Wind in the Cottonwoods

We slept in this morning and awoke to a beautiful sunny day.  

We had a leisurely breakfast of eggs & chorizo, did a few boat chores, and then headed downtown.   We had a train to catch!

Today's main event was the train ride up the White Pass route into Canada and then back.   The train departed at 1300 (1:00pm) and slowly (maybe 15 miles an hour) wound its way up the steep route to the pass.   This is a narrow-gauge railway as the steep terrain made it difficult to put in a standard-width rails.  The rails are only 3' apart.   The route is very twisty and anything but smooth.   And then there's the scenery. 

Whoa!   Very steep sides, I est. 50–60-degree slopes and much steeper in some areas.   The grade is about 4% which is steep for a train, but not too bad.   About 20 miles to gain 2,880' of elevation.   On the way up, we saw numerous small waterfalls as the water just pours off the mountains everywhere.   There were a few larger waterfalls and two sizable rivers to cross.  The river water is extraordinarily silty and a milky pale blue color, I'm guessing that is from the high elevation glaciers of which there are many.

We obviously started at sea level; Skagway is essentially in a thick cottonwood and mountain ash forest (no willow trees), then as we gained elevation we got into the spruce, cedar, & hemlock, and then we were at tree line where only stumpy pine-type trees and bushes grow, and finally we high enough that only lichens, rock, and snow patches were around.

As we neared the top and White Pass itself, the train parallels the original White Pass Trail that the miners used in 1897 & 1898.   I can't imagine hauling 2,000lbs of supplies up to the summit, just because the Canadian government required it.  While that regulation probably saved a lot of miner's lives, it also put many miners in danger as they tried climbing these 20 miles many times hoping to succeed. the overall route would take them weeks to complete.

The tower is the boundary between the US and Canada.

The train crossed the chasms on these old wood trestle bridges.  In the pictures, you can see a newer bridge and an old one.   The old one has a bit of an air-gap problem!

We returned to the boat about 1600 just as the afternoon winds started to pick-up.   Now I know why the natives named this place Shgeguay (place of wind and whitecaps).   I suspect what we are experiencing is katabatic wind.   Katabatic winds are basically the result of cold dense air falling down the mountainsides from high altitudes.   In this case, the high altitudes contain the mountain ice fields.  Katabatic winds go by different names in different regions, Sirocco, Santanas, Santa Annas, Boras, Williwaws, Meltemis, and I'm sure a lot more.

It's howling out there even as I type.   We are getting a steady 25kts gusting to near 50kts.   It's not pleasant.  Fortunately, it isn't dangerous, it will just mess up my hair.

We cleared everything off the back deck, took down the national ensign (US flag), and battened down the rest.   Then we read books all afternoon.

At 1800, the clouds moved in and now we have pouring rain along with the winds.   I get two beautiful days of sun and now I want more.   Oooh, a gust just hit 60+kts.   No pictures as there is nothing to see.  The rain just abated a bit as did the wind.   We will see how this plays out tonight.

Tomorrow, we are either staying put (if the weather is lousy) or heading to Auke Bay at the north end of Juneau.   It's a 75-mile run down there so we will leave really early in the morning.   It will take us about 11 hours to make this transit - if we have no adverse current.

We are not going out tonight.   Looks like Korean BBQ chicken over rice with some sort of vegetables.  It should be yummy.   I have high expectations.  Karen claims I just like to eat. 

The wind died completely and now it's just rain.   That's a good thing...