Three years ago Nancy Grigg, a local mom who homeschooled her son, started the Christmas Tree Hunt, a scavenger hunt to locate decorated trees along different trails in western Maine.
Last year, a prize was added to the hunt. The person or family who discovered all of the trees, posed beside them for selfies and submitted the selfies to Nancy would be the winner. If there was more than one person or family, she’d throw the names into a hat and pull one.
Pete and his mom Wendy came out on top in 2018.
The prize was swag contributed by the participating organizations.
They were all smiles as they received the coveted bag filled with fun goodies. (L to r: Nancy, Pete, Wendy)
This year, Nancy’s circumstances changed and she could no longer lead the hunt. So . . . the GLLT and USVLT took on the task, changed the name, developed new graphics (thanks Trish), and extended across the border into New Hampshire. Thus was born the ME/NH Christmas Tree Quest, a fun way to get outside during the holiday season.
Participating organizations include Greater Lovell Land Trust, Lakes Environmental Association, Mahoosuc Land Trust and At a Bend in the Road in Maine, plus Upper Saco Valley Land Trust and Tin Mountain Conservation Center in New Hampshire.
Land trusts and other non-profit organizations in Maine and New Hampshire decorated trees somewhere along one of their trails.
As you look for them, you’ll soon discover that ornaments come in all shapes and sizes.
The decorated trees range from Eastern White Pine . . .
to Balsam Fir . . .
Eastern Hemlock . . .
and one that isn’t green at all ;-) Look for a decorated American Beech on one trail.
Uh oh, which trail? Does that mean I have to look at all the pines, hemlocks, firs, and beech trees every where I tramp on this quest? YES. That’s part of the fun.
Along the way, enjoy the babbling streams,
colorful wetlands,
swift rivers and mountain vistas,
low-impact ropes courses,
and mammal prints in the snow.
Who knows . . . you might even get too see a set of bobcat prints such as these.
Or a red fox track with the chevron visible in the foot pad of the front print.
Certainly, you should spy chipmunk, gray squirrel and red squirrel prints indicating their mad dashes through the forest.
So go ahead. Get your quest on.
And be like Miriam. Send your selfies to leigh.hayes@gllt.org. Take one beside each decorated tree that is part of the ME/NH Christmas Tree Quest and we’ll enter your name into the drawing.
Happy Questing.