A day of extremes – fun & floods
The weather forecast for both Carcross and Skagway this morning was for rain, at times heavy, but when I left home at 07:30 (Yukon time) it was cloudy but warm and dry. I carried some warmer clothes than the t-shirt and shorts I wore, but hoped that the forecast was wrong, as is so often the case. The rain started a few minutes down the highway, though.
The visibility at Bernard Lake, seen in the first photo, was still fairly decent, but at the White Pass summit and beyond to the US border station it was completely socked in, with as little as 100 feet visibility. Not a great day for the New Zealand group’s bus-train trip, but certainly not a waste of time and money either.
I was a few minutes early for my 08:00 (Alaska time) meeting with them, so drove over to the Dyea Road viewpoint to take this shot.
As always, it was great fun seeing everyone again, and introducing them to Kayla and Monty. A new shelter that just opened at the foot of the Railway Dock was just big enough for all of us to get out of the rain for 20 minutes until their bus from Chilkoot Charters showed up. Unfortunately, the weather was even worse going home, so their tour was nowhere near what I’d hoped for. At least they had great weather in Ketchikan yesterday, despite another forecast of rain.
The rain increased dramatically at Carcross in the early afternoon, and my driveway is rapidly washing away. Compared to what some of my neighbours are facing, though, a gravel driveway is pretty minor. With almost a month to go before the expected high water level, we’re already at near-record levels. Some abandoned cabins are already in the water, and a rise of another foot will be serious.
The water is now only 4-5 inches from the bottom of the railway bridge, perhaps 18 inches from the floors of several buildings. It rose that much in the 2 weeks I was on tour, so that could easily happen. A half-mile line of sandbags could protect the homes which are threatened in the near future, but nothing can protect the historic railway warehouse that now houses the Koolseen Centre, seen below, and the dock it sits on. 🙁
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