PM 39.513295 -122.938921 6,058
27. 4:13:45 PM 39.509163 -122.937270 6,009
28. 4:23:00 PM 39.508553 -122.936668 5,633
29. 4:33:00 PM 39.493585 -122.929845 4,787
30. 4:43:00 PM 39.494186 -122.930360 4,925
31. 5:13:00 PM 39.482578 -122.913795 3,924
32. 5:23:45 PM 39.474295 -122.903903 3,839
33. 5:33:45 PM 39.464200 -122.891821 3,459
34. 5:43:45 PM 39.455520 -122.928665 2,254
35. 5:53:45 PM 39.441336 -122.972353 1,959
36. 6:04:15 PM 39.425993 -123.011555 2,659
37. 6:14:15 PM 39.399386 -123.032713 1,876
38. 6:25:30 PM 39.375665 -123.074791 1,737
39. 6:35:30 PM 39.348403 -123.106141 1,316
40. 6:45:30 PM 39.257615 -123.116483 900
41. 6:55:30 PM 39.176141 -123.015053 1,433
42. 7:05:30 PM 39.170133 -123.007758 1,350
43. 7:15:00 PM 39.170111 -123.007821 1,385
44. 7:23:00 PM 39.171731 -122.937848 1,339

 

LOL ... i just got the visual of that guy performing said belly buck move.

 

Okay, well I guess it's time for me to make an announcement here. Thanks Nick for breaking the news.

Here's the deal...

The TW Xmas tree run for 2016 is cancelled.

I have been going to the MNF to cut Christmas trees with my family and friends for years. Two years ago I decided it'd be fun to expand it to TW. The first run we had 10 or so trucks, and it was a great time. Last year unfortunately it blew up. Over 30+ vehicles! Anyone who attended knows what a shit show it was, especially those of you who came on the first run, and know how smooth it CAN run.

I take full responsibility for last year's event being a joke. I should have known that it was too big a group to lead up there. I'm glad no one got hurt or trucks damaged. But here's the scoop. I WILL NOT lead another group of that size on that trail and nor should anyone else.

As I said before I have been coming to these mountains for years, since I was a little kid, camping, wheeling, riding dirt bikes, cutting Xmas trees, and harvesting firewood, and I owe it to the local families that do the same to NOT bring a massive group of trucks, many of which were unprepared for the elements, some of which were unwilling to abide by trail etiquette.

I just won't do it.

Please don't think that I came to this decision lightly, I have been thinking it over basically since we got home from last years trip. I have thought of limiting the group size, making a first come-first served list, a lottery, changing the venue, breaking up into smaller groups, etc etc etc.

My reasoning for canceling the trip on TW is this. It's popular, and many people want to go, too many to safely have on the trip. Therefore, if the trip were to happen, it'd have to be a limited group. And if there's one thing I hate it's excluding people. That's not my game. I feel like if something is on TW, a public forum, it should be available to everyone. I don't like the idea of the "cool kids" group, and I won't be a part of something like that.

I apologize to all of you who had planned to go on this run this year, and I wish there was a better, more viable option. But I truly feel that this type of run is not viable for the size of group that it attracts. At least not at that location. (1 truck width trail, snowed and iced over, on the edge of a cliff...)

That being said, it's a free country, and I can't stop anyone from going somewhere they want to go, but please take into account my reasoning for canceling the trip.

#1 safety
#2 respect for the locals
#3 preservation of the trail system

And lastly, the commitment to my own family and friends. As I have said before I've been doing this for years, and last year was the first time ever that I had to cut a tree in the dark. My 2y/o daughter didn't even get to help pick out the tree. That's not what this trip is about for me.

I know this will not be a popular decision, and again I apologize for allowing this trip to turn into such a disaster last year.

My advice to those of you who wanted to attend, look into a different trip, the run up to Uncle Tom's Cabin on the MET? Search out a location nearby you to cut trees, get a small group of friends together and make a run of your own somewhere.

I will continue to work on a way to make a fun and viable option, maybe a trail that is wider and more easily accessible for a big group, or maybe a huge group trip to the Xmas Tree farm in town followed by kegs of beer in the
Park!

 

You can tell that was extremely thought out and written.

Sucks for sure, but handled it perfectly! I think everybody would agree with your reasons, too, or I'd hope so at least.

 

me and my jeep and Fj friends went to Mt. Shasta last year to cut a xmas tree, made a wrong turn and got almost stuck in the deep deep snow! luckily we made it out just before sunset.