296 REPORT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



elevations, each of which we had considered would take us to the summit 

 of the pass, was most interesting. 



There is so much sameness here and such a lack of definite land- 

 marks that it is difficult to follow the trail after snow has fallen. One 

 is much impressed with the danger and difficulty that a traveler would 

 encounter in crossing the summit during a storm. The summit is some 

 2 miles wide and is about 25 miles from Valdez. The trail down into 

 Dutch Valley, which is a sort of basin to which the mountain sides 

 slope in the direction of Keystone Canon, takes a somewhat winding 

 course, but the grade is gradual. A portion of the trail had caved off, 

 in one place leaving a narrow ledge close to the bank from the side of 

 which the trail had been cut. There was room on this ledge for a 

 horse without a pack, but an animal with a large pack would likely be 

 crowded over the bank, which was about 15 feet high. Two horses 

 with large loads had been crowded over the bank the day before we 

 passed. Our horses had very small packs now, and it was considered 

 safe to take them across without unpacking. This opinion proved to 

 be correct. A little farther on a glacial stream had to be forded. 

 This stream was not deep, but the bed was lined with bowlders, over 

 and around which the water rushed rapidly. Formerly there was a 

 bridge here, but high water had carried it away. There is some very 

 fair timber in this part of the valley, a scattering growth of grass, and 

 the undergrowth that is common along the southeast coast of Alaska. 

 A few small garden spots may be found here, but there is no extent of 

 farming land. The soil is a disintegrated granite and in most places 

 is stony. 



We had intended to stop for the night at Workman's road house, 

 some 18 miles from Valdez. On reaching this place, however, we 

 learned that the Bertha was due to sail from Valdez the next day. 

 The moon was at the full, and as there was a prospect that our good 

 weather would not last much longer we concluded to travel by moon- 

 light. After allowing the horses to rest for several hours we started, 

 about 9 o'clock, on the last stage of our journey to Valdez. The moon 

 shone dimly through a thin layer of cloud, giving sufficient light to 

 enable one to follow the trail without difficulty. 



The scenery in the canyon was impressive. There was no wind stir- 

 ring, and the moonlight striking through the clouds gave a sort of weird 

 appearance to objects along the trail, which winds back and forth 

 along the wall of the canyon, now approaching the river and again 

 going from it. The night was filled with the sound of rushing waters, 

 and the mountain streams, which in places fall almost perpendicularly 

 for several hundred feet, appeared like long bands of white upon the 

 mountain side. The effect is greatest at points on the trail where one 

 can look from some narrow ledge almost straight down on the river 

 far below. 



