The county roads out past Steamboat Springs run between irrigated hay meadows that go emerald in July and disappear under white by Thanksgiving. Rocky Mountain Earth Services keeps both versions of that ground in hand: mowing, trimming and cleanups through the short, generous mountain summer, then plowing and shoveling once the valley goes quiet and cold. Long ranch driveways and steep pitches are their own particular puzzle, and working one out properly is a satisfaction that does not wear off. Grass cut clean to the edge in August, gravel showing again after a February storm — the same instinct, different weather.