Our Search For A Cabin In The Sky

This blog was created so that Jerry and I could document and share our journey into (vacation) home-steading in Northeastern Utah which began in spring of 2008. We decided a year or so ago to look for property that we could park our 30 foot trailer on, so that when we wanted to go camping, all we would have to do is drive to our own private campground and settle in! We figured this would save gas money (it costs a lot to haul that trailer around!) and the time it takes to find an available campsite, especially during holidays in Utah. Our search took us up to Ogden Canyon in the fall of 2007; while we found property that was affordable, it was pretty ugly. In the spring of 2008, we drove up to Strawberry River near the small community of Fruitland, and drove south on a little dirt road that had plenty of available property advertised on the web. We found the Strawberry Pinnacles on this trip, and a little piece of property (about 2 acres) that was for sale. While we loved the view (picture right upper corner), the price was a little out of our range - $100,000!

A few months later, we took a drive up to Duchesne, Utah, about 120 miles east of Salt Lake City, to see what the properties in the area near Peggy and Ernie Houghtby, my son Jed's parents-in-law, looked like. We stopped at a small mountain properties real estate company and, though it was closed, quickly skimmed all of the bulletins posted on their front window. About 10 minutes later, the owner of the company drove up and we began to chat with him about the various properties that we had been looking at. Just before we were planning to leave, he mentioned another property that was not yet listed. The owner had told him her plans to put the property on the market but had not quite come to the decision to do so, because she had not discussed it with her adult children yet. He told us where the property was, and we decided then and there to go and look at it.
It took us about an hour to drive there, but when we walked the two miles in and looked at the property that was "almost" for sale, we became very excited over the initial impression we had of the pines, aspens, canyons, flowers, the mountain smells, and most of all, the view.



The property, 10 acres, had a 5th wheeler and two campers, all functional and ready to use. The 5th wheeler, with kitchen, bathroom, dining area, and bedroom, was covered with a very well-made structure that kept the average 6 foot snow fall from collapsing the roof during the winters. The view as seen from the front door of the trailer, was exceptional to say the least.
We walked around the trailer, but without knowing where the property lines were, we tried to curb our enthusiasm so that our hopes would not be crushed. As soon as we got back to Salt Lake City that evening, we emailed the realtor and told him we wanted it. Oh yeah, how much was the owner asking? To our surprise and delight, she was only asking $39,500 for everything that was on the property at the time, including a 35 foot 5th wheel trailer and winter structure, and 2 camper shells with kitchen, bath, table and sleeping area, and 10 acres of beautiful forest and views. Well, we still wanted it and please can you call her tonight and tell her we will offer her the price she is asking?




Two weeks later we were the proud owners of 10 acres of land bordering the Ashley National Forest in northeastern Utah. It is 120 miles east of Salt Lake City, 40 miles south of Duchesne, 30 miles north of Price, off of Highway 191 near the Avintaquin Federal Campgrounds. Oh, and did I mention that it is at 9,000 feet altitude? I was lost for days, dreaming about what we had ventured into, and what we could do to make the property our "Cabin in the Sky".
I thought about my childhood summers spent at my grandmother's cabin at Sherman Acres in the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Tamarack Lodge where my parents worked, and near Bear Valley, where eventually, developers came in and made it a ski resort. Could this be a place for my children Jed, Jesse, Jonathan, Tegan and Carl, and grandchildren Samantha, Jed, Ben and Ellie, to build memories on, to spend long hot summer and fall days and cool nights making forts, finding little animals, curling up in a rocker with a good book, roasting marshmallows over a fire, using the outhouse down the path on freezing cold spring mornings, and seeing bears that curiously come and check the human smells out? Hmmm, and maybe with phone reception, a good tv antenna, internet, it could really be great........or not so great. Regardless, it was bound to be a great adventure for Jerry and I, and a good project to work on.