Journal 1: Why We Created This Blog

When singing about his discovery of the Rocky Mountains, John Denver claimed to have "come home to a place he had never been before".(1) That’s how we felt when we stumbled upon Cuchara, Colorado. While traveling west on Highway 160, we saw a scenic highway sign pointing south called Highway of Legends (Highway 12). We turned around and decided to explore the unknown. 

Dog Bar & Grill in the Cuchara Village 

After climbing up and out of the high desert, Highway 12 dropped us into an oasis of rushing rivers, lush green forests, and the hidden valley called Cuchara. After repeated visits, we fell in love with this little village and started looking for a cabin to purchase in the Pinehaven community nestled in the forest at the foot of Raspberry Mountain. 

The phrase "Pinehaven" implies a touch of heaven among the pines. The Ponderosa, Limber, Lodgepole, and Bristlecone pines of the area evoke a peaceful and nature-filled setting. Each Ponderosa pine around our cabin feels like a sentinel guarding memories not yet made and stories nearly forgotten. We found what we considered the perfect cabin to share with our children and create unforgettable memories with our grandchildren. 

Being a curious soul, I started doing research on this place that I loved. You may be wondering why a person would write a blog about an obscure cabin community in the forest. There are several reasons.

Preserve History

When we bought our cabin in early 2021, we were simply curious about the story behind this place called Pinehaven. While information about Cuchara, the surrounding valley, and a few early families was available, we found that very little had been gathered in one place. Much of Pinehaven’s history seemed to exist only in conversations, not in any archive. What we did uncover was scattered: bits of memory, brief mentions in old papers, and personal recollections that risked being lost over time.

Oral traditions and personal experiences can evaporate in a single generation. Once the people who lived are gone, so are their stories unless they’re preserved. Records may have existed but were never maintained, paper decays, languages die, and archives are lost. When storytellers die without sharing those stories, knowledge dies with them. I want my family to know why this forest is so special and to feel connected to those who have forged its history. I want the cabin to speak.  

This blog was created as a way to document Pinehaven’s story, present careful research, and curate its history in one accessible digital archive. Our goal isn’t to replace printed or oral histories, but to complement them and preserve Cuchara and Pinehaven’s story in a format that can be easily found, freely shared, and safeguarded for future generations who love these mountains as much as we do.

Provide Context

The present is always a product of the past. In almost every area of our lives, we are building on foundations laid by those who have gone before us. Cuchara has a rich history of gritty and hard-working homesteaders who suffered pain and experienced joy while taming the land. I have an appreciation for this special village and the people who fashioned the ground beneath us. Knowing history isn’t just behind us, it lives through us, I want to document the forces that continue to shape the future. 

History often reveals why the world is the way it is from borders and beliefs to conflicts and customs. Understanding the 'why' often brings clarity to the 'what’. We live in a world that thinks history begins the day we walk into a room, buy a house, or start a new job. But the village of Cuchara and the Pinehaven community are the product of the courage, sacrifice, love, loss, dedication, and even pain that thrived in the past. Trying to exist separated from that context robs us of gratefulness and a true sense of community. Author William Faulkner said it best writing, "The past is never dead. It’s not even past."(2)

Tell Stories

Scenic Highway 12 isn’t called Highway of Legends for nothing. Every mile is steeped in the kind of beauty and history that inspires unforgettable stories. From homesteaders who crossed the Continental Divide in covered wagons to gunslingers and Wild West adventures, Cuchara is a treasure chest of stories. It boasts the danger and peril of conflicts with nature, tribes, oppression from powerful coal companies, train tracks forged through the Rocky Mountains, and explorers blazing trails that have become today’s paved roads.

Highway of Legends Scenic Byway 12

My wife, Rhonda, and I love this valley so much that we decided not to rent out the cabin. We want it to be available at any time to share with our adult children and grandchildren. I want my kids and grandkids to know the cabin as a place of adventure, rest, peaceful bliss, and lasting memories. Knowing the over 500 years of history and the stories behind this wonderful place will give them a greater appreciation for the things that matter most. 

In short, the desire to understand history springs from a deep human need for identity, meaning, and connection. We didn’t create this blog just to tell a story. We created it to leave a trail our grandchildren can follow whenever they need to remember who they are and where they came from.

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Footnotes

Parenthetical numbers in the text (e.g., 5) correspond to the sequentially numbered citations listed below.

1. John Denver, Rocky Mountain High, RCA Records, 1972. 

2. William Faulkner, Requiem for a Nun (New York: Random House, 1951), Act I, Scene III.