Presenting.... Snowslide Gulch!!!

Part II of "Luxury Living off the Grid"

When we went to see our house for the first time our real estate agent drove us up the river road and pulled into a private parking area that was butted up to the side of the river.

The raised platform (aka: tram landing) standing on the river bank in the parking area.

Then we waited…
And we watched the river…
And we waited...
And we checked our watches…
And the real estate agent honked her car horn… a lot.

Anyone on the ‘town’ side of the river could only communicate with the house by leaving a note on the tram landing and hoping the owners saw it or by honking until the owners heard them. We were about to give up when the cable started humming and a small cablecar zipped up.

Doug manning the cablecar controls

The note the real estate agent had left earlier for the owners to set our viewing appointment had been blown away and the owners hadn’t known to expect us.

Already there were 2 things ‘wrong’ with the house.
1) No vehicle access.
2) No outside communications.

I had serious internet withdrawals for the first few months before we got our first satellite dish up! Today we have satellite phone, internet, and television but it started out rough.

A close secondary concern during the first couple years was resolved when we got the golf cart and a tractor & trailer to carry us (and the groceries, mail, and various Lowes, Home Depot, Tile Universe, Washington Chain, Highway Auto, DISH Satellite, Cascade Battery, etc. products) from the tram landing up the 1000 ft. of hill to the house!