{"id":5569,"date":"2023-11-01T09:57:11","date_gmt":"2023-11-01T16:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/?p=5569"},"modified":"2023-11-01T09:58:14","modified_gmt":"2023-11-01T16:58:14","slug":"it-can-take-all-day-to-clear-100-miles-of-road-in-wyomings-little-siberia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/2023\/11\/01\/it-can-take-all-day-to-clear-100-miles-of-road-in-wyomings-little-siberia\/","title":{"rendered":"It Can Take All Day To Clear 100 Miles Of Road In Wyoming\u2019s \u2018Little Siberia\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>It&#8217;s interesting that we just toured this region of &#8220;Little Siberia&#8221; a couple weeks ago (Cowboy State Daily article below). We were trying to make it to the forest below Laramie Peak, but the road turned to 4&#215;4 trail and a stream crossing became a bit much for our Subaru with no recovery gear. Though it was beautiful country and amazingly miles and miles of gravel and dirt roads. Technically we did make it into the national forest before turning back, but we&#8217;ll have to try it from the north next time and see if we can make it in with the Subaru. Consequently, I&#8217;m always amazed at how there are such huge areas of undeveloped territory in Wyoming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Rolling Snow after the Spring Blizzard of 2023    ROCK RIVER RADIO\" width=\"1290\" height=\"726\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EEtH6HAnJoQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cowboystatedaily.com\/2023\/10\/30\/it-can-take-all-day-to-clear-100-miles-of-road-in-wyomings-little-siberia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/cowboystatedaily.com\/2023\/10\/30\/it-can-take-all-day-to-clear-100-miles-of-road-in-wyomings-little-siberia\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-ub-divider ub_divider ub-divider-orientation-horizontal\" id=\"ub_divider_144e8ee6-4807-47cf-9b03-e03f485064a0\"><div class=\"ub_divider_wrapper\" style=\"position: relative; margin-bottom: 2px; width: 100%; height: 2px; \" data-divider-alignment=\"center\"><div class=\"ub_divider_line\" style=\"border-top: 2px solid #ccc; margin-top: 2px; \"><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Plow crews out of Rock River, Wyoming, call the remote stretches of northern Albany County \u201cLittle Siberia\u201d because of howling winds and frequent whiteout conditions there. It can take all day to plow roughly 100 miles of road.<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>By Mark Heinz<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>October 30, 20234 min read<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cowboystatedaily.imgix.net\/Fetterman-Roac-Plow-line-10.30.23.jpeg?ixlib=js-3.8.0&amp;q=75&amp;auto=format%2Ccompress\" alt=\"Snow plows that travel into the isolated areas of north Albany County travel in groups in case something goes wrong.\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Snow plows that travel into the isolated areas of north Albany County travel in groups in case something goes wrong. (Photo Courtesy Ronny Newkirk)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Heading out from the Albany County Road and Bridge Department shop in Rock River, plow drivers always use the buddy system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s because a solo venture into northern Albany County \u2014 a region the crew calls \u201cLittle Siberia\u201d \u2014 would be absolutely foolhardy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t go out there by yourself, because if you have a breakdown or you get stuck there would be no getting back,\u201d crew supervisor Ronnie Newkirk told Cowboy State Daily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead, they go out in groups of three full-sized road graders. They\u2019re tailed by a pickup carrying ranchers\u2019 mail, as well as groceries and other supplies that people living in one of Wyoming\u2019s most remote areas might need. And sometimes, another pickup carries spare fuel for the graders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere have been times when we\u2019d have three of those big, yellow machines (graders) going 40 yards apart, and we couldn\u2019t see each other,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Newkirk leads a crew of three that\u2019s responsible for clearing and maintaining 266 miles of gravel road, including the routes in to and out of Little Siberia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Forget About Fetterman Road<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rock River itself is remote enough as it is. Roughly 40 miles north of Laramie, the tiny town of about 250 is the only other incorporated municipality in Albany County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fetterman Road, which is improved gravel, takes off from the highway a little way out of town. During the temperate months, it\u2019s the main route in and out of the county\u2019s northern reaches, a vast region dotted here and there with isolated homesteads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But during winter, the winds in Little Siberia get so vicious, there\u2019s really <a href=\"https:\/\/cowboystatedaily.com\/2023\/10\/28\/isolated-wyoming-ranchers-want-to-build-one-room-schoolhouse\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><u>no point in even trying to plow Fetterman Road<\/u><\/a>, Albany County Road and Bridge Department Superintendent Rob Fisher recently told Cowboy State Daily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, to keep residents from being completely cut off from the world, the Rock River crew plows an alternative route along Palmer Canyon Road and Garrett Road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>\u2018Fight It Out And Fight It Back\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Round trip, it doesn\u2019t add up to even 100 miles, but it frequently takes all day to plow that route, Newkirk said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s because the crew usually has to work the road both ways. The wind is so strong and so steady, it blows snow right back over the road almost as quickly as they plow it, Newkirk said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that\u2019s why the mail and fuel supply pickups must stay on the plows\u2019 tail. Otherwise, they would surely get stranded in the middle of nowhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMany times last winter we would leave the shop at 6 a.m. \u2014 fight it out and fight it back \u2014 and put in a 13-hour say,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During a normal winter, or at least \u201cnormal\u201d by Little Siberia standards, the crew makes the trek a few times each week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The winter of 2022-2023 was especially bad, and Newkirk hopes that Mother Nature doesn\u2019t put on a repeat performance this winter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cLast winter, we had to go out every day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>\u2018It Can Get Fun\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not surprisingly, it\u2019s difficult to keep a full crew ready to go at the Rock River Shop, Newkirk said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cLast winter, we had only three of us. We usually have four, but a couple of guys retired,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to find people who want to go out there and fight it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As challenging as the job can be, Newkirk said the crew is well-backed by the Road and Bridge Department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt can get fun out there. But we do have good equipment, and that helps,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s interesting that we just toured this region of &#8220;Little Siberia&#8221; a couple weeks ago (Cowboy State Daily article below). We were trying to make it to the forest below Laramie Peak, but the road turned to 4&#215;4 trail and a stream crossing became a bit much for our Subaru with no recovery gear. Though [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world"],"blocksy_meta":[],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Jason","author_link":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/author\/jturning\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5569"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5571,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5569\/revisions\/5571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}