Wrangell

Wrangell and Anan Bears

From Ketchikan we ventured north to Wrangell, spending two nights out. The first night was spent at a sweet little fishing village called Meyers Chuck. Everyone was friendly. At 7:30 am a woman came knocking on our hull and asked if we wanted to buy fresh sticky buns. How could we resist. The gooey nut encrusted buns were delicious!

The second night was spent on the hook in Whaletail bay. It is a small bay shaped like a whale’s tail. One half of the bay dries at low tide while the other half makes for a great anchorage.

We are now 830 miles from Chehalis and have been gone 45 days.

Here is what the city guide says of Wranglle, “Wrangell, one of the most historic communities in Alaska, is the only town in the state to have been ruled by four nations: Tlingit, Russia, Britain, and the United States. While it has a wild and unruly past, Wrangell also has the reputation for being the “friendliest little town in Southeast Alaska.”

We are docked at a city run dock and are directly across from the historic Shakes Island. On the tiny island are the old tribal house and several totem poles. I can see four of them as I am typing. When the small cruise ships come into town there are children their selling garnets that they have mined.

There are two good grocery stores here as well as a few good restaurants.

We have had a definite improvement in the weather, although it is not sunny and dry.

Yesterday, we had the privilege of going to Anan Park to see Black and Brown Bears fishing for salmon. We took the jet boat “Alaskan Waters” and went down island for a hour’s ride. Then we hiked in about a half a mile to the bear observatory along the Anan Creek. We felt quite safe as our guide carried a rifle. Ha! It was thrilling to see bears at such a close distance. I took over 200 pictures. I haven’t seen Mark’s photos yet. I have posted “a few” on the Photo Album site: http://picasaweb.google.com/kiata.linda08

Today, Saturday, we are going to the town museum. I am also going to the library to use their computers for posting and getting my email.

I would like to stay here for several more days but I think the captain is getting antsy to go on north. We will see!