Post 01089
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The Chinook wind is a Westerner. Similar though less far-reaching winds blow in the mountains of Europe and Asia. In the West, and especially the Northwest, it has a happy and important place, and the climate of this region cannot be comprehended without understanding the influence of the Chinook wind.
Every snow-fall caused a snow-slide to rush down Bobtail Gulch. This run-off of snow was as regular as the run-off of storm-water. The snow which accumulated at the head of this gulch was a danger to the trail below, and if the snow showed the slightest hesitation to “run” when the storm had ended, a miner from a neighboring mine started it by rolling a few stones into it or by exploding a stick of dynamite near by.
During my stay at a miners’ boarding-house in the San Juan Mountains a heavy snow-fall came to a close. “Has the Greagory run yet?” inquired the foreman of one of the miners. “No.” “Better start it, then.” Ten minutes later fifty thousand tons of snow went plunging down Greagory Gulch.