Just had to reprint this article  I saw today in REALTOR magazine.
With the scheduled closing deadline for the home buyer tax credits, existing-home sales slowed in June but remained at relatively elevated levels, according to the National Association of REALTORS.

Existing-home sales which are completed transactions that include single-family, town homes, condominiums and co-ops, fell 5.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.37 million units in June from 5.66 million in May, but are 9.8 percent higher than the 4.89 million-unit pace in June 2009.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the market shows uncharacteristic yet understandable swings as buyers responded to the tax credits. “June home sales still reflect a tax credit impact with some sales not closed due to delays, which will show up in the next two months,” he said. “Broadly speaking, sales closed after the home buyer tax credit will be significantly lower compared to the credit-induced spring surge. Only when jobs are created at a sufficient pace will home sales return to sustainable healthy levels.”

According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate  for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage fell to a record low 4.74 percent in June from 4.89 percent in May; the rate was 5.42 percent in June 2009.

The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $183,700 in June, which is 1.0 percent higher than a year ago. Distressed homes were at 32 percent of sales last month, compared with 31 percent in May; it was also 31 percent in June 2009.

Read the rest here.

Cloud City Cottage

Spent the 3rd weekend  of June at Leadville just hanging out soaking up the high altitude rays. No, this was not a training run or LT100  race prep for my husband. We just celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary and thought Leadville would be great getaway. Perched in between the high mountains of Mt. Sherman, Mt. Massive and Mt. Elbert this old mining town will not disappoint.  We stayed at the Cloud City cottages and it was a delightful turn of the century cabin that has been renovated.  We planned to climb some mountains while we were there, but it didn’t pan out.

Mt. Massive

Old General Store

We drove around and did a little off-roading looking for places to explore. Leadville is rich in history like Estes Park and there are old buildings and mining treasures all over. One day we rented bikes and rode the Mineral Belt trail 12 miles around the perimeter of Leadville. We saw the old general store and awesome views of surrounding mountains. We took it counter clockwise and it was pretty steep on the Western side so allow plenty of time for breaks. Along the path there are plaques detailing Leadville historical facts or notable figures. If you stop and read them all it paints a picture of this wild west mining town during the boom time.

Mineral Belt

While we were trying to find the Mt. Sherman trail head we encountered this sign and road block. We tried to reach the trail head twice, the first time we there and didn’t see the signs.

It is not like RMNP where trail heads have huge green signs and paved parking lots. After some searching on the internet we realized that we were in fact at the right location. The next day we tried again and ran into two guys who had a stroke of bad luck and two dead vehicles. We ended up taking them back to town. After wards, it was simply too late in the day to start climbing a Fourteener. We decided it wasn’t our time to climb Sherman. We are ready for the next time.

Road Closed Ahead

Obstacles in the Road

I have been doing a lot of research for a historic listing of mine on Virginia and came across this old video. This historic Rocky Mountain National Park video shows old lodges from the 1920′s time period and is fascinating.

If you know where these are located it is fun to explore these sites and look for clues of earlier inhabitants …. If you note the locations of trees and other natural landmarks you can see today that many of the trees still stand today. The lake at the Hallet Lodge has been drained, but you can see the hill where the lodge sat and a two of the large Ponderosa Pines remain on the site. This lodge is seen from Horseshoe Park close to the Lawn Lake Trailhead. We are rich in history here in the Estes Park Valley I encourage you to take the time to explore and learn more about it.

Grand Entry for this Charming Home

This lovely Craftsman style home turned 100 years old this year.  Owning this home is a chance of a lifetime. This home was built by Miss Elizabeth M. A. Foot, who also went by the name of Emma Foot. She operated one of Estes Park’s general stores called Foot’s Utility and Curio Shop. This home was one of at least six rental homes that she owned and operated. Imagine a single business woman in 1901, what a pioneer she was! Later the home was sold to the Van Valkenburgh family who owned it until 2001. With so few owners the condition of this beauty will surprise and delight. We don’t see these homes come on the market very often.  This charming historic home has Longs Peak, Continental Divide and Lumpy Ridge views. Home has open living spaces, original Douglas Fir wood floors, two moss rock fireplaces and a huge Sun Porch just made for rocking chairs. Featuring 3 Bedrooms, two full baths, Great Room and lower level Den or Family Room. Great potential-600+SF Attic could be finished for an artist’s retreat. Take in the views from the fenced in flower garden, deck or patio. Picturesque .55 acre lot with rock outcroppings and huge Ponderosa pines. Own a piece of Estes Park history with this turn of the century beauty.

Further info and photos HERE

When I lived in central Kansas I had an acre of land surrounding my house with lush flower gardens, a vegetable garden and an herb garden.

Prize KS Sunflowers

From April to October there was always something in bloom. I couldn’t really grow grass, but anything else did well in my yard. I really miss playing in the dirt so I am gardening again this time in the mountains, well trying…between the animals and the climate I am ready for a war.

I have lived here for 4 1/2 years and last year was the first year I actually put anything in the ground. Before that I had containers all over my deck and front porch. I got tired of replacing plants after they were destroyed by a herd of elk grazing through the neighborhood so I gave up for a while. After we got our dog, Haley, we put up a fence and so that helped keep the elk away, but they still eat flowers in the front yard. Haley is Garden Enemy #1 in the backyard. She stomps on my plants constantly. I think I had two tomatoes last year and only a few peppers.

Haley=Garden Enemy

Elk love Petunias

There was a existing raised bed that I have cultivated so I can experiment. I have mostly perennials in one half and veggies in the other. So far I have Columbine, Hyssop, Daisies, Purple Coneflowers, Poppies, Sunflowers, Yarrow, and Gaillardia. In the other half, I still have a few flowers but planted Blue potatoes, Russet potatoes, Roma tomatoes, Rhubarb, Cucumbers, Sweet Baby Watermelon, Canteloupe, Zucchini, and Strawberries.

Strawberries

Veggie Side

I also have two hanging planters the upside down kind. They stay soggy all the time I am doubtful they will work, but I planted Toms in one and Peppers in the other. I was only able to do this in the last two weeks because it got so cold late in the year. Last weekend I took all the containers in the garage and tarped the bed. Now it is warm and sunny and we should get growing soon. Tonight I laid out my soaker hose and tomorrow I will stake it down. I will keep you posted about my progress and hopefully I can inspire some budding gardeners who are frustrated with gardening at 7500′ of elevation like me. Please post any suggestions!

You start this hike from the Glacier Gorge Trail Head.  Parking this time of year is starting to fill up, but this Monday it was fine.  Shuttles are running from the Park-n-Ride if you need them.  Slightly overcast and warmer than the cold weekend weather I was able to get by with a fleece and raincoat. The day before I would have wore a parka.

The water is still running fiercely in the rivers, streams and trails in the park. I had to do a lot of rock hopping to keep my boots dry.

Along the trail to Alberta Falls

I usually don’t go by the way of Alberta Falls and prefer to short cut, but today I wanted to see the falls with all the amazing snow melt we are experiencing. It is still early summer and the trails were not crowded. Alberta Falls is such a short hike you see all types of hikers-serious backpackers or people out for a stroll wearing pressed shirts and Dockers pants.

Marsh Marigolds

Glacier Creek

Alberta Falls

The plants and wildflowers are going to be extravagant this year. You can see the foliage starting to come out as the snow melts away. We didn’t encounter any snow on the trails until right before the Loch where there is still a large snowfield. The sign for the lake is still partially buried in the drift.

Snow field before the Loch

Cathedral Wall at the Loch

This is a great intermediate hike, only 2.95 miles to the Loch. If you are hiking with children, places to stop and rest along the creek are plentiful. Later in Summer you will find raspberries and lush Columbines in the area where the trails split to go to either Mills Lake or the Loch. Right now you can see the Marsh Marigolds ready to bloom along the creeks and drainages.  Great views of the park to North and also Half Mountain as you hike. Once you arrive at the Loch the landscape and cliffs are amazing. Sit on the shore and enjoy views of Powell Peak, Taylor Glacier, the Cathedral Wall, in the distance Timberline Falls. If you choose to continue you are only 1.4 miles from Lake of Glass.  See you on the trail!

This week in June our community comes together under the co-direction of Terry Chiplin and Belle Morris and puts on the Estes Park Marathon, one of the premier high-altitude races in the country. This weekend of events includes a fun run, 5K, 10K, half and full marathon.The courses are all beautiful, if you love to compete you do not want to miss this event.  I had two runners this year so I was crew, cheerleader, mom, wife, and volunteer today. My daughter who is in 8th grade ran the 10K and my husband ran the marathon. Since he is training for the Leadville 100 Trail Run, this should have just been an easy run for him except for the weather.   The forecast was for rain and a cool 36 degrees. We don’t mind the cold, but wet is another story. It wasn’t just sprinkling, it was a downpour.  The dedication of the volunteers and runners was inspiring.  Cold and wet, but both kept going until the end.   Two new items this year were the chip timing and the promotion of going cup-less.   All runners were given a chip to tie on their shoes and at certain intervals on the course they had to run over timing mats which record their splits and finish times.  Also all the half or full marathon runners were given small plastic pouches called HydraPouches that clip on their belts so that they can just fill them and not have to get a paper cup each time.  My husband didn’t use his because they only hold about 3 ounces and that is not enough.  One of the major problems at the aid stations was the drinks, iced down water and Gatorade.  The runners were frozen like popsicles and needed warm liquids, but no one thought of this.  I was running home to get warm water to fill my husband’s bottles because his hands were blue from carrying ice water.   My husband did have a scare and the aid station medic tried to get him to drop because he got too cold and was shaking uncontrollably, but after sitting in a warm truck for 30 minutes he was ready to finish it out.  The volunteers were just outstanding, I can’t say enough about their dedication and concern for the welfare of the runners.  My husband got an Estes Park Marathon finishers medal and is still grumpy about his time of 5 hours, but you never know what mother nature is going to hand you in Estes Park.  My daughter set a new personal record for her 10K time and finished first in her age category.  Being 13, she doesn’t have much competition because all the teen runners run the 5K instead.  I was very proud of her. You can check out the results on the EP marathon.org website.  I didn’t take many photos because of the rain.  Here are a few from the start line.

Estes Park Marathon 10K Start

Video of the start, I don’t think the staff realized that by letting the runners step on the mat it started the clock. My daughters started her watch at the countdown and she was 2 minutes off and so were some other people we talked to at the finish.

Equipment at the Alpine Visitor Center

We missed the first day of the Trail Ridge Road opening, but we drove up the next day. This has become a tradition of our family to drive over to Grand Lake opening weekend. We stop and act like tourists at all the overlooks and play in the snow.  If it’s not too snowy my husband runs up Heart Attack Hill, which this year it was blocked off.  We did stop and play in the snow at Poudre Lake, it was way over my kids’ heads.  As we dropped down after Poudre Lake we kept our eyes peeled for moose along the Colorado River and luckily we found a group of cars stopped right before you turn into the village.  As we drove we talked about how the landscape has changed with the mountain pine beetle damage killing so many Lodgepole Pines.  There are large clearings where the park service has removed diseased trees for the safety of campers. We ate at the Sage Brush Inn, they have great food and service and the girls love to throw peanut shells on the floor, each other, other patrons, the waitress-if you have kids you get my point.  Afterwards we grabbed some world famous ice cream at Grand Lake Chocolates and walked down to the lake to eat it. The kids played in the freezing cold water at the lake until their lips were blue and it was time to head back home.

Poudre Lake Snow

Grand Lake Moose

Here is a short video with some footage of the road, don’t watch if you get motion sick easily. I was just holding the camera as I sat in the car…

Currently we are in a flood watch, with the spring snow melt and recent rain all the rivers and lakes are near or exceeding their banks.  Some friends of ours who live along the Fall River have two feet of water in their crawl space, so you can guess we are all watching the water very closely.  Residents along the river are sandbagging low lying areas and reinforcing retaining walls.  Saturday was cooler with temps in the 40′s and heavy rain .  Today was heavy rain for hours this morning.  Our family was headed to Grand Lake yesterday morning to eat at the Fat Cat Cafe when they closed Trail Ridge Road due to heavy rains.  So we turned around and decided to check out the water situation the whole town in buzzing about.  These pictures may not be surprising if you have never seen these rivers before, but to us locals who see these on a regular basis the rate of water is startling.

This is the view of the Roaring River in the Alluvial Fan Area.  Now a historical marker and geological reminder of the Lawn Lake Flood, it is a favorite of my kids.  Boulder strewn everywhere to play on and the river close by.  Later in the summer you would find people playing in the water and soaking up the sun, not today though. If you are interested in learning more about this flood here is a informative article.

Alluvial Fan

Here is my husband he hiked up to a large Boulder to get a better vantage point.

This is a short two minute video of some of the footage showing the flow of water in RMNP.

Downtown where the rivers meet the water is lapping the bridge. We stopped right before the post office and walked East.

Overflowing the Banks

Further Down you can see some residences that built levees.

Better safe than sorry

It is wonderful to be close to the river, but this is too close for me.

View of the River

Here is the bridge by the post office.

Bridge right by Post Office

Another two minute video showing the Big Thompson River right before it meets the Fall River

With the weather heating up the visitors are flooding in as well. I have been busy fielding calls and showing property. There are bargains in every price range of Estes Park Real Estate so don’t hesitate to give me a call.

My husband, Alan, and his friend, Michael Hodges, ran up to the Alpine Visitor Center on May 19th before the road opened.  They drove to Rainbow Curve on Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park and parked there to start their run.  It is 17.25 miles round trip to the visitor center and back with 2000′ of elevation gain.  They did have to deviate from the road because of the snow removal operations going on. Here is a short video of some amazing snow I think you will enjoy