Oh goody, I need your expertise. Here’s what I would love, to find something like the Sierra mountains but not in California. Possibly in Nevada but I think it’s too expensive there. But it’s amazing how many little tiny communities California has in the mountains that are quite affordable. But we wouldn’t go back there.
What I love is being able to walk outside my back door and go hiking in numerous directions. I like not having to have a path - the Seqioua National Forest had very little Shrubbery and undergrowth. Trying to walk here, even in my own forest, a path has to be cleared and then kept cleared because everything would grow back in just one year. So you’re pretty much just stuck to One path, and so if you go to a national or State Forest Area, everybody is on the same few pads. I could hike for miles and miles at our cabin and never meet anybody. Which has lots of pros but one con is cell phones don’t work there either, So eventually I got this little Gadget we’re if I got into trouble I could press a button and my coordinates would be emailed to somebody. Can’t remember the name of it. You probably know.
I’m guessing to get that low shrubbery area, you need heavy snow pack so that you don’t need rains for the forest.
Is the Arizona mountains like that? How about the New Mexico mountains?
AZ and NM share similar mountain profiles because the latitudes are the same. The largest stand of Ponderosa pines in the world is the belt that grows across the Mogollon Rim, which is located in central-eastern AZ, and central-western NM.
The forest floors are quite open due to the arid climate. Winters are not, generally- all that cold, and the snow pack is limited due to the minimal precipitation that falls in the desert southwest. Very astute summary on your part regarding the forest floor.
There is the prime real estate in the mountains, and the less desirable scrub covered real estate at slightly lower elevations, just a stone’s throw from the more desirable territory, priced accordingly.
Depending on where you might choose to live, Phoenix, would be 3-5 hours in distance by automobile, and Albuquerque, 3, 5, or 7 hours away from one’s residence.
Catron County, in NM, adjoining AZ, is similar in it’s rural aspects, like the counties in AZ, such as Greenlee, Navajo, and Apache. It’s the largest county in NM, and the least populated with about 4,000 residents. NM is the 5th largest state in the union, and AZ is the 6th largest state, land wise.
AZ is a Constitutional carry state, which means the right to keep and bear arms is not infringed in any way and one may open carry or carry concealed, AND one does not have to get ANYONE’S permission to do so.