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Land info – confusing?

October 31, 2011 / admin / 0 Comments

I was going to answer some of the comments in a reply, but the full answers are relatively long. I decided to do a post instead. (Note: Clicking on an image will bring up a larger and more legible version of that image.)

Tabitha:
We don’t know about wild horses in the Cripple Creek area. We currenlty live east of Wild Horse Mesa, where wild horses run in a protected area. I’ve gone 4-wheeling there but have not seen the herd. Every few of years some of the horses are trapped and sold at auction to keep the numbers sustainable. In the Cripple Creek area we are more likely to see deer and elk.

Larry:
I have an lot-map-plus-arial-view overlay provided by the county, but the overlay is wrong. It puts the lot to the east of the access road. It looks like the county flipped the overlay to the right instead of to the left, so I didn’t scan and post that document.

Yes, there is an acess road on the west side of the Martha A. We have walked it. There is an interesting reason it is there: The parcel to the south, the Last Chance, does not run all the way out to the BLM access road. While that owner has built a drive out to the road, it may not be legal. The access road on the west side of the Martha A is there to get legal access to the Last Chance if the BLM ever gets nasty about access.

Why the strange lot shapes and overlays?

Originally land in the Cripple Creek area was all government-owned. Miners could plat a claim then file for a “land patent” which transfered the land into their ownership. The overlapping occured when other parties moved in and platted lots that included parts of existing, but not patented, claims. The government could approve the new plat and make the claim available to patent. Often land between claims would be patented, hoping that any mineral veins from the other plats would extend into these lots. This practice lead to some very stange parcel shapes. (There were charges of claim jumping and other illegal actions dealing with the legitimacy of some land patents, and new court cases occasionally come up to this day.)

Here is part of the original 1899 Martha A plat I found in the BLM records:

: 1899 plat detail

Note the phrase “…if incorporated into a patent…” in the document. At some point the Martha A was patented, moving the land from governement ownership into private hands. Below is the entire plat document.

1899 plat map

When the Martha A was platted, it “absorbed” some land, including survey number 10710 shown to the south, as well as parts of the Ruby to the west and Last Dollar to the east. All of this was quite common in the day. If no patent had been issued, the federal government considered the land fair game for a new plat. Land grant patents were stopped many years ago, so BLM land will stay BLM land, plated or not. Fot example, the Ruby plat to the west of the Martha A was not patented, and has since reverted to BLM ownership, as has the Last Dollar plat to the east.

Confusing? Yes. More to the point for us: It makes access to private parcels a real problem, as you need to get easments across all patented parcels to get to yours as no public roads serve these lots. Best way is to get a ‘recorded easment’ that becomes part of the land title. In the case of the Martha A there are easements written into the land titles of the patents, all 8 of them, that the road crosses. However, part of the road crosses BLM land. Therein lies the problem.

The BLM won’t issue or approve a “recorded” easement over BLM property. About 3 years ago they started issuing “road permit agreements,” aka right-of-way, or ROW agreements. There is disagreement within the agency about when an agreement is required and when it is not.

The lady I spoke to at the local BLM office indicated a permit would be required. However, the brochure I downloaded from the BLM site says:

“You don’t need a ROW for so-called “casual use.” What kinds of activities are considered “casual use”? Examples include driving vehicles over existing roads, sampling, surveying, marking routes, collecting data to prepare an application for a ROW, and performing certain activities that do not cause any appreciable disturbance or damage to the public land, resources or improvements.”

In other words, new road construction requires a ROW agreement. Use of existing roads does not, unless it is likely that use of those roads will damage them. At least thas is how I interpret it. The application sent to me (form DF-299) is geared toward new road constuction, such as might be used by mining or energy companies to reach and develope new sites.

If getting to a piece of unimproved land is “casual use” then we don’t need a permit. The existing road has been there for decades. We certainly will not be dististurbing or damaging public lands or roads. However, the lady I spoke to voiced the opinion that owning land moves the use of the road from “casual use” to “vested interest” and therefore requires a ROW permit. I’ve called the state office of the BLM to see if I can get some clarification on this.

As I said, we are doing our research and trying to comprehend the ins and outs of buying an old mining claim. This is not a simple land transaction!

These are the points the local lady made:

1. If you have a “vested interest” and use the road to access it, the road needs to be covered by a Right of Way plan. If there is no agreement you are trespassing on BLM property when you use the road.

2. These plans are not normally issued to individual land owners, but can be in some cases. A road owner’s association generally needs to be formed to apply (and pay for) the road agreement.

3. The road association needs to register with the State of Colorado. ($35.00)

4. The county will not issue a building permit until the road agreement is in place.

There is a cost for all of this:

1. Impact statement processing fee: Average is category 3, $786.00. This fee covers up to 36 man-hours of labor. If it takes more than 36 man-hours the price goes up. Labor includes a site survey, vistit from foresters, hydrologists, and others to determin the impact of use on BLM land.

2. Rent of the portion of BLM land taken up by the road: $34.66 per acre per year for Teller County. Payable only in 10-year increments. After 30 years the agreement has to be re-negotiated.

3. Monitoring fee to make sure you are keeping the road up to standards set out in the agreement. It is about the same as the rent figure and can fluctuate.

4. Cost of bringing the road up to and maintaining standards set by BLM is born by who ever are named in the road agreement. (Generally this means grading the road once or twice a year and filling in potholes. Culverts must be cleaned and maintained as well.)

So what does this mean for us? It certainly raises a barrier, and is a catch-22: We may not be able to legally access the land without a ROW agreement (although the trespassing statutes are rarely enforced) and we can’t apply for an agreement until we own the land. Do we want to go down this path? Assuming we could get an individual agreement, it would mean an outlay of (non-refundable) funds to process the impact statement plus 10 years of rent and monitoring fees. Any work needed on that portion of the road would have to be done at our expense.

Now we know why the power and phone lines stop up the road. 🙂 Utilities require a separate agreement issued to the utility company. Can you say “off grid?”

This development certainly reduces the effective value of the lot. Legal access may not be completely secured, and there may be hoops to go though to finish the job. Ironicaly, we can drive the road as much as we wish while looking for land; that is casual use and quite legal. If we buy the Martha A and drive to it, we could be open to trespassing charges! Of course, we could always say we were gathering info to apply for a ROW agreement. Could take years. 🙂

I’m bummed out. Pam and I will have to talk this over, contact the realtor, and see if we want to proceed with an offer. I am still waiting on the response from the State BLM office before we go any further. I’ll post updates as I get them.

Thats it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Additional land info

October 24, 2011 / admin / 2 Comments

We are doing our research. Teller County and the realtor furnished a few documents; here are 2 images that further describe the Martha A lode. (Hint: Clicking the images will bring up a larger version of them.)

: Martha A lot map

We had originally walked the part of the lot below the BLM access road, which turns out to be the smaller part of the lot. The best building site is on the north (upper) side of the road just east of center. The lot runs north-south, so west is to the left and east to the right.

Craig had asked about the BLM land that borders the lot on the east and west. These are irregular parcels, and the best way to visualize them is to look at this map of parcels in the area. Remember, these are old mine claims, laid out to follow “seams” that the miners hoped would provide fortune:

BLM land around the Martha A lode

The “Last Chance” borders the Martha A to the south, and the “Uncle Sam” to the north. The part we are concerned with is the BLM land to the south-east; the access road to the lot crosses BLM land and we want to be reasonably sure that the BLM will not close this road to vehicular traffic. This would be unlikely, as there is a trailer (with well) on the Uncle Sam parcel, and a full-time house on the 2nd lot north, the one that borders on the Uncle Sam. (That family is the one who plows the road.) In addition, there are lots to the west of the Martha A that can only be reached from this same access road.

Here is a larger image of parcels in the area around the Martha A:

Parcels around the Martha A Lode

We are still doing our research, but have been pre-approved to make an offer. We are waiting a week so we can get current pay stubs to submitt to the credit union that would finance the transaction.

Thats it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Fall Colors and Land Hunt

October 18, 2011 / admin / 5 Comments

NOTE: Clicking on any of the photos in these posts will bring up a much larger version of that photo!

If you go to my AppleAttic Home Page you will find a link to a Fall Colors page. Take a look at it and try the link that takes you to my Fall Colors gallery if you are interested in seeing more fall color photos.

The big news deals with out Dream Land hunt. We have found a place we like! Here is how it went down.

I took a solo trip to Cripple Creek to view properties with a realtor from Spring Creek Realty. (I’ve mentioned them in previous posts.) Jim and I went to look at a few properties, including one named the Bonita. The Bonita, and several of the parcels Pam and I have looked at, are old patented mining claims currently zoned A-1 (agricultural) land. While the Bonita had some advantages, access was poor and the lot was not as level as I would have liked. Still, it did have a mix of pine and aspen and a view:

View from the Bonita Lode looking NW

Here is the realtor, Jim Hammond, a little lower down on the lot:

Jim Hammond on the Bonita Lode

To skip ahead, 1 week later Pam and I went back to walk the lot again. It had snowed:

Jim and Pam walk the Bonita parcel

While there were attractive elements, the poor access and steeper-than-wanted lot put the Bonita into a less-desireable category. We went on to take another look at a lot we had seen previously, but had little information about. Turns out it is known as the Martha A. Lode.

In a previous post I mentioned we had seen 3 parcels that could be contenders. One was taken off the market. The second one, right off Hwy 61 with a view of the back of Pike’s Peak, turned out to be not the parcel I had walked on, but one further north. It consisted mostly of a ravine. We were disappointed. However, the 3rd parcel, 10 acres with a small storage shed on it, turned out to be more than we expected.

We had walked only 1/2 of the Martha A, which is bisected by a BLM access road, on our first visit. The southern part is where the small storage shed is located. We thought that section was the complete lot, but we learned the other half of the parcel lies north of the BLM road. We had not walked the northern half. There is a nice building spot on a knoll that rises on that side. As a bonus the parcel is bordered on 2 sides by BLM land. Here are a few photos of our last visit:

Pam and dogs on the Martha A storage shed

View from knoll looking east

Realtor photo. Access road to the Martha A Lode

BLM road bisects the Martha A Lode. Knoll is at right.

We are excited about this land, and plan to make an offer on it shortly. I had to do some research, calling the county, the BLM, a local well driller, and just getting some background information about buying unimproved land.

This much we have found out: Buying an old mining claim in Colorado is not a straight-forward deal. In this case, the access road crosses BLM land. There is no permanent easement granted by the BLM, but you can sign a Road Permit Agreement that gives you year-round use of the road, provided it is privately maintained. The day we were there the road had been plowed out by one of the residents who apparently does this so he can get to work. Mineral rights are not included, but are available for about $50.00 per acre. To keep the land zoned Agricultural until we could build a house, a grazing rights contract needs to be negotiated with a local rancher. This is what the current owners did, so it does not seem like a big issue to get it done again. There are no power or phone lines to the lot; power and phone are up the road a bit and would cost an estimated $6,000.00 to extend them to the property line. Wells in the county average around 400 feet deep, or about $7,000.00 to put in. Septic system cost about the same, although the decomposed granite underlying the top soil perks out real well. Property taxes run $1.49 per acre per year.

The views are good, not great, although a house would offer a bit broader view. The lot is heavily treed but does have a couple open spots, and a nice place to put a house. Plenty of firewood would arise from thinning and cleanup of the place. I didn’t check the mileage, but estimate the lot is about 1 – 1.5 miles from the county road, and is about 4 – 5 miles from Cripple Creek proper. In short, except for the size (10 acres vs the 5 or so we were looking for) the Martha A has everything we had on our wish list. Asking price is between 69 – 70K, but we will offer somwehat less to stay within our budget.

This tale sounds kind of dry, perhaps due to my nature. I guess it comes with working with computers so much! We like this lot because of its “feel.” The first time we walked the southern part of it, stood in the meadow, surrounded by trees, we knew it had potential to be our Dream Land. We formed ideas of where a house would go, where the decks would face, how much firewood could we harvest? This lot engaged us more as we walked around on it. Thats why we decided to make an offer once we have our financing arranged; this lot “speaks” to us. No other lot has.

We have started the loan qualification process, and hope to be able to make an offer in the near future. We are excited about this one! Wish us luck. I will update the blog when we move forward.

Here is a photo show of the Martha A Lode:[cincopa AcIAts6cb71G] Move your cursor over photos to activate controls, or click on any photo to bring up a larger image with extended captions.

Thats it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Boreas Pass and Mountain Laurie

September 17, 2011 / admin / 3 Comments

First of all, Boreas Pass was a 1880’s narrow-gauge railroad route between South Park and Breckenridge, Colorado. Pam and Jerry first visited in the late ’70s, and found the route by looking up old railroad histories. The route made a pleasant day trip.

Road to Boreas Pass

What turned Boreas Pass into something other than a pleasant day trip was a visit by Pam’s parents, Lorraine and Myron, in 1980. Pam and I took Lorraine and Myron to visit Boreas Pass.

Pam, Jerry, Lorraine, and Myron at Boreas Pass, 1980

Lorraine, who was later christened “Mountain Laurie” by our good friends and neighbors Hank and Elinor, loved the place. She said she felt an affinity for Boreas Pass that she had never felt elsewhere.

This high and remote pass was, at one time, home to several hundred people. There were numerous gold mines in the area, and Boreas had, for a time, its own post office. The Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad built a line to haul supplies into Boreas and into the thriving mining town of Breckenridge, 10 miles away. The railroad built a number of buildings at Boreas, including the roadhouse. This building served as living quarters for railroad employees.

Lorraine felt she had a connection to this area. A believer in reincarnation, Lorraine said she may have had a life here before. The feeling was so strong Lorraine requested her ashes be spread around the small cabin, next to the roadhouse, after she was gone.

Lorraine in front of the cabin at Boreas Pass. 1980

Lorraine, AKA Mountain Laurie, in front of the cabin at Boreas Pass. 1980

Mountain Laurie passed away 20 years ago this November 1st. Per her request, one of her sons-in-law took her ashes and spread them around the small cabin. We hope she is resting in peace. This post is dedicated to her memory. Lorraine was my mother-in-law, but she was also my friend.

We visit every year. We have visited in the spring, summer, and fall. (In the winter the road is closed.) Some years we feel Mountain Laurie’s presence more than others. Spring is best, when the bluebirds are in the area during their migration, and the wild flowers are getting into full bloom. Wild strawberries, no bigger than the tip of Jer’s little finger, ripen close to the ground. High mountains thrust up into the blue sky, and the breeze carries the hint of summer to come.

Its a place in renewal. Fresh young pine are replacing the stumps of the timber cut long ago. The Forest Service has rescued the roadhouse and cabin and plans to preserve them. A steady steam of summer visitors stop, making the location active if not as dynamic as it once briefly was. A historical society occasionally opens the roadhouse and cabin for visitors to enter and learn of the place’s history around a warm pot-bellied stove.

There are worse places to spend eternity.

So, Boreas Pass is special to us. We visited on Labor Day this year. The aspen are just beginning to turn color, many flowers are still blooming, and the weather was great. Other family members, most recently Pam’s brother Craig and his wife Dianne, have been to the cabin on Boreas Pass as well. It is a family affair!

Below is a collection of photos we have taken at Boreas Pass over the years. They are not in any specific order. You can click on the photos to bring up a larger view. The larger view includes titles and captions containing more information about the subject of the photo.
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Thats it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Land hunt #10 – long post with photos

September 4, 2011 / admin / 6 Comments

The hunt for our “Dream Land” continued with trip number 10. Here’s how it went.

Pam and I headed east on Thursday night after work. Both of us had taken Friday off as vacation days. The plan was to stay at a B&B (the Hand Hotel) Thursday night, have most of Friday to check out properties, then return home Friday night or Saturday morning. Chores and shopping would be done on the other holiday weekend days. This arrangement worked out well, as it gave us more time in our target area. We did arrive home late Friday night.

Our Thursday night stay was at the Hand Hotel in Fairplay. Listed as a B&B, the Hand Hotel is an old hotel, but is now serving a continental breakfast. I guess that qualifies it as a B&B.

Hand Hotel B&B entrance

We found the Hand very pleasant, but quite warm during the night. Breakfast was somewhat more expansive than average for a B&B, including breakfast burritos, hard-boiled eggs, and a large variety of teas in addition to cold cereal, juice, pastries, coffee, fruit, and other breakfast goodies. After walking the dogs and eating breakfast we headed out on our property search.

Pam had organized the property listings in a 3-ring binder, making it easier to group them and use the maps we have acquired. The first stop for the day was a house on several acres of land near Florissant.

First stop of the day

The stop was disappointing, as the house had been trashed by its previous occupants. One window was gone, leaving the house open to the elements. Several inside walls had wall board missing, and others were covered with graffiti. As we have found with other listings (houses on land) in our price range, the house invariably would take a lot of work to bring up to living standards. While that would have been an option in our younger days, it is not attractive now. On to the next place.

4+ acre lot in Indian Creek

“4 acres with driveway in place.” We came, we saw, we left. While pleasant, the lot has a lot of unusable space, as it is split by a pretty deep ravine. Many of the lots we have seen contain such elements, and we are not keen on buying land, and paying taxes on it, if the entire parcel isn’t useable. Still, we felt we were on the right track. At least this lot could be walked on, had a driveway, trees, and was not that far from a paved road. The dogs enjoyed getting out and examining elk and deer droppings.

We stopped and looked at a series of properties – we would cover no fewer than 11 this day – and did not take photos of all of them. Some were too steep, some had no trees. However, we did come on 3 that we really liked and plan to further research, plus one that is very interesting but quite isolated.

The first of our “Top 3” is a lot along Hwy 61, AKA 4-mile road. (This road is near Cripple Creek.) Located on the west side of the road, and backing up to some large hills, the lot is heavily treed with a mix of aspen and pine. While walking the lot we found it to be very moist, with moss growing in some places, and containing a seasonal stream. Obviously used in the past, we located an old outhouse and a fair number of old automotive oil cans in a pile. There are some views to the north. One drawback: wash-off from the road is extensive, and it would require some work (culverts) to fix this.

Lot along Hwy 61, 4-mile Road

Strangely enough, we did not have a listing for this parcel. We came across it when driving down the road looking for another parcel that we did have a listing for, so we will have to contact the realtor for more information.

The parcel we were looking for was on Craig’s List. Pam had found it while researching land for sale in this area. 10 acres with a small shed and a meadow area surrounded by mature trees. For once the billing was accurate, probably because it wasn’t written by a realtor.

Jerry with shed, 10 acre property

This property may no longer be for sale. There was no realtor sign or no “For Sale By Owner” sign to be found. Again, it will take some more research. Some of the largest aspen trees either of us have ever seen, some of them huge, are located here. We were impressed with the quiet. If tall trees and open meadows float your boat, this is the lot to have. No well or septic, and the driveway needs work, but we liked this spot a great deal. No views from the shed, but nice views from the road on the way in. If still for sale, this would be the second lot we could consider purchasing.

The 3rd lot, and Jerry’s favorite, borders Hwy 61. We did not have a listing for it, but saw the sign and had to stop and walk the property. Biggest draw is the view of Pike’s Peak western side. This photo is a view from the lot looking NE.

Pike's Peak view lot

The front of the lot is meadow, but further back there is a mix of pine and aspen. The further back you go the larger the trees get. Land has a large flat area, borders a county road, and is about 1/2 mile from pavement. It is within a few miles of Cripple Creek, which offers a grocery store and an urgent care center. Other than the lack of large trees to nestle a house into, this lot offers most of what we are looking for. Jerry is excited about this one.

A “special mention” lot is this 20 acre parcel with gorgeous views, but is all downhill. (Pam named it Hawk Heights.)

20 acre view lot

This photo does not do the views justice. Unfortunately, there is just no place to put a house. The lot has one flat spot, large enough to pitch a fair-sized tent, but that is about it for level ground! Jerry walked over the edge to find that flat spot, about giving Pam a heart attack when he disappeared from view.

The last place we looked at is a 10 acre parcel with a cabin on it. We had been watching the price drop over the last couple months, and decided to see if we could find it. That may sound odd, but some of these places cannot be found on Map Quest, Google Earth, or other mapping software. That was also the case with the 10 acres with the mature trees and shed; some of these properties are off-the-side-of-a-side road and require some guesswork to locate.

So we came to the end of a cul-de-sac and could not find the address. Jerry did point out, though, a trail that took off and led up a small valley. “That must be it” said he. Good thing we drive a vehicle with full-time AWD that has some clearance. Off we went.

This is what we found.

Cabin on 10 acres

Nestled in the trees, the cabin has no electric, no running water, few neighbors. It is remote and isolated. Pam found cactus, which she does not care for, but the meadow area is full of grasses and flowers. Could it be a place to camp until a house could be built, then double as a guest cabin for visitors? The interior is rough, with some insulation in but no wall boards of any type, but with a functioning fireplace.

Pam and the dogs check out the cabin nestled in the trees

Plusses are a large lot, trees, and seclusion. Minuses are a dead ground squirrel in the living room, no views from the house, and a long, undeveloped driveway. Still, the place intrigues us. While not in our top 3 picks, we can’t seem to get it out of our minds, so it remains a ‘place of interest’ even though it meets few of our criteria. Again, if we were in our 20’s or 30’s it would be more of an option, but not now.

We consider this trip to be the most successful to date. We found no fewer than 3 lots that would be acceptable if they are still for sale and if we find they are in our price range. After previous trips we returned home disappointed, but this time our return trip was filled with comments, discussion, “what if” scenarios, and a positive attitude that we were making progress. That’s a nice change!

Now we have something to follow up with our realtor. In my next post I hope to have more information about these lots, and where we might go from here.

Here is a slide show with more photos of this trip. The show contains more photos of the Hand Hotel and the lots we walked and visited. Click on any photo to bring up a slightly larger view that includes captions and a description.

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Thats it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Mountains and lily pads

August 27, 2011 / admin / 0 Comments

We live in a dry climate. Central Wisconsin, where both Pam and I grew up, receives around 34 inches of precipitation per year. In western Colorado the annual average is around 9 inches per year. To put it another way, Milwaukee gets more rain by the end of April than we get all year long.

So, its dry. Interestingly, that does not mean we are without lakes and pockets of water. Where there is water there are alpine flowers.

Grand Mesa, the Flattops, and other high-altitude areas are around us. I took a motorcycle ride last Sunday to the top of Grand Mesa and took a few pictures of some of the small lakes that dot the area and photographed some of the wild flowers currently in bloom.

One of the Mesa Lakes

This photo is our current desktop image. It looks better blown up a bit! If you go back a few posts and look at the one detailing my sister Kitt’s visit, there is a shot of her (with much snow around) at the Visitor’s Center on Grand Mesa. This is the lake she would have seen from where she was standing.

The day was somewhat overcast, but otherwise nice, dry and temperate. Pam had encouraged me to take this ride. (I think she wanted me out of the house for a while.) Elevation at this point is somewhere around 10,000 feet. The high point of the road over Grand Mesa hits 10,861 feet.

Alpine lakes range in size from small puddles to large enough to support boats and canoes, although you won’t be water-skiing on them any time soon. I travel over many of these lakes in winter as they are links in various snowmobile trails. I walked down to one of the smaller lakes that had water lilies blooming on it, and got the next couple shots.

Lily pads #1.

Lily pads #2.

Views like these are not normally associates with western Colorado, but are one of the reasons Pam and I love to drive the less-traveled roads in this part of the state. The high country is dotted with these little gems.

Another less-appreciated aspect of these high areas is the diversity of flowers that grow there. Dozens, if not hundreds, of different varieties of wild flowers dot meadows that are at elevations of 9,000 to 11,000 feet. The best known is the Colorado Columbine, which is done blooming for this year, but there are asters, harebells, sunflowers, daisies, and many varieties with names I don’t know. The down side: Even here there are dandelions and thistles.

Asters in late August.

A member of the Thistle family.

Little sunflower.

While not “dense” in the number of flowers per square foot, many varieties intermingle in open areas, giving color ranges that include white, blue, red, yellow, and other striking colors.

Varieties intermingle in open areas.

It is nice to see the patches of flowers growing along the road.

: Nice colors along the road.

Yes, we live in a dry area. However, we have learned to look for the water areas and stop to enjoy the wild flowers that bloom in the high country. The top of Grand Mesa is the closest spot that offers us these gems, and we can be there in in about 30 minutes. I had a nice outing this particular day.

Odd bits and pieces attract me when I ride, such as cloud formations. Here is one of them.

Clouds over Grand Mesa #1.

Update on the Land Hunt: We plan another trip to our target area next weekend, taking advantage of the Labor Day break. We have planned an overnight visit that will give us more time to look at the properties we have seen and marked as “potential” from on-line listings. This trip will find us on the south side of our target area, fairly close to Cripple Creek. Maybe we will get lucky and find “the one.”

Thats it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Land Hunt: Recap and Update

August 11, 2011 / admin / 3 Comments

It’s been a while since I posted to this blog. I missed a week of work due to illness, and during that time I didn’t feel much like working on the computer. I’m back now, and here is a recap and update of our Colorado Dream, owning a piece of land in the mountains.

We had started by looking at land near Woodland Park and Divide, both located west of Colorado Springs and Pike’s Peak on Highway 24. We found that lots in our price range were very steep. We are in good health, but could not see us hiking up and down any of these lots in our later years.

Pam looks over a potential lot.

The nicest lots, those that met our criteria, were way out of our price range. $25K per acre was not uncommon, with lot sizes running 4 to 5 acres. We began to expand our search further west of the Divide area in hopes of finding some lower-priced property.

We started to include lots with houses on them, in theory a better value due to homes prices dropping as people sold 2nd homes or places they could no longer afford. These places might offer us a place to stay when we visited, already had wells and septic systems in place, and may be easier to finance and improve. The place below is one example of this type of property.

Pam checks out house at 899 Badger Road

The lot behind the house is quite steep. Where would I put a workshop?

Another house we checked on, whose price had been dropping on the listings, was this place on Deer View Lane:

Deer on Deer View Lane property.

Pam and dogs check out house on Deer View Lane.

We saw the doe as we drove up to the house. Unfortunately, the lot is too steep for our liking. Can you see us at 70+ years old hauling groceries up those steps?

Looking at houses did not work out, as the places in our price range all seemed to have many compromises. Either the lots were steep and unusable, no views, poor access, or would need a lot of work to bring up to our middle-class standards.

This led to some interesting discussions about how much of our dream we are willing to sacrifice, and the answer turns out to be “not much.” We would rather find our dream lot and put something on it rather than give up our core requirements: A mix of pine and aspen, level enough to walk around in comfort and to make building easier, and a view of a hill or mountains. A larger lot, which would guarantee separation from neighbors, is highly desirable.

The only way we would be able to avoid compromising our dream was to re-define what we were looking for, and the answer changed our outlook: No longer would we be searching for a “commuting” location, but would concentrate on the “recreational” aspects of a place. Both of us agree that we will probably have to work after retirement to make ends meet, and we should be looking for a get-away property rather than a commuting location. Given this less restraining criteria, we decided to look in areas a little more off the beaten path.

This brings us to the last few weeks, where we have come closer to finding what we want, although we have not found our ideal yet.

We began looking in a new area south of Lake George, Colorado. The area between Lake George and the next town to the east, Florissant, has some sub-divisions with roads in them. Situated between Pike’s Peak to the east and South Park to the west, some of the lots appear to have most of what we are looking for, although the acreages are generally smaller.

Rustic road south of Lake George.

Lot at end of cul-de-sac may be a possibility.

This lot has much of what we want, but is small, only about 1.3 acres. The lots on either side are flatter and would be better to build on, so we will contact our realtor and see if he can find out if either owner might be willing to sell. Coming across this lot gave us hope that we might yet find what we are looking for.

Later that day we walked another lot. A drive way had been put in, it was pretty level and had quite a few trees, but no views of anything. Lot size was about 1.2 acres. Pleasant, but not really what we want.

A 3rd place has a double-wide on it, not ideal, but has 4 acres and a well and septic installed. A repo, asking price is about 70K. We would not be wild about the trailer, but the lot meets most of our requirements, and has a view to boot. At this point Pam is not in favor of exploring this further, but Jerry is still interested if a low-ball offer would secure the property. It is a corner lot, and there would be some traffic noise, but the road is well-maintained summer and winter and offers easier access to civilization than some of the other properties we have looked at.

Spruce Creek lot looking SW.

Trailer on Spruce Creek lot.

Pam walks dogs west of Pike's Peak.

Really, life should not be this hard. We go over with high hopes, armed with print-outs of land listings and maps, and return a bit depressed that we did not find our dream land. And it takes time…each trip is in the 550 mile range, takes a full day, and gets tiring. We have made 9 “land looking” trips so far. We feel we are getting closer to finding what we want, narrowing our search to specific areas, and have looked at some pleasant, if small, lots. We still have a fairly high level of confidence that we will find what we are looking for, but it may take longer than we thought!

What’s next? We will continue to search the listings for lots in the Florissant – Lake George area, and take a trip to view them once or twice a month, depending on how many potential lots turn up.

As you can tell, we have reached the stage where the initial excitement of looking for land has worn off, and now it becomes a question of searching, evaluating, and day trips to the area we have targeted. We do enjoy getting into the mountains, and the dogs enjoy the outings, so none of the trips has been a waste of time. Quite the contrary…we always find new roads and things to look at, and that is part of the enjoyment of the search. One of these times we will “discover” our dream lot. When we do, you will hear about it here.

Moving on to other topics, we will be traveling to Wisconsin the first week in October. Pam’s side of the family is planning a memorial service for her Uncle John and Aunt Angela, both of whom have died in the last year or so. Uncle John and Aunt Angela had visited us in Arizona when we lived there, and also visited us here in western Colorado. They were good people and will be missed.

Our daughter, Felicity, did land the 2nd part-time job I mentioned in my last post. She will be doing web and social media development for an organization in the Portland, Oregon area. This job will make her finances a bit more stable as she continues to develop her Affordable Writing Solutions company. While she is attracting customers, the income is a bit hit-and-miss as she does not normally get paid until the end of a project, which can span a few weeks or more. While we applaud her entrepreneurial spirit, as parents it is nice to know there is a base income on which to establish a budget.

Pam and I celebrated our 37th wedding anniversary this past week. I’m so glad she has put up with me for so long!

Our foster kittens are now old enough to get their operations and shots. You can view photos of them at our Foster Cats page.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Interlude

July 22, 2011 / admin / 2 Comments

Well, the rallies are behind me, and I’ve recovered from the stomach flu. Time to catch up on things and take stock of what we have planned for the rest of the year.

The Colorado Dream land hunt continues. Last Saturday we looked at some properties in an area we had not visited before. This area is south of Lake George, Colorado. Lots are smaller, mostly in the 1.25 to 2.5 acre size, but the prices are more reasonable per acre as a result. There are some nice views from some of the lots. Pike’s Peak is to the east, and South Park and the Collegiate Range is to the west. We were very taken with the area, and plan a return visit in a week or two to look at more properties.

We are looking for a lot that is relatively flat and has a mix of pine and aspen trees on it. A mountain view would be a real plus. We saw some lots, not for sale, that meet all these criteria. We think that if we keep a close eye on the listings something will come up that we could get serious about.

We’ve kind of given up the idea of using the land in a dual-purpose mode, for both full-time living and commuting to work. The closer in places are just more than our budget can handle. So, the land we choose will be pretty much recreational use only, not full-time living unless we win the lottery.

We would, most likely, put a small garage with an apartment built-in on the lot. Pam insists on running water and a bathroom, I don’t know why. 🙂 So, the lot would have some developement (well and septic) and we would run off a portable generator for a while. Doing some research, we can expect to pay about $10k each for a well and septic system. We would need to fence part of the lot, at least, so the dogs could run a bit. The search for our dream land continues.

The rest of the summer looks to be a little less hectic than it has been since May. A trip back to Wisconsin will be in the works for early fall, as I still need to get Dad’s tractor home, and there will be a memorial service for Pam’s Aunt Angela in Merril, Wisconsin, in the early fall that Pam would like to attend. With Pam’s permission I recently bought a used snowmobile which sucked some money out of our savings. That will curtail some of our travel plans for the year. We had discussed a trip to Prince Edward Island (North-east of Maine) but that will probably not happen this fall.

In other news, our son Toby is now employed full-time instead of working temp jobs, and that is good news. He is even getting some overtime, so he can pay off of his credit card debt and put some money aside. Felicity is interviewing for a 2nd part-time job this comming week, and if she gets it, the income between the two will cover her living expenses while the jobs she picks up re-doing web pages and writing newsletters provides some discretionary income. We hope she gets the job.

My thanks to Tabitha, Larry, Becky, and a few others who take the time to read these posts and respond. I do appreciate it!

Thats it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Jerry’s Durango Rally

July 10, 2011 / admin / 2 Comments

Man. So much has gone on in the last couple weeks. Today’s topic: Another motorcycle rally, this time one I co-sponsored. Location was in Durango, and the rally was held over the 4h of July weekend.

I’ve never gone to 2 rallies in one year, so this was a first. What does a rally organizer do? Well, a couple of things.

First, arrange for a “command central” where everyone meets and stages for rides. This year my co-sponsor suggested a campground whose owners he knows. A few calls, and we had group discounts, dates, and location confirmed.

Another duty that fell to me was planning the group ride. Most rallies have one major ride planned, and a few smaller, often shorter, rides planned for the 2^nd day of the event. In this case, I planned to have a group ride over the San Juan Scenic Byway, with next-day rides to Wolf Creek Pass and Valicito Lake.

Some of the XS11 models our club members ride have a range of about 100 miles due to small fuel tanks. Ride planning has to include fuel stops, as well as plan for meals and photo stops. Having been on this route before, I had a pretty good idea of where we could stop for these various requirements, but planned to arrive a day early to pre-run the course and confirm my memories. The pre-run resulted in a few minor changes and options related to the number of motorcycles we would have in the group.

And, of course, co-sponsors historically provided adult beverages for the socializing that takes place in the evenings after the day’s ride is over. I left that part to my co-sponsor. His wife actually took care of it, and did a good job.

Then there is the question of the rally T-shirt, no small issue. One of our members offered to come up with a design and pass along the shirts for $15.00 each, not bad for a limited-run production.

Rally T-shirt

13 bikes and 15 people showed up, not a bad turn out for one of these events. Aside from some minor mechanical problems the rally came off well. Scenery and weather were excellent, members enjoyed the ride and company, and food and arrangements worked like clockwork. Except for one thing.

I got stomach flu during the first day’s ride.

By the time I headed for home, I had to stop once or twice every hour to stretch out my abdomen. As a result, it took me about 5.5 hours to ride the 195 miles home. I missed 2 days of work and didn’t eat much in the way of solid foods (do crackers count?) for about 3 days. This is very odd for me, as this is the 2^nd time I’ve had this happen, both times this year.

The rally was a success. I met some old friends and made some new friends, saw some great scenery, and introduced some people to the scenery of South-west Colorado. Here is a slide show of the main group ride.

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Larger photos, with captions, can be seen on my Colorado Rally Page.

Thats it for now. Thanks for looking in!

California motorcycle rally

June 24, 2011 / admin / 3 Comments

(Note: Slide show at bottom. Thanks!)

Once a year I take a long motorcycle trip as a vacation. This year I went to a rally based out of Santa Margarita, California. Santa Margarita is not far from San Louis Obispo and Morro Bay.

I have been going to rallies since 2000, so know many of the people who show up at these things. Its always a great way to meet and greet friends not seen for a year or more, and meet some new friends along the way.

This year I stayed at Las Vegas (Circus, Circus) on both the outgoing and return legs of the trip. Price for the room was not bad, about $42.00 per night, but I am not a big city person and I certainly felt out of place on “the strip”. But…it was good to have a nice air-condition room to sleep in (daytime temps in the 90’s) when I got off the bike!

Day 1 got me as far as Las Vegas. On day 2 (A Thursday) I arrived at the Santa Margarita KOA. I had camp set up by around 5:30 local time, so decided to take off for a ride to the ocean (Morro Bay) and get something to eat.

It was quite cool at the beach, but I enjoyed the ride, watching the waves break, and watch the antics of the sea gulls. As much as I like my mountains, there is something about a sunset over the ocean that is very satisfying to watch.

Dinner that night was pizza. I had developed a hunger for one on the ride out, and finally found a local joint in the town of Itascadero. I managed to eat an entire 10-inch Canadian Bacon, and boy it sure tasted good!

The next morning I called a pair of friends who had also arrived early (Main rally was scheduled for Saturday) and we got together for breakfast at Denny’s in Paso Robles. We decided to head up to a national monument named The Pinnacles. Of more interest to people who have an interest in geology, The Pinnacles sits on the edge of the San Andreas Fault. Right on the edge…broken formations are separated by several miles, showing how the fault has slipped over the eons.

The best part of this trip way California Hwy 25, which is the route to the eastern entrance to the monument. It runs along the edge of a fertile valley, and is great for motorcycle riding.

After visiting The Pinnacles, the 3 of us headed north to Hollister, west to 101, then back south to the KOA where the rally host was cooking dinner. A nice evening ensued, with other riders showing up and eating dinner around a fire.

The Saturday main group ride began after a campground breakfast of French Toast and Sausage. The group leaders set up a route out to the Pacific Coast, taking back roads through valleys and a planned stop for lunch. As with the previous morning, temperatures were a bit on the cool side, 50’s with some morning fog.

Now, getting a group of bikers to do anything in unison is akin to herding cats. None the less, we finally got going and did some riding. I confess to being part of the problem, as myself and another guy headed out to get supplies and fuel. We met the rest of the group on the way back to the KOA.

We stopped for lunch in the town of Cambria. It was a very pleasant stop, with good food at reasonable prices. Once everyone was full, we mounted up ant took off north along the coast, stopping for some group riding shots.

Eventually we headed back to the KOA for dinner. Larry and Kelli, the hosts, did an excellent job of preparing a meal of briskit and trimmings. Lots of talk, a few beers, some wine, and good company made for a very pleasant evening.

Sunday was departure day for some of the riders. Not me…I had planned to start back on Monday. As it was, a group of 5, including me, formed up to ride north, as the other 4 were heading that direction on their homeward routs. We got on the road after saying our goodbyes to the others, rode up Hwy 101, ate at a genuine Mexican restaurant (I still don’t know exactly what I had) and headed west. Turning north-west on G-16, we were riding through Carmel Valley.

This is a very nice bike ride. Carmel-by-the-sea is a high-bucks area, and I can see why. Beautiful old houses and ranches, flowers blooming everywhere, and picturesque fields and pastures abound. Eventually we arrived in Monterey Bay, and took in Fisherman’s Warf. After walking around and getting a souvenir for Pam (I had my orders!) it was time for me to head back to camp, and the others to continue their trips home.

I was able to come back on Hwy 1, the Pacific Coast Highway. Even better, the fog and cloudiness that had been with us for most of the day cleared out on this last leg. I was able to get some good bridge and landscape photos, and stopped at a look out point to watch the sun set over the ocean. It was a very nice way to wrap up the rally.

Monday morning I packed up and headed home. I stayed in Las Vegas that night, and arrived home at about 6:30 P.M. on Tuesday.

Over-all, I rode 2,920 miles. Of these, about 990 miles were “local” miles ridden after I arrived at the KOA and before I left to return home. Monterey Bay had the highest gas prices, about $4.60 per gallon for mid-grade, or about $4.50 for regular unleaded. Longest stretch is the home-to-Las Vegas segment, about 548 miles. However, the Barstow to Bakesfield link is probably the ugliest. Best stretch is through western Utah into the St. George area, as the elevation is high enough to be cooler, you can see some snow in the mountain peaks, and the valleys have enough water to stay green.

I do enjoy these outings, and look forward to planning next year’s trip.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Note on photos: This is a very limited selection. If you are interested in seeing more photos, including the people I rode with, see my CaliRally page. The link is on the Jerry’s Toys page, or you can click on view page.

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Click on an image to open a larger copy. You can also go forward and backward through the photos by clicking on the forward and back buttons on the larger images. To activate these arrows, move your cursor near the 11:00 or 1:00 positions on the photo.

AppleAttic Blog

Page 64 of 66

Land info – confusing?

Additional land info

Fall Colors and Land Hunt

Boreas Pass and Mountain Laurie

Land hunt #10 – long post with photos

Mountains and lily pads

Land Hunt: Recap and Update

Interlude

Jerry’s Durango Rally

California motorcycle rally

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