Sugar Pine Lodge puts you in standing timber at 11,194 ft, 25 mi from Breckenridge and a short drive from the Kite Lake trailhead where four 14ers start from one parking lot, with a wood-burning stone fireplace, a WindRiver hot tub on the upper deck, and a poker room downstairs that earns its keep on a weather day.

The Space
This three-bedroom log home is built for anyone who wants genuine seclusion without giving up the mountain town. The Great Room is the reason people book it: lofted ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows framing the white-capped peaks, and a stone fireplace built for real wood rather than a switch. The kitchen carries granite counters and full-size appliances and opens onto the dining area, so nobody ends up cooking alone. A loft reading nook sits down the hall from the top floor master, and the three bedrooms hold four queen beds between them, so nobody shares a bed unless they want to. There is also a proper work station with dual monitors, which is not something you find in a cabin at this elevation. The peaks are visible from the Great Room, the dining room, the upper deck, the lower porch, and the recreation room.

The Layout
* Four queen beds across three bedrooms, plus bunk beds in the poker room
* Top Floor Master Suite: Queen bed, flat-screen TV, en-suite bath, huge walk-in closet
* Main Level Bedroom: Queen bed, newly upgraded furniture
* Lower Level Bedroom: Two queen beds
* 3 Full Bathrooms - two with dual sinks and tub/shower combinations in custom slate
* Loft Reading Nook (Upstairs): quiet corner down the hall from the upstairs master
* Great Room: wood-burning stone fireplace, lofted ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows
* Recreation Room (Lower Level): gas stove, large flat-screen TV with Dish and streaming
* Poker Room (Lower Level): poker table, full-size wet bar with bar fridge, microwave, bar sink, and bunk beds
* Kitchen: granite counters, full-size appliances, open to the dining area
* Upper deck with WindRiver hot tub, plus a covered lower porch
* Full-size washer and dryer
* Work station with dual monitors
* Wi-Fi throughout

The Rumpus Room
The lower level is where this house earns its reputation. A recreation room with a gas stove and a big flat-screen with Dish and streaming, and beside it a separate poker room with a poker table, a full wet bar with bar fridge, microwave and bar sink, and bunk beds in the corner for whoever claims them first.
A wood-burning stone fireplace upstairs and a gas stove downstairs means both floors can have a fire going at once. There are enough separate rooms here that the card game, the movie and the early sleepers can all happen at the same time, which is usually the whole point of getting everyone under one roof. And when the weather turns, which it does up here, nobody ends up staring at the same four walls all afternoon.

The 14ers
Alma sits at the bottom of one of the most concentrated pieces of high country in Colorado, and Sugar Pine sits above Alma. The Kite Lake trailhead up the road starts the DeCaLiBron, four fourteen-thousand-foot summits from a single parking lot: Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, and Bross. Quandary Peak is a short drive the other way over Hoosier Pass. Most people who climb these leave the Front Range at three in the morning and hike on no sleep at an altitude their body has never seen. You can wake up at 11,194 ft, eat breakfast, and reach the trailhead before the lot fills. Past Kite Lake the same road carries on to the Bristlecone Pines and Mosquito Pass, and Montgomery Reservoir and the old mine ruins are close enough for an easy afternoon.
In winter the same geography works differently. Breckenridge is 25 mi north over Hoosier Pass, with Keystone, Copper, and Vail all within range of a day trip, and the road is kept open. When the snow is thin at the resorts, Hoosier Pass and the surrounding Pike National Forest are still open for snowmobiling, snowshoeing, and cross-country, and the ice fishing southwest of Fairplay does not care what the resorts are reporting.

Outside
The upper deck holds the WindRiver hot tub with a long view down the valley, and the covered lower porch catches the afternoon sun. Mature timber surrounds the home on every side, which is what gives the deck and the hot tub their privacy. Moose, elk, and deer come through the property; one guest was met by a moose in the driveway on the way in. At 11,194 ft with no town glow anywhere nearby, the night sky does things most people have never seen.

Nearby
* Alma (Colorado's highest incorporated town, dining and shopping) - ~5 mi
* Montgomery Reservoir - ~7 mi
* Kite Lake Trailhead (Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln, Bross) - ~10 mi
* Hoosier Pass - ~10 mi
* Fairplay Historic Mining Town (groceries, gas, dining, South Park City museum) - 10 mi
* Quandary Peak Trailhead - ~15 mi
* Breckenridge Ski Resort - 25 mi N
* Keystone - ~40 mi
* Copper Mountain - ~45 mi
* Vail - ~65 mi

A Few Things to Know
* 11,194 ft in the Central Rockies. Elevation and weather are worth considering, and most people need a day to adjust. Take the first one slow and drink more water than feels necessary.
* Four-wheel drive with adequate snow tires, or chains, is required November through May. The last stretch in is an unlit dirt road. Park County maintains the access road on its own schedule; we clear the driveway. Access is easy in summer and four-wheel drive is not needed then.
* The fireplace burns real wood. Bring firewood with you, or pick some up in Alma or Fairplay on the way in.
* Well water system; taste, smell, and mineral content can vary with time of year and usage.
* Rural high alpine mountain environment where wildlife, insects, and rodents may be encountered.
* No pets at this time.
* Vacation rental agreement signed at booking.