Life In The Mountains:

 We have enjoyed life at 9,800’ elevation in our small cabin for almost ¼ century. Life is much different living at high elevation than oup past history of city life. Life in the city was noisy, smelly,congested and dangerous. Life lived remotely at high elevation is the polar  opposite of city living. To live remotely it is very important to be proactive and also to anticipate what may happen. To not do these two things can lead to unexpected consequences. 

We heat our small cabin with a woodstove so we need to have a good supply of firewood on hand for next winter. Since our winters are longer, experience tells us that we will need between 9-11 cords of firewood. As soon as the snow melts around May or June we start on firewood and continue until the snows come again. We always start with aspen trees that are on the ground already. We do not cut dead standing trees until later in the summer or early fall. 

We have an abundance of birds which we enjoy and protect. Since they nest in the springtime into the summer we do not cut standing dead trees during that time. Thanks to the high winds in the mountains there is ample firewood on the ground to cut. It is often hard to spot nests in trees and we do not want to cut a dead tree with a nest. Also the dead tree as it falls usually hits other trees on its way to the ground which can knock a nest from a tree.