Icebound Plowing

About Icebound Plowing

Fishhook marks the low end of the Hatcher Pass road, where the pavement gives way to gravel and starts climbing into the Talkeetna Mountains toward the old Independence Mine workings. Icebound Plowing works the foothill driveways down here, where runoff from higher on the pass can refreeze across a driveway apron even on a day that never quite dropped below freezing up top. The crew treats those refreeze spots as their own separate job, chipping and sanding rather than just running a blade over what looks like ordinary snow but plows more like glass. Homes tucked against the base of the mountains get checked for drift buildup on their north-facing side, where the sun barely reaches all winter. By the time the morning's done, the driveways along the lower pass road are clear enough that the only ice left is the kind still waiting higher up.