Out past the mesas the county roads run long, and snow blows in sideways off open ground with nothing to slow it. BWD Construction turns its machinery toward that problem when the temperature drops, pushing lots, lanes and driveways back to bare gravel around Pagosa Springs. There is a real satisfaction in the finished shape of a cleared yard — square corners, banks stacked where they will not drift back in, room enough for a trailer to swing wide. Winter here can arrive in October and hang on into April, so the equipment stays ready and the routes stay learned. When a storm finally quits, the ground underneath is already open.