Truths & Misconceptons

Since moving to this quaint and quirky little mountain town, I have had many questions and  comments about various aspects of this area. Comments like, "Oh. You have electricity." or "You don't get mail delivered to your house?"

Cripple Creek seen from the overlook near Tenderfoot Pass

This post and several in the coming weeks will be written to enlighten people - especially those living in cities - about life in this small rural mountain town.

Electricity - Yes. We have electricity. In fact, Cripple Creek has had electric power since 1897.
Water - Yes. We have municipal water. Just like the majority of the people who are reading this. And yes, we have indoor bathrooms. Though the last outhouse was in use until the mid 1980's.
Internet - While we do have internet capabilities, they are not high speed. My internet arrives via a satellite dish.
TV - If a person would like a variety of channels (we only get two channels via an antenna), then a satellite dish is necessary.
Mail & Packages - Even though this is a municipality, we do not have residential mail delivery. A post office box must be secured to receive mail via the postal service.  (this has been one of the hardest things for people to wrap their heads around... go figure...)  Fedex and UPS do deliver here.
Streets - The majority of the streets in Cripple Creek are paved. But there are only two paved streets in the neighboring town of Victor. In order to pave streets, a city must have funds to do so. Victor does not have the funding nor the population to provide funds to pave streets. Victor has a population of 403 people. Cripple Creek has  a population of 1,175 people. Both of those figures were per the 2016 census.  

Weather - Even though we are located at an elevation of over 9400ft, the weather here is more temperate than most people think. Most of the weather systems arrive from the south and this brings us warmer, wetter weather than most places in the high mountains. We do get a lot of fog though. That's not to say that Cripple Creek doesn't get its fair share of snow and nasty weather. But those times usually occur in the Spring months.
Casinos - Yes, Cripple Creek does have legal gambling with numerous casinos located on the main road in town. No, this is not like Las Vegas. Victor does not have gambling. More on this later.
Gold Mine - Both Cripple Creek and Victor are located in an active mining area. This means that the landscape is subject to change. More in another post.

Stores - We have one convenience store, two gas stations, a hardware/lumber store, a medical clinic, a nursing home and a small grocery store here. Oh, and a Family Dollar store. There are several small touristy shops found here in Cripple Creek as well. The grocery store, while it is small, has everything that would be needed and the prices are really comparable to stores in the closest 'big city' of Woodland Park. I make a once a week trip to Woodland Park for groceries. There is also a library and school located here.
Commuters - Yes. Hubby is still working in Colorado Springs. There are quite a few people who commute from up here to Colorado Springs to work. He drives 48 miles into work and crosses two mountain passes. Less miles than many people elsewhere drive to work. It takes him less time than people commuting from the south side to the north side of Colorado Springs to go to work. He enjoys his drive - he says it gives him time to decompress from work and this is the type of traffic congestion he has now. 

Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep

If I have forgotten to address a topic, leave me a message in the comments or ship me an email! I will be expanding on many of these topics in the next few weeks. The first topic will be the gold mine. So stay tuned. Don't touch that dial!

Chemtrails, Climate Change, & Chipmunks

Wait... WHAT?!?

You're probably wondering what that title has to do with our journey West to our new home. Please read further....

I've written before about Chemtrails. They are a very controversial subject. Either a person believes or they don't.  Are Chemtrails to blame for the intense weather we have now? Or is it the pollution? For whatever the reason, everyone will readily admit that the Earth's climate is changing. And it is not always changing for the better.

It was a rainy summer here in the mountains of Colorado. Shortly after receiving the news of the sale of the rental, torrential rains began occurring almost weekly. After the first torrential rainstorm, we went to our property to assess what it would take to complete the small cabin and deck for the tipi. We were flabbergasted to find that there had been a flash flood go down our little valley.  This was going to be the first of at least three flash floods which roared down our valley.

Logs, debris, & remainder of building materials near trailer 

We found logs and other debris washed up very close to the little trailer (right up to the concrete steps!) we had parked on the road side of the creek. This tangled mess of flotsam had been washed over our driveway! The driveway is about 8ft - 10ft above the creek! Our minds could not wrap around the amount of water it would have taken to float this mess that high. We were amazed, dumb-founded, and disheartened. Our driveway integrity had been compromised.

Sand & gravel deposited over bushes by stream

The concrete bench I made and had placed near the creek was found about 100 yards downstream. The bench weighs in excess of 200 pounds! The pile of building materials we had accumulated was now scattered from our place to almost a quarter mile downstream. There are still things I have not found, nor will I. They are probably buried beneath a mound of gravel or mud. 

A lot of work is now required to not only clean up the various wood piles which litter the landscape but our driveway is going to have to be rebuilt. We had planned on doing that, but not for some time. And now with winter knocking on our door, the first snows to the mountains came in early August this year - though the snow did melt within a day, we weren't prepared in tackling the necessary construction in such a hurried manner.

4ft tall bushes flattened by the water & debris

So, our plans to stay in the tipi were put on hold and we went house hunting. Our plan has been modified. We are still going to make improvements on our cabin to make it habitable year round and we will build a deck for the tipi. But as far as living there, it will be our retirement years before we make that move.

What about the chipmunks you ask? The population has drastically deceased. The extreme rains flooded there burrows and either forced them to move or led to their demise. There are still some of the cute little guys scurrying about, just not as many. But chipmunks are like rabbits, they repopulate quickly.