MIRROR LAKE, Utah — For the first time since early December, the Mirror Lake Highway is open to those traveling to Evanston, and the scene up there is much different than in the valleys.
It’s been the hottest week so far this year in Salt Lake, with 90 degree-plus temperatures in the valley driving many to try and cool off. Liberty Park was full of families playing on the splash pad to escape the first true heat of 2024.
But if you really want to cool off, you might want to make a drive an hour from the city up into the Uintahs.
A SNOWY WONDERLAND IN JUNE?
Mirror Lake Highway currently sits below 50 degrees and still showcases tons of snow with no cell phone service and only the open road to keep you company. But at a certain point, if you travel along the scenic byway, you might drive up and drive right back out because the road pretty much disappears.
That's the job of an intrepid group of Utah Department of Transportation workers to get it cleared.
“What they do, they open up all the other roads. This is the last road usually,” explained Todd Ovard, UDOT’s Kamas station supervisor.
Utahns are familiar with other roads that need help melting off, like Guardsman Pass and State Route 35 through Tabiona. Those roads are already clear with Ovard explaining that they “usually they use one blower to open up Guardsman, one blower to open up SR-35, we take three.”
A LABOR OF LOVE
Ovard and his crew have been clearing the road since before Memorial Day. and to say he loves his job is an understatement
“You're just a kid with a bigger sandbox,” he said while beaming, "and our sandbox just happens to be snow.”
Watching them work, you can understand why. The heavy machinery is a sight to see in operation.
Mesmerizing video below shows snowblowers clearing the Mirrow Lake Highway:
“What's fun about the snowblowers is, you take a look at it and then you're watching the snow fly 300 feet,” laughed Ovard, adding, “you ain't gonna see it again.”
The three blowers are actually borrowed from other parts of the state, along with the rest of the equipment, including a Snowcat from the Cottonwood Canyons and a grader from there as well.
“The dozer, just one of those things that every boy's dream of running.” said Ovard. “We're just the lucky few who gets to.”
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
While Ovard has worked for UDOT for 36 years, he isn’t the only one who has seen Mirror Lake Highway in all its forms.
“It's kind of different than your normal job you do every day,” said Tyler Page, who recently retired after 38 years. “Spent quite a few years of opening in the road.”
Page's claim to fame is that he’s cleared snow every single month of the year.
The goal is always to have it open around Memorial Day, but the truth is they are at the mercy of Mother Nature.
“I think it's been opened as early as right around the First of May," Page recalled. "I believe in my career, it went to the Ninth of July before we even got it open.”
There are over two months of potential days when the crews would need to get to work. However, they're not done just because the snow is cleared.
"One year, we opened the road and then on the 17th of June, we got three feet of snow up there,” said Page. “Seemed like we had to start over on it!”
HARD WORK AND PERSEVERANCE
While thee experienced crews make it look easy, it's a lot of work. This year, crews started before Memorial Day and worked systematically, at some point encountering several feet of snow still sitting over the roads.
Ovard talks below about process of knowing when it is time to plow:
“With this equipment time and perseverance, you can get it done.” Ovard said.
After crews finish the job, Mirror Lake Highway is still covered in a little bit of ice, which melts all the way off in about a day, allowing everyone to get back up to the mountains for summer.
“Open season for everybody,” Ovard said.
This year's work is complete and it is a job well done, even though Ovard may have wanted a few more miles of road to plow.
“Yeah, this is my happy place.” he said. “You take a job like this just for this reason, really.”
