URS Retirees Share Their Stories | Mike Hylland

Reaching New Heights of Retirement Adventure

From mountains to music, his URS benefits elevate a retirement of projects and peaks.

“I loved my job, but now I love that my time is my own.”

Mike Hylland has a vision to climb the highest peaks in all 50 states. But, before he could embrace that dream, URS helped inspire a vision of what retirement could be.

“I started going to URS workshops within my first five years on the job,” he says. “And every few years after that, just to keep those thoughts in my head.”

Mike worked more than 30 years with the Utah Geological Survey, rising to deputy director before retiring in 2024 at age 63.

Days Filled With People and Projects

Mike keeps a weekly schedule — not out of necessity, but to bring rhythm and variety to each day. One morning he’s tackling a house project. Another day he’s meeting friends at a coffee shop book group, discussing science, philosophy, and religion. Then there’s his music — guitar, bass, drums — sometimes jamming with his son’s band, sometimes picking bluegrass with friends, often volunteering at church.

He and his wife hit the road regularly in the travel trailer they bought using a partial lump sum from his URS benefit. “We’re not extravagant,” Mike says. “But we travel a lot and live comfortably.”

A Geology Travelogue

Some of those travels are part of a long-term goal: to visit the highest geographic point in all 50 U.S. states. Mike is 37 peaks in and climbing. “Some are mountains, some are hills, and some barely rise off the ground,” he says, laughing. “But they all have a geologic story.” He’s now writing a book that tells those stories in plain language — a kind of geology travelogue, decades in the making. “URS didn’t just help me retire,” Mike said. “They helped me see retirement as something to look forward to — and plan for — right from the start.”