I always wondered why all those "Melby Ranch" lots were 35 acres.

ditto with jeremy..........heres my fond recollections of living "30" minutes away from denver as the brochures state in evergreen,colorado.

1st year at regis college mandatory dorm .

2nd,3rd,4th year move up to house in evergreen, with room mate and family we knew. there daddy/mommy/and 2 kids and me and my roommate who each had a room. lived on 10 acres abutting national forest.

dont ever depend on colorado dept of transportation to plow a road when ya need it most.

learn how to x/c ski

learn how to use a snowplow

learn how to use snowshoes

buy a u.s. army weasel or bigger tracked vehicle

buy a snowmobile

learn how to werk on snowmobile and snowblower and tracked vehicle

buy LOTS OF FOOD AND BOOZE etc. for when snowed in. and that is a GIVEN!

enjoy fighting with chains on vehicles

enjoy fighting with (4) chains if 4wd

learn how ya can kill yerself real fast with a winch

read winch instructions completely

be prepared to come out second story of house and walk on snow up to roof.

learn all about chainsaws

learn all about sharpening axe

learn about wood splinters

cut more wood than you can imagine

cut even more wood to stay alive

cut lots of wood just before dark to stay alive thru night

dont drive at night because of black ice

realize that hwy 285 and I-70 will be snowed in and ya will have to take I-25 south to get to phx.

wolf creek pass will be closed until snowplows clear it. never on yer schedule


buy lots of penelton shirts, thermal underwear, u.s army mickey mouse boots, let yer hair and beard grow real long and look like neil young on the "everyone knows this is nowhere"album.

get 2-3 really big malamute dogs

and then pray for 2-3 months of summer!

yep i wanna be a ski bum! bean der done dat.

when the roads clear and the suns out its a "winter-wunderland". when ya live in it daily......................well that crap goes right out the window!


snow skiing looses its glamour real real fast.

anything cold looses its glamour real real fast. when power lines down, ya have only one source of heat.................the fireplace! and fireplaces are MANUAL ONLY! ie. ya gots to cuts lots of woods to stay warm! OR DIE!


if i never cut wood before dark to stay alive that night ever again, i will be happy!

signed "snowed in juan TOO MANY TIMES!"

Well we are doing the exact opposite of each other. I am moving to Texas after being in Colorado Springs and Denver for almost 10years. The economy here has been a real see-saw as someone mentioned earlier and not as sustainable and vibrant as Houston (where I am moving).

San Luis Valley is not really all that arid, it is actually very green \ lush, and I love it there. There is absolutely nothing to do there, unless you are a nature lover and want zero interaction with people and commercialism.

We had a very long and harsh winter this past year (Snow in May!!! and it snowed yesterday as well, the ealiest snow I can remember!!!) and a very long and ultra wet spring \ summer and consequently not much of a summer. I drove my 911 2 or 3 times all summer :(

I wish you luck.
Yasin

this is where the East Coast shines I think. Watkins Glen and Lime Rock Park are surrounded by nature and yet somewhat close to metro civilization. the Hudson Valley can't be beat when weighing all variables.

dont get me wrong about colorado, i love it. have spent beaucoup times up there, many many times after living there.

buttttttttttttt......................the fairy tails end very very quickly when you are stuck in a whiteout on I-70/285/I-25, on a ski lift,sliding down yer driveway into a snowbank that swallows you.

when you cant find your car in the parking lot etc.


there is a very real and valid reason why some land is expensive and others inexpensive.

now living in vail/aspen/copper/telluride and jumping out in the morning into yer ski booties and ge-schussen down to the lift is fine and dandy and wayyyy fun. but once you leave all the comforts....................you better watch the weather and really really be prepared for the worst. and it happens every year someone gets into an avalanche or accidents skiing out of bounds areas.

the family we lived with , her dad was one of the original guys involved with starting vail. she showed us some incredible areas, but also cautioned us as to right way wrong way and how to survive winters.

i have gone back a coupla times now hunting. and added to your instate/out of state license/tag fee is a "search and rescue" fee. cuz each and every year some dumbass hunter gets caught in snow and dies. the standing line re: late season hunters is if ya think yer gonna die because of exposure...................find yerself a big log and bend over it and lie there so when ya FREEZE TO DEATH, your corpse will be bent over and its easier for search and rescue to place you on pack animals saddle. ie. yer PRE-FORMED!


and heres another tip..............whatever you do. do NOT tell someone from colorado yer from texas. trust me on this one!

Had family who lived in norther AZ, similar deal. Cheaper land, great scenery, but miles from anywhere.

Growing up I went on vacation to the mountains near the Eagles Nest a few times, but that was a slightly different nest from a slightly different eagle..

Thanks for all the input guys, sorry I hadn't gotten back sooner, but mutha nature hammered us yesterday and power was out till 10pm.... Quite a few good points were made that I will have to take into consideration. I think that it would be best to contact local county offices to inquire about the legalities of said idea.... well, back to brain storming...... SmileWavy

The snow is not as bad a Mr. Keiffner would lead you to believe.

I lived out there for 15 years with my parents. We had a driveway that climbed 700 vertical feet, had 3 switchbacks, and a 14% grade at sections. We got caught up there 2 times. The worst time was for 2 days. Anyone with a flat driveway never has a problem getting anywhere. Most times the snow on a plowed road has melted away by noon the day following a snow storm.

From 7th grade through 12th grade they cancelled school 1 time. The reason. . . because the roof of the Gym was bowing in from the weight of the snow. This was in Durango btw not a big city by any measure.

While I was young to remember, my mother says that we owned a vacation home in Bayfield, CO when I was a kid... She also went on to inform me that I was conceived in an out house of an old logging camp about five miles away from a place called lemon lake. Like I really needed to know that information....:rolleyes:

with many months in the spring of DAILY 30-40 mph winds

That wind will drive ya crazy....

Thats pretty normal in Western OK. Its sucks ass but you learn to cope with it.

evergreen: 7220 elevation

durango: 6523 elevation

me right now: 2583 elevation

Having been there and done that(but not in Colorado), your plan must consider the local or state rules on subdividing land and who will be responsible for what, like roads, water supply and sewerage details from each lot. Normally, this is all spelled out in the proposal to the County planning board, usually drawn up by an engineer or consultant you will hire. He or she will draw up a plat or map of the proposed improvement and it will work its way through the system of regulatory checks and balances. None of this is cheap. No longer can you just start developing a parcel willy-nilly. You need the "plan", and it must be approved. If you truly have a plan and a dream, go for it, and start convincing others that it is viable, and start raising money for the project. You need big cash up front before you start turning dirt and all the environmental and county approvals. You are talking about a major development here, not 4 or 5 lots. Good luck. Glenn

Rich76_911s' house in Durango, Colorado just under 8,000 ft. I can show you a TOPO. Elevation is only one small factor in snowfall amounts anyway. Being that front range is on the leeward side of storms it gets less snow. Storms tend to drop more as they rise up and over the mountains than on the way back down. Historically the southwestern part of the state gets more snow than the front range, probably 9 out of 10 years.

Nordschleife

+1 Todd

I'd head into the mountains of the Gila forest in NM