5 Incorrect Assumptions About Living In The Mountains (That I Made)

Pic I took of a Goat Recently

It’s coming up on 4 years ago when I walked into my home in suburbia, a vinyl sided 4 bedroom standard home with a patio that you could see 37 other homes from (with 2 community pools and an HOA), and told my wife that we were moving out west.  I had just come back from a trip meeting a friend in the Rockies and was absolutely blown away, I couldn’t believe that people lived in the Midwest when the mountains existed.  To be fair I had never seen it before but once I had a few days at elevation and got to drive through miles of unlimited National Forest I knew that the mountains was where I needed to be.

The next few months were quite the experience.  We got our home ready to sell and I came out West in advance, shacking up in a 2 bedroom apartment in town with my dog so I could house hunt while my wife handled showing the home back east.  It was around 5 months of stress, not just because I was surrounded by people and apartments but also because selling a home while trying to buy another one quite simply sucks.

What we ended up with was a fantastic home (smaller than our previous) which borders the National Forest and is around 5 miles off of the nearest State Highway, the last 2 miles of that being dirt roads.  The nearest town is about 15 minutes away and consists of a gas station, a post office, hardware store and some small businesses.  The city is about an hour away, give or take.  Quite the contrast when compared to where we came from, out here nobody is delivering food and if you forget something at the supermarket I suppose it can wait until another day.  We love it but have truly had to get used to living out here.  Looking back I can think of a few assumptions I made which were proved incorrect, I thought to share them with you as points of interest.  As a final caveat, I understand this totally could vary depending on where one might live in this amazing mountain range that spans multiple states but nevertheless here is the list.

The Disposition of “Mountain People”

Why would people that live up here be any different than anyone else?  Well, I was wrong.  I would say the main discriminating factor is this:  If you don’t actually live up here they will treat you differently than those who come from the city.  Understand there is a certain pride in being someone who has lived here their entire life but many of us have not, as such it comes down to locals versus those who are not so local.  One is often vetted quite quickly and that sets the tone, not that they will ignore you but there is a certain level of familiarity.

It doesn’t matter where you are, be it paying for gas or eating at a local establishment, even checking out at the supermarket.  Usually one of the first questions is: “So where are you coming from (or similar)?”  Once you state “Oh we just live over the hill over there” it’s like an acknowledgement that is taken with a nod and the conversation goes a certain way.  If I were to respond with “oh we are visiting from Texas or (insert city suburb)” it would go a different way, I’ve seen it in person.  I had never experienced that until I moved up here and in some respect I sort of like it, a certain form of camaraderie if you don’t mind me saying.

Vehicle Costs Would Be Similar

I’ll cut to the chase on this one, vehicles get beat up here.  I’ve gone through multiple windshields and twice as many windshield repairs on all of our vehicles.  One MUST have solid tires for the long winter, it’s not even negotiable.  I’ve spent thousands on outfitting our vehicles with proper tires over the last few years.  This past November my truck tires were probably 30% tread left, I tossed them and got all new tires to the tune of around $2000.  Include the cost of all the wear and tear maintenance / repairs and extra items (chains, winch, other kit) and it’s without question more expensive than owning a vehicle in the Midwest.  It’s not just the vehicle itself, we have satellite communicators in our vehicles because quite often there is no cell service and also no other traffic in the area.  My wife sent me a message a few years back, she was stuck on the side of the road with a flat tire and no cell service, I was able to get to her in order to plug the tire and air it up with my compressor (another vehicle cost).

Think of the distance we live from town, that means way more driving up and down mountain roads and engines wailing at anywhere from 7,000 to 10,000 ft, dirt roads that aren’t maintained just beating up suspension components and all of the other associated considerations.  Long story short, you won’t have that polished SUV with the Armor All on the tires looking spic and span up here for long.

Wildlife Would Be A Major Concern

Lions, Tigers and Bears Oh My!  Okay maybe not the tigers but we do have bears and mountain lions, not to mention all of the other associated creatures (deer, elk, moose, fox, Sasquatch et al).  I still rarely go outside without a firearm but the wildlife has proven to be much less of a concern that I originally suspected.

I’ve seen bear on my property, everything from the big males to mothers with a cub.  They mostly want to be left alone or find a way into your garbage.  We had a male at our front door a  year ago and my German Shepherd chased him down the hill with no problem.  We were sitting outside and the dog just perked up and bolted, next thing I knew I saw this large mass of hair bumbling down the hill and my dog’s tail going after it, zig zagging through the brush.  Could the bear have stood and fought, of course but he wanted no part of that.  Obviously, momma bear a different story and I’m thankful we never had that interaction.

While we do have lions that have taken some goats (not mine) and chickens I’ve never seen one, just evidence from tracks.  Those are indeed scary but the most I’ve ever been concerned was when the dog and I were hiking up a local mountain (around 13.5k ft).  We broke treeline and were moving along and to our front appeared two bull moose laying down, they turned and looked at me and I snatched my dog’s collar, backing away ever so slowly.  The pistol on my hip might as well have been a water gun at that point, we eased back into the trees and took a different route.  I want NOTHING to do with moose.

The Snow Would Be A Problem

I would have bet anyone that at this elevation a snow blower was in my future, I would have been wrong.  When I spoke to the original home owners he was like the snow melts quickly with the southern exposure and as long as you have 4WD you’ll be good – he was right.  We’ve gotten hit with some big storms but truly, the snow is all but gone in a few days which is a complete shift from the Midwest where it lingers for weeks or months.  I have a lifted 4WD truck and my wife has AWD and snow tires, we’ve never had an issue even with our roads not being plowed.  I suppose if we ever did get a major dump of 2-3 feet I’d just stay home, no harm in that.

I truly don’t mind the snow because all of that moisture feeds our well and during the warm season it does not rain much at all.  I’ll take the snow and the cold (but it’s never really that cold with the lack of humidity) all day long, I enjoy it now.

Power Outages Would Abound

I rolled into this home getting quotes for installations of standby generators.  As a matter of fact the home came pre-wired with a transfer switch for a portable generator which was a good thing.  I thought with all the crazy weather we’d be down on power for hours or even days at a time, once again I was wrong.  To date we’ve probably lost power less than 5 times, the longest of which lasted maybe half the night but most lasting 30 mins or less.  I do have a 9.8k portable generator which can run most of the house but usually only fire it up monthly to keep things fresh.  My closest neighbor has a standby generator which cost him around $11k to get installed, with the lack of outages it just doesn’t make sense for me to invest in that.

Final Thoughts

Your results may vary.  One could live 100 miles from me and have a completely different experience, I’m just sharing mine with the readers.  All that aside I would say I am completely happy with where we live and do not plan on leaving anytime soon, if you too are contemplating moving to the mountains I wholeheartedly recommend it!  Let me know your thoughts in the comments section.