3hrs from nowhere? That puts you right smack in the middle of the Rockies. You can travel from Fort Collins to Pueblo in 3hrs. Can't find a single club in between there? You can get from Denver to Trinidad in 3hrs. Are you 3hrs from Fort Collins? 3hrs in any direction puts you within 45 minuets or an hour from the closest field. Colorado is peppered with flying clubs. They are everywhere. In all honesty, I think this is a BS post. You can't be 3hrs from the nearest club, no matter where you live in Colorado. It's just not possible. So, I think it's an excuse to go it alone and try to learn to fly without joining a club. I highly recommend you just knuckle up and go find a club.
The premise that your 3hrs from nowhere is simply untrue. Unless you live 25 miles up a dirt road on the backside of the continental divide and it takes a Hummer and 3 bulldozers to get down the driveway in the wintertime--your NOT 3hrs from a club. Can't be.
I appreciate all of the advice, but take it easy on the accusations, huh? I've got better things to do than start a BS post. Fact of the matter is, you hit the nail on the head with your description of where I live (you know, after you said that living 3 hours from nowhere is simply untrue)! I DO live 25+ miles up a dirt road that, what do you know, is up on the backside of the Continental Divide (hence being at 9000 feet). I live on a ranch, and yes, in the winter it's not uncommon that we have to take 6 hours to use the backhoe and tractor to dig out the 1/4 mile of our driveway to the nearest plowed road. Actually, that will be worse this year because we just built a new home about a 1/2 mile further down the driveway, so it may take all day to plow out now! But, sorry, we don't have a Hummer. Most of the time in the winter we just have to use snowmobiles to get around the ranch when the trucks can't make it through the snow (we average about 280" of snow a year). So your description was spot on - way to go! You have to remember that mileage means nothing in the mountains - there's no going 65 mph on the dirt roads up here!
You are right on one fact though - after looking into it further, the nearest flying club that I could locate is not 3 hours away. It's only 2 to 2 1/2 hours away (Steamboat Springs). But doing 4 hours of driving in a day is more than I can do just to get to an instructor. Working a ranch is a 12 hour a day job, 7 days a week. Hence, the reason I would like to be able to teach myself to fly.
Regardless of the fact that you think I'm full of it, thanks for the help. I know that flying at altitude is going to be tough, but the other option is to not fly at all. When I do take the time to drive to a place like Steamboat or Fort Collins, I'll make sure I take my plane and track down an instructor at a club. But that trip only happens once every month or two, so it's not a good "learn to fly" plan.