Sounds like a nice experience! Thanks for sharing this; I wasn't sure how cutting a Christmas tree in the forest worked.
It was a wonderful experience, even living in an area that did not get a lot of snow. I remember one time big flakes were flying as we wandered around a great-uncle's forest, looking for our tree. It was a magical, memorable time.
It's great to have hear how Christmas tree hunting works on government property. However, where we live much of the mountain land is still privately owned. You can usually get permission from a relative or someone you know to go wander through the woods to pick out a tree. (I think most people now buy from a non-profit because it is their big fundraiser for the year.)
There are also pick-your-own Christmas tree farms that have activities and food available during the busy season. Plus, someone to cut your tree, wrap it and tie it onto your car -- all of which you have to figure out on your own when you're visiting a relative's land and choosing your own.
However, if you had something devious in mind, you would also know where to go that people didn't wander. I suspect that as a boy PF and his friends spent lots of time exploring and running around over the land. Even my city born and raised kid had friends and acreage.
There's one road where we live that has had several bodies discovered down over the side. May be others, we don't know, of course. Decades ago, a man killed his girlfriend in the parking lot of his apartment complex, put her in the back of his truck and hauled her to that road. Managed to dump her body over the side of the mountain and got into the truck to leave. He was so stressed, he put the truck into reverse instead of forward and backed himself down over the mountain. The weight of the pickup took him further down the hill than his girlfriend's body, where he and his truck remained for a day or two. He had two broken legs and was badly injured.
His story was that they were set-upon at the parking lot and both taken to be dumped off, but he was convicted of murder and sent to prison.
There's another mountain, 100 miles or so away, where the Interstate runs up a mountain. It is rumored that the steep sides are another favorite dump site.
So, if PF had wanted to dispose of anything, I suspect he had remote options that would have required little more of him than a short drive . . . The reason I'm on this thread is because of Teller County in the headline. We visited long ago and loved the area, but from my memory, there would be lots of hiding places.