The Bike Tailgate Pad makes a perfect Christmas Tree transporter - Our day trip in the mountains

[MrMusAddict]

Went up to grab out Christmas tree today. We live in Southern Oregon, and decided to go someplace new this year. Drove down to Ashland, then drove up like an hour into the mountains. Not too far off the beaten path, but we did end up on an unmaintained BLM road (intentionally). Satellite imagery of the tree coverage was misleading. Thought I spotted a nice collection of baby trees, but once we got there, they were more like 30ft trees ? But, still had a few possible contenders here and there.

We decided to bring our panini press and make some leftover turkey cranberry paninis!

'

Camp Mode's auto leveling really helped with giving us a level counter top!

Despite no snow, it was freezing. Here's some ice crystals we found on the ground. The soft dirt was completely covered in crystals like this, 3 or 4 inches of crystals everywhere.

Finding a good tree took a while. Took a good amount of hiking, which was fun.

Starting to look like we might be losing daylight!

But thankfully we finally found a perfect one!

Getting some help bringing the discarded branches back to the truck!

The Bike Pad was perfect for the Christmas Tree. The clipped loops that wrap around bike frames was used for clipping down the upper trunk of the tree. Also had a net to loosely hold down the base of the tree, just in case winds picked it up once we got back on the freeway. Zip-tied a red dish rag to the top of the tree ?‍ but it held up fine, even at 75 MPH on the freeway.

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[Jakelake]

Great idea. We have been doing the same thing for 34 years but in designated National Forest area in Utah. I like the bike pad Idea and look forward to heating food and drinks on the tailgate. We usually do it with 3 other families, it has been a tradition for years. The big difference is our hike in is about a mile through steep terrain and deep snow.

 

[Cogentfire]

Went up to grab out Christmas tree today. We live in Southern Oregon, and decided to go someplace new this year. Drove down to Ashland, then drove up like an hour into the mountains. Not too far off the beaten path, but we did end up on an unmaintained BLM road (intentionally). Satellite imagery of the tree coverage was misleading. Thought I spotted a nice collection of baby trees, but once we got there, they were more like 30ft trees ? But, still had a few possible contenders here and there.

We decided to bring our panini press and make some leftover turkey cranberry paninis!

'

Camp Mode's auto leveling really helped with giving us a level counter top!

Despite no snow, it was freezing. Here's some ice crystals we found on the ground. The soft dirt was completely covered in crystals like this, 3 or 4 inches of crystals everywhere.

Finding a good tree took a while. Took a good amount of hiking, which was fun.

Starting to look like we might be losing daylight!

But thankfully we finally found a perfect one!

Getting some help bringing the discarded branches back to the truck!

The Bike Pad was perfect for the Christmas Tree. The clipped loops that wrap around bike frames was used for clipping down the upper trunk of the tree. Also had a net to loosely hold down the base of the tree, just in case winds picked it up once we got back on the freeway. Zip-tied a red dish rag to the top of the tree ?‍ but it held up fine, even at 75 MPH on the freeway.

Cool story. Just FYI, I believe your bio pad is mounted incomplete. You attach the bottom corners over the edge. It still works the way you have it, but is more secure with the edges attached.

 

[MrMusAddict]

Cool story. Just FYI, I believe your bio pad is mounted incomplete. You attach the bottom corners over the edge. It still works the way you have it, but is more secure with the edges attached.

Oh! That didn't seem totally clear from the instructions without context; I just thought it was telling me to let the clip straps hang. But now that you point it out that seems totally clear...

 

[MrMusAddict]

Great idea. We have been doing the same thing for 34 years but in designated National Forest area in Utah. I like the bike pad Idea and look forward to heating food and drinks on the tailgate. We usually do it with 3 other families, it has been a tradition for years. The big difference is our hike in is about a mile through steep terrain and deep snow.

That's awesome! We ended up hiking over a mile ourselves, and the terrain was pretty steep for us as well. Can't really tell from the images, but after the first 15 on the side of the road, it shoots up/down.

Thankfully we missed the snow. I was worried I'd be over-confident with my road tires on some of the BLM roads, but thankfully it's been clear skies (which means 10° nights). So, icy, but totally navigable on the dirt. Seems like the spot we chose will get a great deal of snow over the next couple of days.

 

[HeyEllwood]

Love this. I’m unsure if I’m going to risk throwing a tree up on our R1S. God forbid the glass breaks.

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