The Uncorked Mountain Wine Festival at Keystone, Colo features delicious wines, award winning jazz, and a juried fine art show in River Run.
Photo credit: reid.neureiter on Best Running / CC BY-NC-SA
Mountain Operations: Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Heavenly and which includes lift ticket, ski & snowboard school, dining, retail and rental businesses
Photo credit: reid.neureiter on Best Running / CC BY-NC-SA
Nor Am Cup Giant Slalom Season
GIANT SLALOM.Colorado. Keystone Travis Ganong wrote the following column Nov. 25 while waiting for his delayed flight to Colorado for the opening race of the Nor Am Cup season – a giant slalom at Keystone Resort on Monday.
Tree Hugging Know Your Limits
Collision ABC Correspondent John McWethy
TREE COLLISION.Colorado. Keystone. A coroner says the skier who died after hitting a tree at Keystone Ski ResortWednesday morning was former ABC correspondent John McWethy.
Vail Resorts Redevelopment Proposals
Redevelopment Of The Mountain House Base Area
Photo credit: reid.neureiter on Best Running / CC BY-NC-SA
If you’re not moving forward, you’re going backwards” Building heights, employee housing and parking were listed as key issues during a recent review of a Vail Resorts proposal to redevelop the Mountain House base area at Keystone.
State-of-the-Art Amenities
World-Class Motorcycling Destinations
Located approximately 90 minutes west of Denver, Keystone’s state-of-the-art amenities and infrastructure, as well as its proximity to world-class motorcycling destinations within Colorado’s Rocky Mountain …
Spring 2008
Sustainable Commitments
100% Certified Organic Starbucks Coffee And Fair-Trade Espresso
MOUNTAINS. Colorado. Vail. Vail Resorts is expanding that commitment, by pledging to only serve 100 percent Certified Organic Starbucks coffee and Fair-Trade espresso and to eliminate the use of all artificial Trans Fat at its 90 dining facilities at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Heavenly, eight RockResort properties and at the Company’s other restaurants beginning with the 2008-2009 ski season.
Fire Threat Removals
Photo credit: elgringospain on Best Running / CC BY-NC-ND
Western Slope Beetle-Killed Trees Removal
Gov. Bill Ritter signed a half-dozen forest-health bills into law at Keystone Wednesday to help communities on the Western Slope remove beetle-killed trees that pose a fire threat to neighborhoods, water ..
Keystone Leadership Conference
Annual Leadership Conference
GOALS Move the annual Leadership Conference from February back to August, to more
Summer 2008
35-acre Fishhook Parcel
Scenic Access Snake River near Summit Cove
Hikers and anglers will have access to a scenic section of the Snake River near Summit Cove under a new management plan for the 35-acre Fishhook parcel.
Photo: Visual Hunt
Jazz, Art and Tastings
The Uncorked Mountain Wine Festival
The Uncorked Mountain Wine Festival at Keystone, Colo is August 22-24 and features delicious wines, award winning jazz, and a juried fine art show in River Run.
Annual Sign-Ons
SingleSign-On and The OpenSSO Team
The OpenSSO team are in Keystone, CO this week for the first annual SingleSign-On Summit.
Leader and Speaker Series
Emerging Summit County Leaders
Photo: Visual Hunt
Leadership Summit is a nine-month adult-leadership training program offered through The Keystone Center that equips emerging Summit County leaders with the skills and relationships necessary to lead …
Mountain Speaker Series
The Keystone Science School is starting a mountain speaker series in benefit of the Student Scholarship Fund.
Fall 2008
Vail Resorts in Colorado and California
The Ski Area Citizens’ Coalition. Vail Resorts. Colorado. California.
Average Resort Score: 50.4%
1 Heavenly Mountain Resort 51.3% (C)
2 Beaver Creek Resort 58.7% (C)
3 Breckenridge Ski Resort 36.1% (F)
4 Keystone Ski Resort 53.3% (C)
5 Vail Ski Resort 52.7% (C)
Vail Resorts
Photo credit: Thad Roan – Bridgepix on Best Running / CC BY
is a vertically integrated operation that controls many of the companies that service resort visitors in their respective markets. Its 3 primary operational units are the Mountain unit which owns and operates
Mountain Unit: Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Heavenly
Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Heavenly and which includes lift ticket, ski & snowboard school, dining, retail and rental businesses;
Vail Resorts Hospitality and Vail Resorts Development Company
Vail Resorts Hospitality which owns and/or manages a portfolio of luxury hotels under the RockResorts brand (which consists of 8 properties located in both ski and beach destinations and an additional 6 properties currently being developed, 7 hotels and condominiums located in proximity to the company’s ski resorts, 3 resorts at Grand Teton National Park and 6 golf courses); and Vail Resorts Development Company
Time to see for ourselves.
Soak up what the mountain resorts have to offer.
Relax.
And, get answers to our questions.
What’s been going on?
Steps:
25) Compare what “life” was like in those communities before the Great Recession, how resilient each was during the economic downturn, and to what degree did each bounce back after with any “economic hangover.”
28) Which lifestyles profiled in the western resort towns during 2008 – 2009 remained five years later in 2013-2014? Which disappeared entirely? Why? Which new lifestyles emerged, grew or moved in to shift the neighborhood mix? Have longtime locals been forced out by escalating property
30) Review headlines and relevant news as far back as you can find online to surface each community’s unique pulse and identify information necessary to make your decision. Is there a “ticking time bomb” issue you may uncover that eliminates the resort from your bucket list? Search on topix.com.
An excerpt from Book Three in “The Knowledge Path Series” dedicated to helping you find the place of your dreams.
5-Year Time Frames — 2003 – 2008
What about Frisco and Copper Mountain Resort?
Comparing lifestyle changes over the next five year period, what happened?
Shouldn’t you expect a similar abrupt change in community neighborhoods?
Source: Google Maps
First of all the Dillon Reservoir separates Dillon and Frisco by 6 miles and the route takes under 15 minutes to drive.
But the distance between Breckenridge and Copper Mountain resorts, 21 miles by car on 1-70 and CO 9, may take 30 to 40 minutes depending on traffic and road conditions.
Getting there takes time, but if you could travel as a crow flies, you’d soon discover their ski runs share opposite sides of mountain peaksfairly close together.
I-70 delivers you within minutes of Copper’s entrance.
Will that fact make a difference over the ensuing five years?
Not only that, unlike Breckenridge, two community neighbors with four core lifestyles did not change.
Why?
Or why not?
Did the Great Recession treat the mountain communities differently?
Highlights and Headlines.
Winter 2007 – 2008
Arresting Development Copper Style
Photo: Visual Hunt
Snowball Trial
SNOWBALL. FIGHT. ARREST.Colorado. Copper Mountain. A seasonal worker from Australia is scheduled to go on trial Thursday for allegedly injuring an acquaintance when he launched a snowball at her last season at Copper Mountain.
High Alpine Bowls, Not Enough?
Backside Of The Mountain Preserved For Wildlife
MOUNTAINS.WILDLIFE.Colorado.Copper Mountain Resort has begun to open portions of their high alpine bowls on the backside of the mountain preserved for wildlife.
Environmental Report Card vs. Development
Photo: Pixabay
Copper and Breck on Bottom of Environmental Report
Top 10 ski resort scores, by score 1. Aspen Mountain Ski Resort – Colo. A 88.9 2. Buttermilk Mountain Ski Resort – Colo.
IntraWest owns Whistler, Copper and Steamboat.
MOUNTAINS. VAIL RESORTS. INTRAWEST. Colorado. Vail.Bill Jensen, the top executive at Vail Mountain and president of its mountain division, is leaving Vail Resorts to work for rival ski company Intrawest that owns Whistler, Copper and Steamboat.
Base Area Redevelopment Plan
Density, parking and transportation will be some of the key topics as the Board of County Commissioners starts to scrutinize Copper Mountain Resort’s latest base area redevelopment plan at a 1:30 p.m. work …
10-Story Hotel
Copper Mountain’s proposal to concentrate density in the core of the resort includes preliminary plans for a 10-story hotel on the site of the existing Chapel parking …
Leadville to Minturn
Photo: Visual Hunt
Interstate 70 Is Closed At MM 195
Westbound Interstate 70 is closed at MM 195 due to multiple accidents. An alternate route is to use Highway 91 from Copper Mountain to Leadville and then take Highway 24 to Minturn.
Leapers and Super Pipes
Photo: Visual Hunt
Main Vein Super Pipe
Copper Mountain’s Main Vein Super pipe will be closed Monday, Feb. 25, re-opening Friday, Feb.
Leap Day Take The Day Off And Ski And Ride Day
Today, leap day, Copper Mountain Resort is holding their first annual National take the day off and ski and ride day or N.T.T.D.O.A.S.A.R.D. Leapers get to ski for free, while everyone else just gets to play
Summit County Community
Summit High School Alpine Team
Coach Tory Hauser was pleased with the Summit High School alpine team’s performance in Friday’s giant slalom at Copper Mountain, even though the Tigers were unable to top the podium.
Fundraising For Summit Community Care Clinic
Summit Community Care Clinic will be holding its first ever major fundraising event on March 8 from 6:30-9 p.m. at the Copper Mountain Conference Center.
Spring 2008
Season Passes Lowest Possible Prices
Season passes for three of Colorado’s favorite resorts –
” Winter Park, Copper Mountain and Steamboat, all of which have enjoyed incredible snow this season – ” are available for the lowest possible prices …
Not counting bicycling accidents, snowboarding injuries accounted for a quarter of all emergency-room visits related to outdoor sports injuries in 2005-2005, according to a new federal report.
What’s Right Around the Corner?
Summer Music Acts, Cycling, And Running Events
Copper’s Summer schedule features national music acts, cycling, and running events.
Summer 2008
Run the Rockies
Colorado. Copper Mountain.Frisco.
Photo: Visual Hunt
Johannes Rudolph celebrated his 43rd anniversary of being alive by winning Run the Rockies Saturday in Frisco with a time of 1 …
Half-Marathon Is 75 Percent Downhill
COLORADO. MOUNTAINS. SKI-TOWNS.Colorado. Copper Mountain. The half-marathon is 75 percent downhill and the Tenmile Creek is 100 percent downhill.
Just Like That
Surprise Road Closure
Denver Water closed our road without communicating with anyone in Summit County, the towns of Breckenridge, Frisco, Silverthorne, Dillon, Montezuma and the Keystone community.
Cross Promotion Beery Good
Promotional Use Of The Resorts’ Logos By MillerCoors
MillerCoors LLC has reached a joint marketing deal with Colorado’s Copper Mountain and Winter Park ski resorts that includes event sponsorship and promotional use of the resorts’ logos by the brewer.
Master Plan Development
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Copper Mountain’s Development Proposal
Tenmile Planning Commission hearings on Copper Mountain’s development proposal When: Wednesday and Thursday, 5:30 p.m. Where: Ptarmigan Room, Copper Mountain Conference Center.
Master Plan With 600 New Residential Units
The Tenmile Planning Commission gave Copper Mountain Resort the green light to build nearly 600 new residential units under a reconfigured master plan.
Fall 2008
What About Jobs?
Local Job Fair
The Frisco Workforce Center and the Town of Silverthorne will host a free job fair this Thursday from noon to 5 p.m. ‘We had a steady group of …
Reduce and Realign
Photo: Visual Hunt
Intrawest Will ‘Reduce And Realign’ Its Workforce
MOUNTAINS.Colorado. Copper Mountain. Intrawest announced Wednesday that it will ‘reduce and realign’ its workforce, but the Canadian-based resort company did not specify if any of the cuts would be felt at Copper Mountain.
Intrawest – Think Global, Act Local
10 Ski Resorts In Canada And The United States
Intrawest owns or manages 10 ski resorts in Canada and the United States, 16 resorts and “villages” in Canada, the United States and France and both Canadian Mountain Holidays Heli Skiing and Whistler Heli Skiing.
Solitude, Squaw Valley, Mammoth Keystone, Copper and Winter Park
Intrawest is best known as the developer of mountain villages in Whistler BC, Panorama BC, Blue Mountain ON, Mt. Tremblant QC, Stratton VT, Mountain Creek NJ, Snowshoe WV, Solitude UT, Squaw Valley CA, Mammoth Lakes CA, Keystone CO, Copper Mountain CO, Winter Park CO and Arc 1950 France.
Developing Or Re-Developing “Villages” June Lake And Steamboat Springs
Intrawest is also currently developing or re-developing “villages” at June Lake CA, Steamboat Springs CO
Mountain Resorts By The Numbers
The Ski Area Citizens’ Coalition Rates 53 Of The 83 Resorts
MOUNTAINS.SUSTAINABILITY SCORECARD.Colorado. Utah. The Ski Area Citizens’ Coalition says that region-wide, 53 of the 83 resorts it reviewed this year boosted their scores, but seven received failing grades.
Colorado Copper Mountain’s “F,” Expansion And Real Estate Development
The resort with the lowest score was Colorado’s Copper Mountain, which ranked at 31.9 points for an “F,” the coalition said. Copper Mountain’s score was almost entirely due to an expansion of terrain and real estate development, coalition research director Hunter Sykes said.
Colorado’s “A” Aspen Mountain to “F” Copper Mountain
# Name Grade
1 (A) Aspen Mountain Ski Resort 85.7%
20 (F) Copper Mountain Ski Resort 31.9%
The Ski Area Citizens’ Coalition. Intrawest Ski Areas
# Criteria Maximum Points Awarded Points
10 ski areas totaling 21,913 acres of skiable terrain.
# Name Grade
1 Copper Mountain Ski Resort 31.9% (F)
2 Steamboat Ski & Resort 61.1% (C)
3 Winter Park Resort 48.9% (D)
Winter 2008 – 2009
Just the Tip of the Iceberg
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Business Could Drop Between 5 And 15% This Season
The leadership of the Aspen Skiing Co. anticipates business could drop between 5 and 15 percent this season.
Practice, Practice, Practice
U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix
MOUNTAINS.SNOWBOARDING GRAND PRIX.Colorado. Copper Mountain. Halfpipe superstars from across the globe have descended upon Copper Mountain this week in preparation for the season’s first U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix coming up …
Part Three:
Steps:
25) Compare what “life” was like in those communities before the Great Recession, how resilient each was during the economic downturn, and to what degree did each bounce back after with any “economic hangover.”
28) Which lifestyles profiled in the western resort towns during 2008 – 2009 remained five years later in 2013-2014? Which disappeared entirely? Why? Which new lifestyles emerged, grew or moved in to shift the neighborhood mix? Have longtime locals been forced out by escalating property
30) Review headlines and relevant news as far back as you can find online to surface each community’s unique pulse and identify information necessary to make your decision. Is there a “ticking time bomb” issue you may uncover that eliminates the resort from your bucket list? Search on topix.com.
Then in June, management at Mammoth Mountain, the resort that dominates the town, trimmed staff, cut salaries and announced the shuttering of its June Mountain ski operation.
Photo: Visual Hunt
By the Winter of 2013 -2014 the first Premier Resort lifestyle segment flew into the scene –midlife families on the fast-track taking advantage of the real estate deals.
An excerpt from Book Five in “The Knowledge Path Series” dedicated to helping you find the place of your dreams in the Sierra Mountain resorts.
Before we get to the early snow, the new businesses, the zipping skiers and beaming boarders at Mammoth Lakes, let’s remember how bad things have been this year for this corner of the Eastern Sierra.
Photo: Stephen G. Howard
How bad was it?
Scant Snow In The 2011-12 Season Shuttering Of Its June Mountain
First, Mother Nature delivered scant snow in the 2011-12 season, driving tourism down just as the larger economy seemed to be recovering. Then in June, management at Mammoth Mountain, the resort that dominates the town, trimmed staff, cut salaries and announced the shuttering of its June Mountain ski operation — a painful blow to the tiny mountain community of June Lake, 20 miles north of Mammoth.
Photo: Visual Hunt
Financial Hardships
Mammoth Lakes Declared Bankruptcy
Oh, and in July the town of Mammoth Lakes declared bankruptcy after it lost a breach-of-contract lawsuit. Recovery, town officials said, would depend on layoffs, pay cuts and a plan to make debt payments of $2 million a year for 23 years.
June Lake Local Businesses Are Doing Without
These have been hard times, especially in June Lake, where local businesses are doing without their own ski mountain for the first time in decades.
Deals to bring skiers and boarders back for new season
Westin Monache Resort Mammoth
Westin Monache Resort Mammoth, 50 Hillside Drive, Mammoth Lakes; (760) 934-0400, http://www.westinmammoth.com. Some 230 rooms (all with kitchenettes) in contemporary style, with Whitebark restaurant downstairs. Winter rates $299-$599 for most rooms, more during peak time.
Photo: Visual Hunt
Village Lodge
Village Lodge, 1111 Forest Trail, Mammoth Lakes; (800) 626-6684, http://www.thevillagelodgemammoth.com. Vacation condos. Winter rates $289-$669 for a one-bedroom condo, plus $20-a-night resort fee.
Swiss Chalet Bed & Breakfast Inn
Swiss Chalet Bed & Breakfast Inn, 101 Hill Street, Mammoth Lakes; (760) 914-3452, http://www.swisschalet-mammoth.com. Opened this summer, the inn has two rooms with private baths in a modern log home with a spacious great room, picture windows and a deck with whirlpool. Winter rates typically $200-$275.
Mammoth Mountain Inn
Mammoth Mountain Inn, 10001 Minaret Road, Mammoth Lakes; (800) 626-6684, http://www.themammothmountaininn.com. A short walk from the lift lines, but gets mixed marks on TripAdvisor. Some 217 rooms. Winter rates $129-$398
Our second profile glance picked up some of changes to Mammoth’s community.
By Winter of 2013 -2014 the first Premier Resort lifestyle segment flew into the scene –midlife families on the fast-track taking advantage of the real estate deals.
Two of the WRMR – Maturing Resort – lifestyles, 55+ age Empty Nests and Mainstream Families depart.
But, another Mainstream Family, age 25-54, moves in.
In 2008 Mammoth said goodbye to the younger 20-29 Millennials.
Now, two Baby Boomer lifestyles fly away.
The first, 32F3T2 families, like in South Lake Tahoe, disappear from all the California, Nevada and Colorado mountain towns we visited.
Photo: Visual Hunt
But, the second, 28M2T2 Empty Nesters, show up in almost all of the those towns surrounding Lake Tahoe.
Like snow flurries that fall and don’t stick, at the end of the season in spring, Mammoth said hello and then goodbye to its only Premier Resort, Fast Track family lifestyle.
They, the 35-54 year old Young Accumulators (20F2T1), moved on to Olympic Valley – Squaw Valley.
Reading some of the 2013 headlines, in hindsight, you can notice some new opportunities and something positive was in the air.
Were things returning to normal?
Three seasons of highlights and headlines provide some clues.
Highlights and Headlines
5-Year Time Frames2009 — 2014
Spring 2013
Extending Spring Snow Conditions
Tons Of Snow And Will Be Open Through Memorial Day
Photo: Visual Hunt
But not to worry, the resort has tons of snow and will be open through Memorial Day; In the meantime, it’s using those balmy temperatures as part of this quirky lodging deal:
Thriving in Lifestyle Businesses
Howard Sheckter, The Weather Sage Of The Eastern Sierra
A hailstorm ignited Howard Sheckter’s obsession with the elements. For three decades, the real estate agent has doubled as the weather sage of the eastern Sierra.
Range in Temperatures
Daily High Temperature At Main Lodge
Officials said the daily high temperature is based on the high temperature at Main Lodge recorded on the ski patrol website. To book, go to mammothmountain.com/VacationPlanning/Deals/.
Deals and Incentives
Discounts For Two Or More Nights
If you stay two or more nights at Mammoth from Saturday to May 23, you will receive a nightly discount based on the high temperature for the previous day. That means if it’s 50 degrees, you’ll get a $100 discount upon checkout for your two-day stay.
Summer 2013
June Mountain Season Passes https://www.junemountain.com/winter/plan-a-vacation/plan-a-vacation/deals-packages
Open for Family Fun
Reopening Of June Mountain In Winter
This coming season also marks the reopening of June Mountain, the family friendly neighbor that closed last season. At Mammoth, meanwhile, Unbound Playgrounds and Adventure Zones, which offer a go-slow introduction to terrain parks for beginners and children, will have some additional interactive elements this winter.
Water Rights Settlement
LADWP Drops Two Lawsuits For $5.8 Million
In return for $5.8 million, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power drops two lawsuits. Each agrees not to challenge the other’s water rights.
Snowboarding Training and Contests
U.S. Olympians Training Ground
The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Assn. has chosen Mammoth Mountain as an official training ground for U.S. Olympians in freeskiing and snowboarding. Mammoth Mountain, celebrating its 60th season this year, will help them prepare for upcoming Winter games in Sochi, Russia, which start in early February.
Sprint U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix
Around since the late ’90s, freeskiing involves jumps and tricks on terrain park features usually reserved for snowboarders. Additionally, the 2014 snowboarding team for halfpipe will be announced at Mammoth during the final Sprint U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix Jan. 18 and 19.
Fall 2013
Fall Colors in Creeks and Canyons
Quick Trip To Mammoth For Brilliant Fall Colors
California: Near Mammoth, fall color starts to creep in. Don’t believe California has fall color? Neither did a Vermont friend, so I took her on a quick trip to Mammoth last year so she could see for herself. She was surprised.
Photo by Stephen G. Howard
Rock Creek May Be At Its Brilliant Best This Weekend
Timing and elevation are everything, of course, so if you’re planning a trip this year, know that colors are beginning to appear at higher elevations. In fact, Rock Creek may be at its brilliant best this weekend.
Lundy Canyon, Bishop Creek and Rock Creek Canyon
From our trip last year, here’s what we saw along with some early color reports from this month. Just north of Lee Vining is Lundy Canyon, identified by California’s Eastern Sierra Color Guide and Map as one of the best places to see color (we also chose Bishop Creek and Rock Creek Canyon).
Waterfalls And Trails, Vistas And Forests
None of the drives was more than about 40 minutes from Mammoth. Lundy Canyon and Lake is beautiful any time of year, with waterfalls and trails, vistas and forests, but fall is special.
Photo by Stephen G. Howard
Color Has Now Descended To The 7,000 Feet In Elevation
Color spotter Christie Osborne reports in CaliforniaFallColor.com that color has now descended to the 7,000 feet in elevation and is approaching full peak at Mammoth Lakes, five hours away from L.A.
60s Daytime Temps Nights In The 20s And 30s
Poimiroo says daytime temps have been in the 60s with no wind. Nights remain cool in the 20s and 30s, providing optimal conditions for fall colors to intensify. The canyon roads west of Mammoth are always aflame in October, and the June Lake Loop is a can’t-miss destination.
Deer Spotting
Feeding Deer at June Lake, Past Village, Down Along Silver Lake
Best June Lake stretch is just past the village and down along Silver Lake, where tunnels of aspen line the road and deer come out to feed just before dusk. Bring a book, a camera, a camp chair and something to sip. Leave the rest to Mother Nature.
Steps:
25) Compare what “life” was like in those communities before the Great Recession, how resilient each was during the economic downturn, and to what degree did each bounce back after with any “economic hangover.”
28) Which lifestyles profiled in the western resort towns during 2008 – 2009 remained five years later in 2013-2014? Which disappeared entirely? Why? Which new lifestyles emerged, grew or moved in to shift the neighborhood mix? Have longtime locals been forced out by escalating property
30) Review headlines and relevant news as far back as you can find online to surface each community’s unique pulse and identify information necessary to make your decision. Is there a “ticking time bomb” issue you may uncover that eliminates the resort from your bucket list? Search on topix.com.
On a more level terrain with more room and no hidden rocks, logs or deep trenches, we were able to take about a dozen small, tight back and forth turns to flip around and trace our path back.
Photo by Stephen G. Howard
To the very same turnouts we had originally declined for lack of snow on the way up.
We parked.
We hiked.
We snapped photos.
Photo by Stephen G. Howard
How could we not with such a panoramic view looking off in a distance from our gray dirt and blond foliage-lined plateau?
Across the tops of dark green pine trees on our side to the Mammoth mountain range covered in white gleaming snow.
Photo by Stephen G. Howard
Out in the open with darker whites and light blues reflecting the deep, high altitude blue sky, and black sprinkles in the canyons and shoots cascading from the crest.
Another overlooking the Mammoth power plant.
It looks like a rectangle box with two sets of three or four rows of power generating units bordering the length reflecting sunlight glare so they look round at their tops.
Photo by Stephen G. Howard
And metal roofed structures with pipes and tubes and other equipment connecting the two sets.
Finally, and the least expected – what’s left of a rusted brown, reddish Ford Model-T?
From a distance it looked like as if the tires and under carriage were buried up to the running board.
Photo by Stephen G. Howard
Only it sat on dirt, not deep piles of snow.
Up close you could see its wounds.
Torn limb from limb and dented and twisted.
For some reason there weren’t two of anything.
One door, the passenger.
One head lamp.
But, no engine block, hood or any sign of them.
Rusted steel violently fell close by.
How did it get there?
How long has it been there?
Was it pushed off some cliff?
Wait we’re not anywhere near a cliff.
And who shot it full of bullet holes?
Two years later during our next winter reunion a second mystery consumed me.
25) Compare what “life” was like in those communities before the Great Recession, how resilient each was during the economic downturn, and to what degree did each bounce back after with any “economic hangover.”
28) Which lifestyles profiled in the western resort towns during 2008 – 2009 remained five years later in 2013-2014? Which disappeared entirely? Why? Which new lifestyles emerged, grew or moved in to shift the neighborhood mix? Have longtime locals been forced out by escalating property
30) Review headlines and relevant news as far back as you can find online to surface each community’s unique pulse and identify information necessary to make your decision. Is there a “ticking time bomb” issue you may uncover that eliminates the resort from your bucket list? Search on topix.com.
We began coverage of Mammoth Lakes during the Summer of 2008.
Across mountain towns in California (Mammoth), Montana (Whitefish) and Colorado (Pagosa Springs, Durango and Silverton) the younger Distant Exurbans those 56Y3T4 Millennials disappeared.
An excerpt from Book Five in “The Knowledge Path Series” dedicated to helping you find the place of your dreams in the Sierra Mountain resorts.
Many tourists playing in the Eastern Sierra adventure communities may believe that Mammoth Lakes would be similar to Bishop.
Bishop’s Patchwork County (Inyo County) description after all is “Service Worker Centers.”
“Midsize and small towns with economies fueled by hotels, stores and restaurants and lower-than-average median household income by county.”
The more in-depth description provides clues.
“Some of the Service Worker Centers are small-town vacation communities along the coasts or near inland lakes that get a boost through tourism.
Residents make their money working at cafés, restaurants and curio shops, while the local governments draw revenue from hotel taxes.
Others are simply local commerce hubs for the scattered populations around them, places to buy necessities or do business with local government.
These are not places you go to do high-end shopping.
Bishop, California
The Service Worker Centers generally holds places with one main street or main intersection that is more designed around needs than wants – diners more than four-star restaurants.
There is a strain conservatism that runs through these counties, largely arising out of distrust of big city wealth and big government, but those conservative leanings do not have the same social conservative undertones to them.”
However, for Mono County, the Patchwork Nation Profile is “Immigration Nation”
“Communities with large Latino populations and lower-than-average incomes, typically clustered in the South and Southwest.”
The more in-depth description doesn’t seem to ring true, may be emerging or overlooked byvacationers like us.
“These places are not necessarily overwhelmingly or even majority Hispanic, rather they are places with large Hispanic populations where there tends to be a strong divide in the community between Hispanics and Anglos.
Immigration Nation counties often hold communities within communities – one where almost all business and conversation is done in English and one where Spanish dominates.
Walk or drive a few blocks and you might find not only different kinds of grocery stores and different languages are the registers, but different products on the shelves.
The different ethnicities and backgrounds of the people in these counties can cause increased tensions from both sides.
In some communities these tensions can lead to dysfunctional relationships and governance.”
With so much change at hand, we take three glances at the Mammoth Lakes profiles.
One during the summer of 2008 which serves as a baseline.
The second during one of our winter ski and snowboarding holiday trips at the end of 2013 and the beginning of 2014.
And the third eight years after Mammoth’s baseline during the summer of 2016.
Let’s start with the beginning baseline.
Profile At-A-Glance (Summer 2008)
Life Stages: Singles, Couples, Families, Baby Boomers, Empty Nests
Over the following five years the 20-29 Singles leave by the winter of 2013 – 2014 eliminating two segments of Wireless Resorter lifestyles – Resort Suburbans and Distant Exurbans.
The WRRS Resort Suburbans vacated rentals on the edge of town, while the WRDE Distant Exurbans moved away from their more rustic living digs.
Three long time neighborhood lifestyles commonly associated with Maturing Resort communities remained.
Older Mainstream Singles, Empty Nesters, and Mainstream Families.
Most likely those who could wait out the worst that 2009 to 2014 would bring.
While Mammoth, like Whitefish, Montana, said goodbye to the 42Y3T3, Striving Single, 20-29 year olds, the zip code surrounding Tahoe City and Sunnyside bordering Lake Tahoe said hello .
Such wasn’t the case for the second lifestyle.
The goodbyes to the 20-29 striving singles used to rustic living and lower incomes felt more permanent.
Winter Fun
Across mountain towns in California (Mammoth), Montana (Whitefish) and Colorado (Pagosa Springs, Durango and Silverton) the younger Distant Exurbans those 56Y3T4 Millennials disappeared.
They probably returned home as so many other Millennials did during the Great Recession.
NOTE: Don’t feel too bad for them. According to our 2016 update, they may be flocking back to Telluride, Colorado.
20) Pivot. Maybe the lists of best places don’t appeal to you. Where can you go to make a fresh, new start? Don’t limit your imagination. Think anywhere — across the globe. Where do you really, really want to live, work and play? Why not live where it’s a vacation all year round?
26) If you know the zip code you can discover the lifestyles living in the community. You can compare your profile with theirs to estimate your degree of fit.
27) Estimate how well suited you are for the resorts. Refer to “Profiles-at-a-Glance” comparing 2008-2009 and 2013-2014 for changes in Life Stages – Singles, Couples, Families, Midlife, Empty Nests, Baby Boomers and Seniors; Ages – 20-29, 25-54, 30-44, 45+ 45-65, 55+ and 65+; and mix of Lifestyles in neighborhoods. Does the resort still offer the age, life stage and lifestyle profiles you prefer?
28) Which lifestyles profiled in the western resort towns during 2008 – 2009 remained five years later in 2013-2014? Which disappeared entirely? Why? Which new lifestyles emerged, grew or moved in to shift the neighborhood mix? Have longtime locals been forced out by escalating property valuations and sky-high property taxes?
Having driven through Owens Valley on this trip we know it’s at the northern end of the valley.
And we know that the Sierra Nevada range is west while the White Mountains lie east of town.
Rock climbers gravitate to Bishop for the over 2,000 volcanic tuff and granite challenges.
Wikipedia fills in the main hiking and climbing attractions.
“Numerous peaks are within a short distance of Bishop, including Mount Humphreys (13,986 ft.), to the west, White Mountain Peak (14,242 ft.) in the northeast, and pyramidal Mount Tom (13,658 ft.) northwest of town.
Basin Mountain (13,187 ft.) is viewed to the west from Bishop as it rises above the Buttermilks.”
Bishop promotes itself “The Gateway to Eastern Sierras” and as the “Mule Capital of the World.”
For almost half a century Bishop Mule Days celebrate the contributions that pack mules made to settling the area every week leading up to Memorial Day.
“More than 700 mules compete in 181 events and the largest non-motorized parade in the United States.”
But, mules aren’t the only draw.
Tourists come for an arts and crafts show and a country and western concert.
And maybe, Bishop should celebrate cattle too.
First of all, the town’s named after a creek that’s named after Samuel Addison Bishop.
Was Sam the first to inhabit the northern Owens Valley location?
Bishop Paiute women’s Labor Day parade float, 1940
Here’s how Wikipedia sheds light on Bishop’s Native American heritage.
“The Bishop Paiute Tribe, formerly known as the Paiute-Shoshone Indians of the Bishop Community of the Bishop Colony is a federally recognized tribe of Mono and TimbishaIndians of the Owens Valley, in Inyo County of eastern California.”
As of the 2010 Census the population was 1,588.
More recently, the tribe counts 2000 enrolled tribal members making it the fifth largest in California.
Five elected members govern via a tribal council.
“The tribe has its own tribal court and many programs for its members.
For economic development, the Bishop Community created the Paiute Palace Casino and Tu-Kah Novie restaurant in Bishop.”
In the winter of 2013 the Los Angeles Times reported that stolen petroglyphs were recovered.
“Thieves stole from an Eastern Sierra site sacred to Native Americans about 15 miles north of Bishop.
Vandals used ladders, chisels and power saws connected to electric generators to remove the panels from cliffs know as the volcanic tableland.”
The sheered slabs measured 15 feet above ground and many were two feet high and wide.
“Native Americans had carved hundreds of lava boulders and cliffs with spiritual renderings: concentric circles, deer, rattlesnakes, bighorn sheep and hunters with bows and arrows”.
Covered by the Archaeological Resources Protection Act, the site supports sacred ceremonies local Paiute Native Americans, so …
“they are priceless to Native Americans, who regard the massive tableaux as a window into the souls of their ancestors.”
Who were the first non-Native Americans to roam the northern end of Owens Valley?
The Bishop visitor center named Kit Carson, Ed Kern and Richard Owens, as well as, Samuel Bishop as early explorers and settlers arriving in the middle 1800s.
Kit Carson had become a celebrated “Indian fighter” by then.
Carson, Kern and Owens mapped the Eastern Sierra territory.
Kern County and Owens Lake and Valley drew their names from Ed and Richard.
But, what about the core founding story of Bishop?
Ghost Town of Aurora, Nevada
Bishop came into being due to the need for beef in a booming mining camp some eighty miles to the north, Aurora, Nevada, (Aurora was believed to be on the California side of the border at that time and was the county seat of Mono County, California).
“In 1861 cattlemen drove herds of cattle some three hundred miles from the great San Joaquin Valley of California, through the southern Sierra at Walker Pass, up the Owens Valley, and then through Adobe Meadows to Aurora.”
When Bishop and his wife, and a few trail hands drove 600 cattle and 50 horses on that long journey from Fort Tejon in the Tehachapi Mountains into the valley they experience an epiphany.
Why not just settle there instead, raise the cattle and sell their beef to the miners and businesses selling to miners in Aurora?
The McGee brothers joined them as the first white settlers in the valley.
“Remnants of these early settler’s stone corrals and fences can still be seen north of Bishop along Highway 395 in Round Valley (barbed wire fencing was not invented until 1873).”
Enough of that.
What about present day?
What happened to the lifestyle that took flight?
The one BOF lifestyle to say goodbye to Bishop, said hello to three Colorado and three California mountain resort towns.
The 11Y1T1 30-44, Midlife Couples, ditched Bishop’s Wireless Resort, Maturing Resort community and possibly migrated to:
Mammoth Lakes, California
Truckee, California
Tahoe City – Sunnyside, California
Durango, Colorado
Telluride, Colorado or
Frisco – Copper Mountain, Colorado.
So keeping things local, let’s now turn to Mammoth.
Steps:
20) Pivot. Maybe the lists of best places don’t appeal to you. Where can you go to make a fresh, new start? Don’t limit your imagination. Think anywhere — across the globe. Where do you really, really want to live, work and play? Why not live where it’s a vacation all year round?
26) If you know the zip code you can discover the lifestyles living in the community. You can compare your profile with theirs to estimate your degree of fit.
27) Estimate how well suited you are for the resorts. Refer to “Profiles-at-a-Glance” comparing 2008-2009 and 2013-2014 for changes in Life Stages – Singles, Couples, Families, Midlife, Empty Nests, Baby Boomers and Seniors; Ages – 20-29, 25-54, 30-44, 45+ 45-65, 55+ and 65+; and mix of Lifestyles in neighborhoods. Does the resort still offer the age, life stage and lifestyle profiles you prefer?
28) Which lifestyles profiled in the western resort towns during 2008 – 2009 remained five years later in 2013-2014? Which disappeared entirely? Why? Which new lifestyles emerged, grew or moved in to shift the neighborhood mix? Have longtime locals been forced out by escalating property valuations and sky high property taxes?
And we narrowed the choices to the Rocky Mountain states, specifically Colorado, before visiting and sizing up towns in the Sierra Nevada mountain range.
For our Swall Meadows family, we honestly don’t know how the next chapter of their story unfolds.
Each neighbor faced gut wrenching choices.
Start over.
Fight.
Or flight.
But, to where?
Their lifestyle profile opens up their relocation options to the same communities we already profiled.
If they planned to rebuild (hopefully their financial planner made certain their fire insurance coverage was current) and needed to find a temporary home in the area, they probably chose either Bishop or Mammoth Lakes.
In both places they will find neighbors who fit their lifestyle and share their values.
Mammoth School District employed the husband as a math teacher.
Choosing Mammoth would certainly cut their commuting expenses, while like their other neighbors, they rebuild.
But, first the “from” before the “to”.
Choosing Bishop.
Location At-A-Glance
Region: Western United States
State: California
Travel Region: Sierra Nevada Region; Eastern Sierra
County: Inyo County,
Patchwork County: Service Worker Center
Town:Bishop, Swall Meadows
Population Density: Town and Country
Zip Codes: 93514
Profile At-A-Glance (Summer 2010)
Life Stages: Singles, Couples, Empty Nests, Baby Boomers
57M4T4,Old Milltowns, 65+, Sustaining Seniors, Rustic Living
Service Worker Centers
Midsize and small towns with economies fueled by hotels, stores and restaurants and lower-than-average median household income by county.
By the winter of 2016 one High Country Eagle lifestyle, the Rustic Eagle 57M4T4 joined Bishop’s zip code.
The rustic living, sustaining senior citizen lifestyle joined another newcomer, the 43Y3T3 55+ Baby Boomer, cautious couples.
In 2016 Bishop included lifestyles from all four Wireless Resorter communities – Premier Resorts, Maturing Resorts, Resort Suburbans (with the 43M3T3 newcomers) and Distant Exurbans — and the first High Country Eagle lifestyle (57M4T40).
What else should we consider about Bishop, according toWikipedia?
The population was 3,879 at the 2010 census, up from 3,575 at the 2000 census. (304 more over 10 years)
To that the Bishop visitor center adds
The “greater Bishop area,” which includes unincorporated nearby neighborhoods such as West Bishop, Meadow Creek-Dixon Lane, Wilkerson Ranch, Rocking K, Mustang Mesa and Round Valley includes an additional 11,000 residents.
Bishop is a welcomed retreat with much (much) warmer weather than Mammoth.
With 5.18″ average yearly precipitation and only 6 inches of snow, Bishop makes the perfect combo vacation – ski, golf, fish and bike year-round.
20) Pivot. Maybe the lists of best places don’t appeal to you. Where can you go to make a fresh, new start? Don’t limit your imagination. Think anywhere — across the globe. Where do you really, really want to live, work and play? Why not live where it’s a vacation all year round?
26) If you know the zip code you can discover the lifestyles living in the community. You can compare your profile with theirs to estimate your degree of fit.
27) Estimate how well suited you are for the resorts. Refer to “Profiles-at-a-Glance” comparing 2008-2009 and 2013-2014 for changes in Life Stages – Singles, Couples, Families, Midlife, Empty Nests, Baby Boomers and Seniors; Ages – 20-29, 25-54, 30-44, 45+ 45-65, 55+ and 65+; and mix of Lifestyles in neighborhoods. Does the resort still offer the age, life stage and lifestyle profiles you prefer?
28) Which lifestyles profiled in the western resort towns during 2008 – 2009 remained five years later in 2013-2014? Which disappeared entirely? Why? Which new lifestyles emerged, grew or moved in to shift the neighborhood mix? Have longtime locals been forced out by escalating property valuations and sky high property taxes?
“We all have our moments when we wonder what the hell we’re doing, why we’re doing it, why we’re doing it here … and then something like this happens and it all becomes perfectly clear.“
Eluding Sheriff Deputies like a kid soaping neighbors’ windows on Halloween she sneaks her way closer to her home.
If they have an online version, I can follow my own “Step” and update Mammoth profiled in The Knowledge Path series:
25) Compare what “life” was like in those communities before the Great Recession, how resilient each was during the economic downturn, and to what degree did each bounce back after with any “economic hangover.”
It made it easy for finding out the back story you almost always miss in extended weekend visits or vacations chock full of Easter Sierra outdoor adventures.
Or …
30) Review headlines and relevant news as far back as you can find online to surface each community’s unique pulse and identify information necessary to make your decision. Is there a “ticking time bomb” issue you may uncover that eliminates the resort from your bucket list? Search on topix.com.
Let’s see.
I discovered as publisher and editor Jack “writes a lot of page two’s.”
And, they’ve got a Facebook Page in addition to their website.
That’s where I noticed yet another coincidence.
Comments. “Thank you for writing this. I was hoping you would write about your experience, and you didn’t disappoint. Great read. And … sorry about your house.
Today Jean told me about the fire. You know I had to see what you had written in The Sheet. You didn’t disappoint. Glad to read everyone made it out ok. Now I’ll keep you in my prayers that everything goes according to your wishes.
I am curious will you rebuild? Mother nature may take ten years to rebuild the beauty that once was Swall Meadows. Then again the beauty in Swall is more then just the trees. God Bless you all.”
And that’s what I’ve been curious about, too.
Like randomly trying to solve a cold case after all these years.
Most of you know that mine was among the many homes burned to the ground in the Round Fire.”
How can you not learn a lot about surviving from such a horrendous ordeal?
Jack realized something was up, something way out of the ordinary when he and his two-year old ran into a road block near Tom’s place on Lower Rock Creek Road.
The Swall Meadows mandatory evacuation.
He can’t get through on his cell to his wife still in Mammoth at Snowcreek.
Lunch. “So I drive back to get her.
One of us needs to rescue our animals (three dogs, a cat and two goats).
And I know my wife well enough to know she’s gonna make it happen, evacuation order be damned.
She drives down like a bat out of hell to Tom’s Place – well, as much as one can be a bat out of hell in a Honda Element.”
There’s a secret route known only to locals, the forest service access road down the hill.
Lunch. “It’s bumpy and rutted and thank God she’s got all-wheel drive and pretty good clearance.
Her cellphone is dying.
It’s getting darker.”
Eluding Sheriff Deputies like a kid soaping neighbors’ windows on Halloween she sneaks her way closer to her home.
Lunch. “The Sheriff’s Deputy sees her and lights up his siren – bloop bloop.
He yells something to her she can’t understand.
She replies with “I know, I know.” He tells her to “come here.” She yells
“No way!” and takes off running.
He’s got to drive down and around.
In that time other units are mobilized as well.”
Stealthily she ditches the authorities.
She finds her neighbors figuring out how to scoop up and save their livestock too.
Her luck changes.
Busted.
But, his wife explains how now she’ll load up the animals and evacuate.
Lunch. “My wife tells him, ‘I don’t know the law. I do know I’ve got about 15 more minutes of light.’
She tells him she’s going to load up the animals and go.
At this point, he softens a bit and asks what he can do to help.
She tells him to come back in ten minutes.
By that time, she’ll be ready and will need some muscle to lift our large-ish pregnant goat into the back.”
But, things turn ugly in a flash.
It couldn’t get worse for her in the moment of crisis.
The first sheriff’s deputy she outsmarted appears with only one intention.
And that wasn’t to volunteer to help her.
Lunch. “He keeps asking for her I.D. and she keeps telling him to wait.
Finally, he tells her to turn around and put her hands behind her back.”
But to arrest her.
She manages to escape once more into the sanctuary of her home and locks the deputy out.
Lunch. “Law enforcement had no choice but to leave.
The neighbors came running over right after (Brian and Janet, heroes both) and it took the three of them to get the pregnant goat inside.”
“My takeaway from this event is not in mourning all the relics of my past that have burned up, but in celebrating the present and future of the land and the people whom I love so much.“
31) Do your due diligence so you don’t regret your decision after it is too late. If you plan to move, invest in real estate, work, start a business or retire affordably, you are making a longer-term commitment. Drill down with city-data.com.
And, in this case, nose around a little more until you find Jack’s accounting of the hidden costs for clean up not covered by fire insurance policies.
Lunch. “That was the final tabulation of what it cost to clean up my property, burned in the Round Fire in Swall Meadows.
Others have received similar bills.
What was initially estimated as a $2.2 or $2.3 million project was ultimately a more than $5 million project.
To put this in perspective, when I was debating whether or not to sign up for the state-contracted cleanup, my friendly insurance adjuster recommended I shouldn’t, citing an estimate he received from a Bishop-based contractor who said he could clean up my lot for $15,000.
That’s a pretty serious discrepancy.
Or consider this. I sold the lot two months ago for $115,000.
I just received a letter from the Mono County Assessor, who, citing the fact that the fire-ravaged lots all now have a clean bill of health, recently restored my former lot to its pre-fire valuation of $125,000 – still well below cleanup cost.
According to the terms of my insurance policy, Farmers will cover $20,000 of the cleanup, leaving $121,000-plus to be footed by my fellow citizens of the State of California.”
Steps:
25) Compare what “life” was like in those communities before the Great Recession, how resilient each was during the economic downturn, and to what degree did each bounce back after with any “economic hangover.”
30) Review headlines and relevant news as far back as you can find online to surface each community’s unique pulse and identify information necessary to make your decision. Is there a “ticking time bomb” issue you may uncover that eliminates the resort from your bucket list? Search on topix.com.
31) Do your due diligence so you don’t regret your decision after it is too late. If you plan to move, invest in real estate, work, start a business or retire affordably, you are making a longer-term commitment. Drill down with city-data.com.
32) Plan extended seasonal vacations during summer and winter months. Group destination locations together in regional trips to explore what several bucket list towns have to offer in the general vicinity – with only a week or two vacation time to spend, we recommend organizing your itinerary by travel regions.
“This is our forever house,”the wife said. They even kept in mind the possibility of becoming infirm as they age. “We built it with one story so we can just roll in our wheelchairs,” she said.
Winter Road Trip in the Easter Sierras
In this case a Gen-X couple in their mid- to late- 40s with a 9- year old son lived in the rustic, remote community.
An excerpt from Book Five in “The Knowledge Path Series” dedicated to helping you find the place of your dreams in the Sierra Mountain resorts.
If on our return trip to our epic, awesome suburban life in Southern California we had taken the scenic route, we would have discovered Swall Meadows.
U.S. Highway 395 in California’s Eastern Sierras
Instead of jumping on US 395 again, we could have taken Crowley Lake Drive from Tom’s Place and headed towards Bishop on what becomes Old Sherwin Grade Road and Lower Rock Creek Road for about 7 miles.
I first read about Swall Meadows in the Fall of 2010.
Basically, volunteers divulge their current economic and lifestyle situation.
If selected, a financial planner meets with them and assesses their goals, evaluates the gaps and challenges that would keep them from retiring the way they want to and prescribes a change in habits in the best possible way.
In this case a Gen-X couple in their mid- to late- 40s with a 9- year old son lived in the rustic, remote community.
In this small neighborhood their neighbors overwhelmingly own their own primary or secondary homes.
Swall Meadows, California
Swall Meadows, however, is large enough to warrant its own Wikipedia page:
There were 128 housing units at an average density of 28.7 per square mile, of which 90 (91.8%) were owner-occupied, and 8 (8.2%) were occupied by renters.
The 2010 census counted 220 living the outdoor-loving life that only the four Eastern Sierra seasons can bring.
Zip Code 93514
One that Dave McCoy fell in love with in Independence, on McGee Mountain, while developing Mammoth Mountain and ATV-ing in the canyons, foothills and mountain trails surrounding Bishop.
While Swall Meadows falls within the Bishop zip code, 93514, the downtown Bishop area is about 21 miles south (and Mammoth Lakes is roughly 25 miles north.)
Our financial case study couple commute to their jobs in public education.
There’s one major fuel cost that’s not in keeping with their green lifestyle.
Mostly because husband and wife each commute two hours, round trip, to jobs, they spend a combined total of $250 a month on gasoline.
The family’s main source of income is the $65,622 annual salary the husband earns as a high school math teacher in the Mammoth Unified School District.
His wife brings in an additional $13,000 a year as a special-education teacher’s aide for middle-school children.
Swall Meadows, in southern Mono County sits within just under 5 square miles below Wheeler Crest at about 6,500 feet above sea level.
Without any commercial enterprises, other than a firehouse near the meadow, it it’s primarily a residential community just southeast of the “old Sky Meadows Ranch” and northwest of the Pinyon Ranch development
Mountain Peaks Surrounding Swall Meadows
The seasonal views are to die for — there’s Mt. Tom and White Mountains on the east of Owens Valley.
Wikipedia adds:
Mule Deer
It is also well known in the area as an important deer migration route for the Round Valley Mule Deer population, which cherish the grazing in the meadow and apple falls from the old orchard trees.
A year after the financial makeover article, in 2011, to protect the migrating deer, the Eastern Sierra Land Trust brought an additional 104 acres of the meadow area near an historic homesite under the control of a conservation easement.
No wonder the teachers chose the location to build their home in 2005.
They found …
Swall Meadows Willows and Streams
permanent and seasonal streams and the eponymous meadow with wetter-habitat vegetation such as Jeffrey pines, willows, stream and bog orchids, and the remnant trees of the old commercial apple orchard.
Sometime in 2000 or 2001 the couple became a family and put down roots.
In Swall Meadows they constructed and completed, for the most part, a 1,200 square foot, two- bedroom home by 2005.
The LA Times article described it as an …
Straw-Bale House Construction
environmentally friendly straw-bale-construction method — in which thick walls are built around the bales, which provide insulation — helps keep the 1,200-square-foot home’s electricity bill at an average of about $28 a month.
Five years later the financial planner revealed how they got by on a disciplined, frugal budget living just seven miles from where my son wanted to find out how he could live in a place like there.
Their total budget came to $4,000 a month including the mortgage payments on their $270,300 home.
Also included in it were:
$250 a month for fueling their commutes
$90 a month on propane for cooking and to heat water.
$28 for electricity
$40 a month for basic cable
They willingly cut corners to live in their pristine community.
They grow their own food, as much as they can.
Cost-Cutting Measures
Without a clothes drier, they simply fall back on the more traditional way — hanging clothes outside, even in winter.
Why buy new clothes, when you can find bargains at thrift stores, even ski outfits?
If you live in a mountain paradise, why take vacations, except to visit friends and relatives?
When they do, they make a point of camping in national parks to enjoy Mother Nature’s wonder and save on lodging.
(30) Review headlines and relevant news as far back as you can find online to surface each community’s unique pulse and identify information necessary to make your decision. Is there a “ticking time bomb” issue you may uncover that eliminates the resort from your bucket list? Search on topix.com.
Region: Western United States,
“Midsize and small towns with economies fueled by hotels, stores and restaurants and lower-than-average median household income by county.”
Having driven through Owens Valley on this trip we know it’s at the northern end of the valley.
Basin Mountain (13,187 ft.) is viewed to the west from Bishop as it rises above the Buttermilks.”
First of all, the town’s named after a creek that’s named after Samuel Addison Bishop.
For economic development, the Bishop Community created the Paiute Palace Casino and Tu-Kah Novie restaurant in Bishop.”
Vandals used ladders, chisels and power saws connected to electric generators to remove the panels from cliffs know as the volcanic tableland.” 
Enough of that.
So we can speculate.
Choosing Mammoth would certainly cut their commuting expenses, while like their other neighbors, they rebuild.
Bishop, California Zip Code 93514 — Nearby Zip Codes: 93513, 93512, 93526, 89010, 93546, 93628
Service Worker Centers
To that the Bishop visitor center adds
Who knew I’d get closer to finding out what it was like by simply picking up a copy of The Sheet for February 10, 2018.
Today Jean told me about the fire. You know I had to see what you had written in The Sheet. You didn’t disappoint. Glad to read everyone made it out ok. Now I’ll keep you in my prayers that everything goes according to your wishes.
How can you not learn a lot about surviving from such a horrendous ordeal?
She drives down like a bat out of hell to Tom’s Place – well, as much as one can be a bat out of hell in a Honda Element.”
Page 2: More than $141,000
That’s a pretty serious discrepancy.
