Avalanche on Utah's Highway 14 and Mile Marker 8 could have been true disaster

There is a saying that goes “The road to heaven is paved with good intentions” that with a little editing would seemingly fit the recent avalanche that closed Highway 14.

You see, Highway 14 from Cedar City, Utah east to Duck Creek and then to Highway 89 is the road to relief for so many people. It serves as our getaway route complete with beautiful scenery and cabins that serve as respites for weary souls.

However, what came down the south wall of Highway 14 at mile marker eight on the evening of Monday, Jan. 5, the road to Duck Creek and beyond could have very well been the disaster that most never thought about before.

The people of Cedar City and Duck Creek had just celebrated a glorious New Year’s weekend and as usual, the areas were the perfect escape for gatherings. Some headed for Duck Creek days before New Years to spend the time relaxing while leaving behind the previous year and praying for a better ’09.

Thankfully, most headed home Sunday and workers had already headed down the route earlier in the day.
The avalanche let go at least a day after most had headed home for the holiday. Its magnitude was measured by the fact that boulders were as big as cars and houses and the dirt was a deep as 10 feet in some places in a massive fall of earth, dirt and trees that covered an estimated 1,000 feet of roadway.

Photos of Highway 14 after the avalanche are evidence that this was not an ordinary landslide. This was serious as major media outlets rushed to the area that overlooks a deep canyon to record the scene of what could have been much worse than it was.

As many times as we all travel Highway 14 during our escapes to Duck Creek, I could not help but think about what could have been. Thankfully, the slide did not occur when people were going either east or west on Highway 14 especially after a busy holiday weekend.

“We came down about 3:30 in the afternoon headed for St. George to make a Costco run,” said a relieved Cindy Allen, who along with her fiancé Rudy Delapaz traveled Highway 14 headed home at about 8 p.m. “We had dinner at Milt’s. Thankfully, we didn’t wait any longer before heading back up the mountain.”

In fact, two of Delapaz’s employees were among the first at the scene. They immediately retreated and headed back to Duck Creek. But had they been even minutes earlier, it end result could have been deadly.

The road is heavily traveled even during the slower periods and with both visitors and workers counting on the route constantly, most are traveling during the daylight hours. Those heading back to Cedar City from Duck Creek generally leave on Sunday sometime, so if an avalanche was supposed to occur, thank God it did not happen during “rush hour” on Highway 14.

I shudder to think what could have happened to many good, hard-working people who frequent Highway 14 throughout the year. While workers certainly have their hands full even having to dynamite boulders so big that they can’t move them with the biggest of heavy equipment, the end result could have been news that made headlines all over the nation and even the world.

When driving Highway 14, I spend so much time relaxing that I can only imagine what would have gone through my mind along Mile Marker 8 when the avalanche started. I have had my share of scares in my life ranging from brain surgery to a house fire, but an avalanche would undoubtedly surpass the other challenges.

I worry about snow storms while traveling to and from Duck Creek, but this could have made a blizzard seem like no big deal. Truth be known, an avalanche could have been tantamount to what people experienced when the Titanic went down.

So for every one of us who either travel Highway 14 or know people who do, it’s time to reflect and be thankful for what happened and what could have been.

And cross your heart every time you drive the area again because this particular avalanche could have been disastrous.
Thank God it required only heavy equipment to repair the damage and not emergency personnel responding to what was very close to being a disaster of monumental proportions.

Mike Henle is a Las Vegas-based freelance writer and the author of “Through the Darkness: One Man’s Fight to Overcome Epilepsy.” He can be contacted via email at mhenle@aol.com or through his web site www.mikehenle.com