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Gene Kennedy Reporting Some hikers are just getting home after being stranded up Big Cottonwood Canyon. Last night a mix of rain and lightning caused real concerns in some areas.
The storm shut down the main road through Big Cottonwood Canyon overnight. It's back open, but for hours it was a mess. The storm left three-foot high rock walls in the middle of the road, after water poured down the hillsides.
The rushing water brought mud and dirt into sections of Big Cottonwood Canyon Road. That clogged a stream and culvert, caused rock and debris to spill over onto the road, eroding part of the road and making it impassable.
Dep. Andy Arnn, Salt Lake Co. Sheriff's Office: "It was a dangerous amount of water. It looked like a smaller vehicle could have been swept over the side."
Fortunately no one was swept off the road. But at 10:00 last night people at the top of the canyon could not drive down. People heading up the canyon were stuck.
In fact, one motorist was stuck between two slides and waited it out while crews cleared the road. It took four hours for crews to clear all that rock.
But again, Big Cottonwood Canyon is open to all drivers this morning. The electronic signs on I-215 and the mouth of the canyon erroneously said the canyon was still closed.
