As they raised their three children in Laramie, Amy Parker Williams and Mark Williams established a yearly family tradition of going into the Snowy Range Mountains to find and cut their own Christmas tree.
As the children reached young adulthood, their parents considered not doing it anymore. But the kids — Sheldon, Ethan and Kara — would have none of that.
“Every time we, the parents, try to drop it, the kids are like, ‘No, no no! We have to go do it,’” Amy Parker Williams told Cowboy State Daily.
This December, just like the prior 16 Decembers, the family headed up Sand Lake Road in the Snow Range in quest of just the right tree.
The only downside this year was that it wasn’t exactly a white Christmas season.
“This year we were able to drive almost all the way back in, all the way back to the North Fork Campground. There’s almost no snow, and that’s really sad,” Williams said.
Another tradition for many families is watching “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” which sets the tone for the classic comedy with the Griswold family’s trip into the woods to cut their own Christmas tree.
The Williams family’s experience, however, isn’t anything like the miserable, disastrous tree-cutting trip of the Griswolds.
Friendly Arguing
Getting a Christmas tree cutting permit used to require swinging by the U.S. Forest Service office, but now the agency has them available online, and Williams said she’s thankful for that convenience.
Once they’re on the Sand Lake Road, the family never has a particular destination. The amount of snow always dictates how far back they can get in their pickup.
The road cuts through some of the most thickly forested parts of the Snowy Range. So, no matter where they stop, there’s no shortage of trees to choose from.
“The kids just pick a direction they want to go in, and we go,” Williams said.
“We don’t follow the established trails,” she added. “We take our dog, and we usually have on snowshoes, even though this year, we didn’t need those.”
The forest is dominated two species, lodgepole pine and fir. There’s always a debate over which species is best. And then further debate over which particular tree to cut.
“The kids have a great time just arguing in a friendly manner. We never pick the first good tree we see. We always go on quite the hunt,” she said.
Once the argument is settled, the kids take turns using a hand-held bow saw to cut the tree down. Then it’s just matter of hauling it back to the truck.
“We always bring tea and snacks, and we always play Christmas carols in the pickup,” Williams said.
Every year for the past 17 years, the Williams family of Laramie has gone into the Snowy Range Mountains to find and cut their own Christmas tree. (Courtesy Amy Parker Williams) 
Even though they’re young adults now, the children of Amy Parker Williams and Mark Williams – Kara, Sheldon and Ethan – still insist that their parents take them into the mountains west of Laramie every year to cut the family’s Christmas tree. Every year for the past 17 years, the Williams family of Laramie has gone into the Snowy Range Mountains to find and cut their own Christmas tree. (Courtesy Amy Parker Williams) 
Every year for the past 17 years, the Williams family of Laramie has gone into the Snowy Range Mountains to find and cut their own Christmas tree. (Courtesy Amy Parker Williams) 
(Courtesy Amy Parker Williams)
Time Spent Together
There are other, easier ways to get Christmas trees.
Artificial trees get fancier every year. And despite some recent setbacks in the Christmas tree farm industry, farmed trees remained reasonably priced this year in Wyoming.
But for the Williams family, there’s nothing like the experience of going out into the mountains and bringing home a fresh-cut tree to decorate together.
“It’s about us all getting together and spending time in the outside together,” she said.
She’s happy that her children, now ages 18, 21 and 22, enjoy the Christmas tree hunts just as much as they did when they were little, if not even more.
It’s also a great break from an increasingly fast-paced world.
“It’s just us in the woods together. No cellphones or other distractions,” Williams said.
It’s not unusual to see other families up on the mountain enjoying similar experiences, she said. And when things go awry, the Williamses are always willing to help.
“When there’s lots of snow up there, we’ve helped pull people out when they tried to drive their cars to far up and got stuck,” she said.
Once the holidays wind down, after New Year’s Day, it’s time to bid the family Christmas tree farewell.
Usually, the Williams haul it off to the city landfill themselves. But sometimes, there’s still further use for a Christmas tree.
“People who have goats will sometimes take them, to feed to their goats,” she said.
Contact Mark Heinz at mark@cowboystatedaily.com
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
