James:
I’m a retired Christian, a widower, living on California’s central coast. I’m a ham radio enthusiast. I don’t feel safe anywhere in California. California is only going to get worse as time goes on. So I am looking for a retreat location that is away from large population areas. I now have a few resources available to do this. Please let me know if you know of anything in the $40-to-50K range. I’m thinking about Nevada. Somewhere quite remote that will not be on the “shopping list” of looters, or in the path or refugees in the event of TEOTWAWKI [1]. Blessings, – Dave
JWR Replies: Hmmm… $40K to $50K won’t buy you much land, these days. If you don’t mind arid climates, then under your circumstances I’d recommend that you start your search in west-central Nevada. (It is a fairly straight shot for you through Yosemite National Park on Highway 120 in summer months, but the small highway passes are closed in winter, necessitating a longer trip, via I-80 through Reno. If you take the Pacheco Pass, then Highway 99, and then Highway 120, you avoid all of the major freeways.) BTW, if you are 62, you are old enough to qualify for a Forest Service “Senior Pass” (formerly called a “Golden Age Passport), for a one-time fee of $10, so you won’t have to pay to transit Yosemite National Park on each trip to Nevada.
Look first around Dyer, Nevada (the Fish Lake Valley) near Boundary Peak, just east of the California state line. There are 10 to 12 acre parcels there selling for around $50K [2], but it is one of those “private, gated community” type developments that has CC&Rs [3] and allows only stick-built houses with a minimum square footage. (No manufactured homes.) And it is very likely that their CC&Rs would also frown on ham antenna arrays. (A big shiny Yagi might look like a thing of beauty to you, but probably not to the HOA [4] busybodies.) Perhaps you could buy some land outside of the HOA development, but nearby so that you could still interact with the community for barter purposes.
Next, look farther east, around the Big Smoky Valley area [5], north of Tonopah, Nevada. There is some nice land on the northwestern edge of the valley–with year-round creeks and a few trees–that adjoins the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. Keep the faith, and proceed with prayer. If God wants you to be anywhere in particular, he will open doors for you.