Crews clearing Yellowstone road

Wed., July 21, 2004

Associated Press

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. – Work began Tuesday to clear away nearly football field-length mudslides that closed the park’s east entrance road and stranded 16 travelers.

Officials were optimistic the road — the most direct route into the park from Cody — would reopen by Friday. It was closed Sunday night after heavy rain loosened rock and soil from a mountainous area.

By late Tuesday, a significant amount of rock, mud and debris had been cleared away, Yellowstone officials said, but the road remained closed between the east gate and Sylvan Lake.

One vehicle trapped between mudslides had been removed. Another stuck in the rubble had been freed, while two others remained mired.

No unexploded ordnance from artillery used during the winter for avalanche control was found in the debris removed Tuesday – a concern for clean-up crews.

One woman traveling with relatives recounted a harrowing tale of driving around one mudslide – only to see another flowing across the road ahead of their Dodge Durango.

“It just looked like a lot of liquid mud coming down the side,” Callie Hess, of Colorado Springs, Colo., said. “It was very, very fast.”

They turned around, but the road was soon engulfed.

“We were trapped,” Hess said. “It was sheer and utter fright. We thought, ‘Just let us down this mountain, please.’ There was just no way.”

Hess said the Durango started to be scooped up by mud, so her husband, Michael, put it in neutral and steered it into a mountainside.

Hess was headed with her husband and brother- and sister-in-law on a two-day trip from Pocatello, Idaho, to Cody and back. Following them were Hess’ mother- and father-in-law and their grandchildren in a Chevrolet Suburban that also got bogged down.

“They had mud up to their windows as well,” Hess said. “We were trapped for two hours. We all had cell phones and all had no service.”

Rangers eventually arrived and the family crawled out through the windows. Hess said about a foot of mud flowed into the vehicle and she lost her shoes. She then sank up to her knees as she trudged away.

Showers and thunderstorms forecast through the weekend could hamper efforts.

The National Weather Service recorded 1.4 inches of rain over 24 hours in the area.

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