The wife and I have been planning this for almost 10 years. When we started we didn't know what or where, but we knew how. Save money, pay off debt and retire early. About 5yrs into the plan we started looking at places. Washington, Montana, Utah, and The Dakotas were on the original list for the mountains. Ultimately the cold and price for large properties drove those places out and were replaced with Arizona as the prime spot to be closer to our son and grandson in Nevada and to help my inlaws take care of their property.

So we found this 70 acre spot with a 1200 sq ft building in place along with a septic system. Bout the property in Dec 2015. Made payment on owner finance for about 1yr and then stroked a check to payoff and own outright. It is 1.5 miles from my inlaws 160 acre spread. It is "off grid" as there are no provided utilities.

As seen in this thread, my wife and I are both retired from the US Navy after 20 and 21yrs respectively. I had a small gun shop in Virginia Beach after I retired for about 8yrs and closed that down recently and we moved out here the end of November. https://sigforum.com/eve/forums...935/m/1190064944/p/1

Last week I drove to Flagstaff and picked up our solar system. It consists of 5940w of panels (18), 625ah of batteries in a 48 volts DC configuration(2 banks of 8 ea 6v). Ultimately I should be getting around 400kwh per month or 13kwh per day. There should be enough extra power from the panels to charge the batteries from the night before and provide power during the day. I also bought a new Kohler 14kw propane generator for backup to multiple cloudy days and extra power needs. I can run the solar system at 120/240 single phase, and the generator can handle both single and 3 phase if I choose.

Over the next 60-120 days I will install the solar system, water system and approximately 2 acres of fencing to keep the free range cows out. Fencing will go up first. The solar, and finally water. We are currently staying at the RV park in town (1 hour drive to the property). But once the fence is up we will occasionally stay at the property in our small 20ft travel trailer to to save time and extend work days.

Here is the approximate outline of our property:




Here is the front of our building. I had a 20ft one trip cargo container slid into the far left tall garage door for security and storage of valuables. It has an upgraded lock system welded to the front and only one set of doors that face the rear of the building. There is 4.8 feet of clearance in the back.




Slightly farther our, this picture is looking slightly northwest.



These are facing east and almost all you can see is either BLM or my inlaws property.







Inside the building looking at the connex container.



Inside looking away from the connex.



This is a picture using a zoom lense from my inlaws front porch. Approximate distance is 1.5 miles. All between us is almost nothing but their property, mine and BLM.



Here is the prettiest neighbor I have met so far. Even my wife thinks she has a beautiful rack. ANd yes, I learned out here that female cows can have horns.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Sigolicious,

Congratulations!
What's the elevation there?

Very nice, most could not deal with the solitude. Me, no problem. I would struggle with the heat and dryness there though. I like the cool weather.
What about water. A huge need there.
Any access issues when and if monsoon rain comes.
Congrats to you both. Enjoy.

I assume you are going to build a house, or put living quarters in the shop?

You have a ton of work ahead of you. How much can you do yourself?

Sure you know, but if bringing domestic pets with you. Whatever is out there, is hungry. Coyotes, mountain lions, birds of prey, etc.

Even with water you are not going to be able to produce much in the way of growing or raising your own food. Too much work and $ to make it worth your while in that environment. You will wear yourselves out and will end up broken and hate each other. It is just not worth it. Buy beef from a local rancher and buy cheap grown fruits and vegtables in season from others. Can and freeze as much as need. Your efforts can be used elsewhere other than try to be producer in that kind of situation imho.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: old rugged cross,

That hill behind the building has "backstop" written all over it!

That's gonna make a bitching pistol and rifle range!

Congratulations and I wish you success with the property setup / etc!

Say hi to your neighbors.

I'd suggest getting Gabe Brown's "From Dirt to Soil" book - should provide some interesting ideas on how to make the most of the land, and available moisture.

Went on vacation to Arizona this year. Fell in love with the area. Started looking at property out there and learned that my wife had no desire to move out to the middle of nowhere. She "needs" to be around people.

I'm gonna miss her.

Love it! Absolutely love it!

Visiting the Big Island, paling around with the locals on extended ragamuffin trips, I've visited plenty of off-grid homes. "The catchment" is always a topic. No real soil changes the dynamic. Propane fridges. A whole 'nother world.

A friend has a mid-1930s natural gas fridge in his garage, unused, but working perfectly. Sounds like a commodity in such a region. Guess the orifice could be changed.

One experiment I've always wanted to do in such a place: I've heard that even dry soil has moisture. One can evidently dig a hole, place a receptacle in the middle, cover the hole with a clear plastic sheet (not sure if clear is necessary) covered and weighed down around the perimeter with dirt and stone, and weigh down the center with a rock.

Water from the soil is supposed to condense across the sheet on even the driest days, and drip into the container.

Ever hear of this?

quote:

Originally posted by smlsig:
Congratulations!
What's the elevation there?

6200 feet. Have to re-zero all my long guns coming in from sea level It'll be rough, but I'll manage.

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
Very nice, most could not deal with the solitude. Me, no problem. I would struggle with the heat and dryness there though. I like the cool weather.
What about water. A huge need there.
Any access issues when and if monsoon rain comes.
Congrats to you both. Enjoy.

I assume you are going to build a house, or put living quarters in the shop?

You have a ton of work ahead of you. How much can you do yourself?

The solitude was most of the attraction. After all of our time at big navy bases in big cities, we are ready for some quiet time. It's really not that hot here at 6200ft. I've been out here for a week in july and it was what I would call the most gentle and bearable heat I've been in.

We will haul water for some of our needs. There is a property owners association we are part of and there is a mutual well we can draw 500glns a week from. About a ten minute drive from our spot. Also should be able to collect about 7500glns of water a year from my current roof with the plans to add more when we build a port for the 42ft fifth wheel and in the future a 600-00sq ft cabin.

So far all of our plan include me doing it myself. Although I may contract for some of the earth moving. My father in law has a tractor with front loader and an auger for fencing. They have been out here for over 5 years off grid and have a great spread. They are our #1 resource for accomplishing this.

quote:

Originally posted by MNSIG:
That hill behind the building has "backstop" written all over it!

Backstop is east, out the front of the building. Mile and a half away, but it's there .

quote:

Originally posted by Aglifter:
I'd suggest getting Gabe Brown's "From Dirt to Soil" book - should provide some interesting ideas on how to make the most of the land, and available moisture.

I'll pass this to my better half, thats her dept. I am just mechanical and labor

Nice!
Congratulations!

quote:

Originally posted by Woodman:
Love it! Absolutely love it!

Visiting the Big Island, paling around with the locals on extended ragamuffin trips, I've visited plenty of off-grid homes. "The catchment" is always a topic. No real soil changes the dynamic. {ropane fridges. A whole 'nother world.

A friend has a mid-1950s or earlier (1940s?) propane fridge in his garage, unused, but working perfectly. Sounds like a commodity in such a region.

One experiment I've always wanted to do in such a place: I've heard that even dry soil has moisture. One can evidently dig a hole, place a receptacle in the middle, cover the hole with a clear plastic sheet (not sure if clear is necessary) covered and weighed down around the perimeter with dirt and stone, and weigh down the center with a rock.

Water from the soil is supposed to condense across the sheet on even the driest days, and drip into the container.

Ever hear of this?

I have not hear of this, but will add to my list of tools for future use.

There is a guy out here I have been talking to about water catchment. He has 12 horses and a 2000sq ft home. Now, he has been here a while, but he has over 6000sq feet of horizontal roof. He doesn't haul any water or have a well. Reclaimed all of his grey water and harvests year round about 39000glns of water.

There is a calculator, but the basic math is 600glns of water per inch of rain per 1000sq feet of roof.
I have 1200 sq ft of roof now, so a little over 7500glns a year in harvesting.

Very cool and thank you for your service. The only thing I would miss are trees. Maybe find some non-cacti native ones and plant on the South side of the eventual dwelling.

Sounds like an excellent adventure. Gave me butterflies in my stomach just thinking about the campaign before you!

I really like the layout of your land. I would build a vacation home there in a heartbeat.

Retiring there would be a different story for me. You don't say how old you are but I can tell you as you age in retirement (I'm 71) your energy level drops considerably. Hauling water for household usage would get old for me really quick. If you are say, still in your 50's, then that would be a different story.

quote:

Originally posted by Bassamatic:
You don't say how old you are but I can tell you as you age in retirement (I'm 71) your energy level drops considerably.

From his previous thread about retirement, OP is 48 and his wife is 40.

But you do bring up a valid point.

Nice! I moved out into the woods many years ago. Just me and the armadillos.

Bad ass, have the same plans, with less property. Probably 10-20 acres, and a metal building. I want 4-5 garage bays and hope to build a 1000 sq ft living stricture inside of it. Congratulatons!

Btw, I added a couple of tidbits in my op. I am sure you have thought about them.

The other thing I would absolutely look to invest in out there would be a diesel powered skidsteer. A necessity if you are truly going to make a go of it.

"One experiment I've always wanted to do in such a place: I've heard that even dry soil has moisture. One can evidently dig a hole, place a receptacle in the middle, cover the hole with a clear plastic sheet (not sure if clear is necessary) covered and weighed down around the perimeter with dirt and stone, and weigh down the center with a rock."

It's a Solar Still. Yields about a quart a day.

https://www.desertusa.com/dese...ter-solar-still.html