Leaning tree down

A good part of my afternoon was cutting down the "leaning" tree. If I remember right this tree blew over into the next tree in the summer of 2001. Over the years I have cut away at this tree. First I cut off the branches. The leaning tree initially was so tall it went out past the truck of the tree it fell against. I had cut the leaning tree trunk shorter so it didn't go past the standing tree trunk. Over the years the winter winds have enabled the leaning tree to fall further down against the standing tree.

To get the leaning tree to the ground I cut a section off the top of the trunk. The trunk dropped down a bit but then stopped. I had to cut the last remaining branches near the bottom of the trunk that were supporting the trunk so the tree would fall down. It did with a loud crash.

Since I would be standing way up on tree branches that the leaning tree leaned on, I didn't want to use a chain saw. A little too risky, especially as I would be all alone. So I used a couple of handsaws. It took a long time to cut through the trunk due to its thickness and because I didn't have good footing.

I looked for photos of this tree over the years but couldn't find any. Hmmm... where did they go? Here are the photos I took today.