Storm Light
The Alaska Railroad's Glacier Discovery train from Whittier works north headed back to Anchorage after passing the Girdwood Passenger station. Moments earlier a rainbow filled the Girdwood Valley but now dark storm clouds are shrouding the Chugach Mountains as the train finds a bit of sun to cast it's reflection in the saline ponds that have pickled the stand of dead trees seen behind the train. These trees comprise a "ghost foreat" that are a legacy from the terrible Good Friday 1964 earthquake that dropped the land here several feet all those decades ago. When the land dropped the forest floor ended up below the water table allowing the salt water from Turnagain Arm to permeate the soil. As the roots of the trees drew in the water it slowly killed them, but also served to preserve them and prevent rot allowing for this tangible reminder to remain after so many decades.
This is one of the best "storm light" images I've ever shot and to this day it remains my all time most popular image in Railpictures.net an is in fact the 69th most popular of of over 675 thousand images there! Weird I know...popularity is a subjective thing and doesn't always make sense.
Girdwood, Alaska
Sunday July 27, 2008
Storm Light
The Alaska Railroad's Glacier Discovery train from Whittier works north headed back to Anchorage after passing the Girdwood Passenger station. Moments earlier a rainbow filled the Girdwood Valley but now dark storm clouds are shrouding the Chugach Mountains as the train finds a bit of sun to cast it's reflection in the saline ponds that have pickled the stand of dead trees seen behind the train. These trees comprise a "ghost foreat" that are a legacy from the terrible Good Friday 1964 earthquake that dropped the land here several feet all those decades ago. When the land dropped the forest floor ended up below the water table allowing the salt water from Turnagain Arm to permeate the soil. As the roots of the trees drew in the water it slowly killed them, but also served to preserve them and prevent rot allowing for this tangible reminder to remain after so many decades.
This is one of the best "storm light" images I've ever shot and to this day it remains my all time most popular image in Railpictures.net an is in fact the 69th most popular of of over 675 thousand images there! Weird I know...popularity is a subjective thing and doesn't always make sense.
Girdwood, Alaska
Sunday July 27, 2008