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Old 03-30-2012, 08:06 AM
 
1,316 posts, read 1,439,827 times
Reputation: 1940

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Quote:
Originally Posted by calm1incBlanca View Post
I have lived in my home on 13 acres of San Luis Valley Land since the summer of 2008. When this area was subdivided, they basically gridded 5 acre lots, with edges or corners varying a bit in size. I have a 235 ft well with incredibly good water-(-no mineral residue at all), have septic and electricity and a few outbuildings. I have never enjoyed living anyplace in my life the way I love living here. Yes, it gets cold--but no humidity to drive it into your bones. Yes it is windy in the spring, so I just avoid going out if too windy or too cold. Your house must be properly insulated, and you must enjoy being relatively alone.
Neighbors are helpful when needed, but we sort of all leave each other alone, and allow each person to have their individual lives. Sure, shopping is 20+ miles away, so I just usually plan to go once a week. To live here, you must be willing to adapt to what you initially see as 'inconveniences'. But then you go out and see a zillion beautiful stars, the twinkling milky way, and the moon shining on the mountain. We have had very little snow--if it snows, I take photos at 7AM, for the sun will come out and the snow will disappear by 2PM. So many sunny days, with clear, clear sky. It is dry, without humid heaviness. Clothes are hung out and smell wonderfully fresh. I now understand why people have summer homes in the mountains--no air conditioning needed and phenomenal peace in my daily life. (And I have not yet seen the temp go below -20--you just layer your apparel for increase or decrease in the temps of each day.) This area is not for everyone, see it before you purchase definitely, but imagine living in a place that makes you feel like a complete human individual.....
Sounds like you have a bird's nest on the ground....
How are communications? ( Internet, cell phone, land line).....What is available?
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Old 04-06-2012, 11:03 PM
 
2 posts, read 6,398 times
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hello everyone,
We have relatives in the Golden, Colorado area. I have been searching for land in the Rye and San Luis Valley areas. Do you have any suggestions, particulary regarding the latter? . I prefer at least 35 acres with land suitable for a small (800 square feet or under) house. I have looked for land in Michigan and am familiar with the many hazards that wait for the unwary. Any advice is appreciated.
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Old 04-07-2012, 08:18 PM
 
Location: OKLAHOMA
1,789 posts, read 4,320,239 times
Reputation: 1032
There is a blogger I follow that lives on one of the ranches there at 9700 feet McElmurray's Mountain Retreat which is a neat blog. Mother Earth has them listed in their magazine too. Anyway they are located in a gated community there. There are communities there that are 35 acres too.

I've been looking more towards Trinidad
but I do like Fort Garland area.
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Old 04-13-2012, 09:05 AM
 
3 posts, read 13,080 times
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Reply CHAFFEETREKKER--
I have high speed fiberoptic internet, land line and a cell phone. AT&T and Verizon service the area, but as a retiree, I prefer just a Tracfone as rarely use unless traveling. Service for all is good, rates reasonable.
Satellite, Direct, and Dish readily available, but I have an antenna that draws in all the national channels very clearly, and don't spend much time watching tv. I live three miles from southern base of Mt. Blanca, so my station are mostly out of Albuquerque.
And as odd as it may sound to some, before purchasing you may want to check out a professional dowser before buying or drilling for water. e.g.DowserDan.com.
And do make sure you visit first, this land lacks the high level of activity city-dwellers are so used to
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Old 04-13-2012, 03:36 PM
 
3,105 posts, read 3,806,027 times
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Water witching/Dowse-ring from Wikipedia.

Quote:
More recently a study[29] was undertaken in Kassel, Germany, under the direction of the Gesellschaft zur Wissenschaftlichen Untersuchung von Parawissenschaften (GWUP) [Society for the Scientific Investigation of the Parasciences]. The three-day test of some 30 dowsers involved plastic pipes through which water flow could be controlled and directed. The pipes were buried 50 centimeters under a level field, the position of each marked on the surface with a colored strip. The dowsers had to tell whether water was running through each pipe. All the dowsers signed a statement agreeing this was a fair test of their abilities and that they expected a 100 percent success rate, however the results were no better than chance.
Dowsing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Old 05-05-2012, 09:53 PM
 
Location: Ft Garland, Co
62 posts, read 249,833 times
Reputation: 44
Quote:
Originally Posted by ck5 View Post
jazz lover try living in Montana......there is no way southern colorado is colder than the northern rockies...i've contacted the County and frost depth is 36inches...i think you might be a big embellisher with your dramatic stories of 6ft. frost depth. Checking the weather patterns the last ten years on gov'tweather.com....i have not seen one day at -40.....why dont you just be honest with people and stop exaggerating
While jazzlover and I have agreed to disagree on certain issues he is quite right on many points. Its not a matter weather you're in the northern Rockies or the southern Rockies. You have to consider the lay of the land where the valley is located. It will not draw any warm southern air at all in the winter and very little in the summer, it can't.

I was stationed on the Cornish coast of England twice where our wind chill would reach -40 no problem and with a sea breeze. I was also stationed on Okinawa in Japan and then 2 years in Barrows Alaska. I am currently in Ohio and I hate summer period. The frost line is deep in the Valley but I agree 6' sounds a bit ambitious to me as well. The winters are a bit longer than it is in most of the US simply because it is at 7500 to 8500 feet and surrounded by mountains in every direction.

The San Luis Valley is not suited for everyone who comes along but there are those of us who love it and can adapt to it. I agree that one should consider the purchase of land there very carefully but if you but and don't like it, don't continue to pay taxes on land you don't want, just sign your deed over to me and I'll be happy to pay the taxes, lol.
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Old 05-05-2012, 10:11 PM
 
Location: Ft Garland, Co
62 posts, read 249,833 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PcolaFLGuy View Post
What kind of critters live in that sagebrush?

For a 'city boy' would this property be cool for someone wanting to recreation/bug-out? RV, camping, etc. mostly during the summer.
Answer to your question in a single word, NO. If you can not imagine what kind of critters would occupy a vacant dwelling there this would not be the place for you. Also, not so much the critters would be the problem. If you build and then leave it unoccupied you can rest assured it will be vandalized.
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Old 05-06-2012, 07:21 AM
 
Location: OKLAHOMA
1,789 posts, read 4,320,239 times
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Is vandalizing a big problem in Fort Garland area or just in these ranch areas? A few of these ranch subdivisions have gated access. Are they being vandalized too. What about full time residents? I am not a fool about that stuff, I live on a cattle ranch in Eastern OK in a rather rural area and there is stealing going on all the time. I think because of meth. Is meth a problem in the San Luis area?
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Old 05-07-2012, 12:24 AM
 
Location: Ft Garland, Co
62 posts, read 249,833 times
Reputation: 44
Quote:
Originally Posted by debbie at bouontiful View Post
Is vandalizing a big problem in Fort Garland area or just in these ranch areas? A few of these ranch subdivisions have gated access. Are they being vandalized too. What about full time residents? I am not a fool about that stuff, I live on a cattle ranch in Eastern OK in a rather rural area and there is stealing going on all the time. I think because of meth. Is meth a problem in the San Luis area?
Yes, vandalism is an issue even in the gated communities though not as much so as in the ranches. I would imagine there would also be in the towns but not in the full time occupied properties. The break in's are not so much drug related as you seem to be thinking but rather due to this being the poorest county in the state. Much of the stolen property can be found in area flea markets and auctions. Out in the ranches thieves can have day's to break into even the most secured properties since a sheriff deputy may not be seen on any given road for months at a time. My suggestion would be if you're not planning to be there full time furnish to the minimum and place your property in a gated storage facility in town and just leave the door unlocked to reduce damage. I hope I have answered your question sufficiently and been of some help.
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Old 03-14-2013, 06:06 AM
 
9 posts, read 45,532 times
Reputation: 10
Default We Bought a Piece of Dirt

We searched for the perfect parcel in the San Luis Valley Ranches for about 6 months before we found what we thought was the perfect spot for us. It is a beautiful parcel, grassy and wildflowers. The road needs to be re-graded. But the county can't find the road, even though it shows up on their map and we drove halfway down it and can find it on Google Earth. Sent them screen shots from their own GPS site and Google Earth along with the parcel number, road and the unit, block and lot number. We have contacted two separate departments after the first department told us the spot is marshland and they would have to rebuild the road. Passed it onto another department and it has been over two months since we have heard from anyone. We did go through a realtor, not blaming the realtor. We should have done further due diligence on our own before we bought it. Now we are very sorry to be stuck with a piece of beautiful dirt with an incredible view of Mount Blanca. So now we are stuck with re-listing it and hoping to unload it on someone else. Had a lot of plans for that parcel. But for now all we will be doing is throwing more money out the window paying taxes on something we can do nothing with. All I can say is do your homework before getting suckered into buying land in SLVR.
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