It was barely past 6 AM when Ryan woke me up, pulled anchor, and got us underway this morning.
We were not the only ones on the water that early, and we saw several working boats, including the cruise ship above, visible between Shrubby Island and Bushy Island (who names these things?), and the purse seiner below.
We knew we must be getting close to civilization! The trip to Wrangell wove a circuitous path through the many islands, but there was a moment when we came around Zarembo Island, looked up the Stikine Strait, and saw the tall, snowy mountains of our Alaska.
Ryan practiced his parallel parking, slotting us into a tight side-tie berth on the downtown transient dock in Wrangell. I don’t know if you can see it, but there are little plants on top of each of the wharf piles. It’s hard to tell if it’s on purpose, but I can’t see how every pole would get an identical plant otherwise. There are some interesting characters on the dock with us. A couple young men from Ketchikan were moving furniture onto their fishing boat behind us, local families were coming and going in their run-abouts, and Ryan met a woman with a parrot that could wolf-whistle and was potty-trained (both skills were demonstrated).
While Ryan ran boat-maintenance errands in town, I walked around the coast to see the petroglyph beach park. There were interpretive signs on an overlook above the beach, but no markers in the park itself to identify the petroglyphs - they challenged you to find as many of the 40 known petroglyphs as you could on your own. After 15 minutes, I had found none, and was beginning to get frustrated and think unkind thoughts about the people who thought it was a good idea not to identify the rock carvings. After I found the first one, though, I began to relax and enjoy the experience. It’s a beautiful setting.
I didn’t find anywhere near 40, but I did find 6, maybe 7. The temperature was in the 70s, so in the end I actually had to give up the hunt because I got too hot, if you can believe it!
When I got back to town, I met up with Ryan and we finished the rest of our chores and shopping. While we waited for our deliveries, we hiked up Mt Dewey for a view of town. The trail isn’t long, but it’s quite an elaborate affair with stairs and boardwalks through the woods.
After the hike, it was time for a well-deserved beer at a bar near the marina. No one had to cook tonight, not when we could get a pizza from the take-away next to the laundromat. Clean clothes and a 12-inch combo supreme! The sun has gone down now, and we’ve just come back from a sunset walk where we were treated to another pink-sky-at-night-sailor’s-delight. Life isn’t too bad.
Comments