Spokane Plow

About Spokane Plow

Out at Riverside State Park the basalt cliffs of the Bowl and Pitcher hold the cold long after the sun clears the rim above them. Spokane Plow works the access roads and driveways near there right as dawn breaks over the rim, when the rock is still black with frost and the river below runs slate gray under a skin of shore ice. The formations block the early sun from half the road some mornings, so the crew clears by feel as much as sight, going slow where the shadow line falls across the gravel. Once the sun does clear the rim, the whole stretch turns gold at once, cliffs and river and cleared road together. It's a striking place to start a shift, and the crew has come to expect that light more than they expect the cold.