During the record-breaking heat wave in Seattle this past week my thoughts turned to staying cool, which naturally led to fond memories of Stevens Pass in winter. On one such journey in January of 2008, I was all set up to capture an eastbound crossing the Skykomish River between Gold Bar and Index in the last minutes before the sun slipped behind a ridge... until the Seattle East DS radioed the train to inform them they would be stopping at Gold Bar for an hour because of MOW work at Skykomish. Frustrated, I fired off a couple shots of the scene and hiked back up to the road. It wasn't until I reviewed my photos after returning home that I realized that even without a train, I had captured a memorable portrait documenting winter conditions in the lower reaches of the pass.
