 I am standing on Wyoming Highway 70 that crosses the Sierra Madre Mountains between encampment and bags. Earlier this spring, this road was damaged by a massive landslide. When you hear the word landslide, your thoughts probably go to California's coast where million dollar homes are swept away every year. Wyoming's cold, semi-arid landscape probably doesn't immediately flash into your mind. However, with the right conditions, landslides are a very real possibility right here in the Cowboy State. In fact, landslides are one of the most common geologic hazards in Wyoming with some of the highest landslide densities in the country found within the state. The Wyoming Department of Transportation estimates that the approximate yearly cost to remove landslides from roads, maintain landslide damage roads, and to study or stabilize landslides is one million dollars per year. This year, the mountains experienced exceptional levels of snowpack and spring precipitation that saturated the soil. This combined with steep slopes, underlying bedrock, and limited vegetation to stabilize the slopes creates the perfect recipe for massive landslides such as the one you see here. In the battle of road versus landslide, the landslide usually wins by moving millions of tons of soil, rock, and vegetation. From the University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service, I'm Mae Smith, Exploring the Nature of Wyoming.