A group of heroic skier/yarn-pluckers. Understandably, the NCC doesn’t have the man power to spend hours pulling wool off thorny branches! We lasted about 20 minutes, until we were too cold to continue, but did not manage to remove all of the string, twine, wool and something that looked like dental floss. Interestingly, the tree is a Buckthorn, which is an invasive species from Eurasia. It disrupts the nitrogen in the soil and kills nearby trees, which explains why it stands alone. Birds love the berries and scatter the seeds. So, if you are skiing by, take a few plucks. Once the snow is gone it will be impossible to reach.

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