Ketchikan to Wrangell

Lazy.

That's how I'd have to characterize the last few days. A couple of days of cruising, then a couple days of sitting around reading, doing a little work on the boat, eating a little too many cookies.

We ran from Ketchikan to Meyer's Chuck on day one, then on up to Wrangell on day two, where we decided to stay for three nights. Wrangell is authentic. A few small cruise ships stop here occasionally, but mostly this is a town where the world pretty much stops still.

Meyer's Chuck is the same, only on a MUCH smaller scale. Four people lived there this winter. It explodes to thirty or so during the height of the season. We saw Steve, whom we've met before. He first moved to Meyer's Chuck in 1946 when he was a kid. His dad did logging in the area. In 1961 he married and moved into a tiny house where he lives still - year round. He doesn't much care for Ketchikan (the city) any more. Get's there a few times a year. Food gets flown in from one of the markets along with mail on a weekly basis. They don't build people quite like this any more.

Weather has been on again off again snotty, making up for the nine days of sunshine on the trip up. I couldn't help rendering some pictures in black and white to capture a bit of the mood on the way here.

Be sure to click on the pix to see them large...

Leaving Bar Harbor Marina

Alaska Ferry Taku getting her bottom painted

Columbia underway in Clarence Strait (she's a beautiful ship)

 One of our favorite things to do in Meyer's Chuck is to take the walk, through the rain forest to the beach. It's hard to capture in photos how ancient and utterly green this place is.

Heading up to Wrangell we encountered sun, overcast, heavy rain and dramatic skies. Although some of the pictures are gloomy, we weren't!

The sun peeked out as we approached Wrangell. The first night, we stayed out on the "summer dock." The next two night's we'll spend in the harbor. I've included a couple of shots of the boat, in part because her designer (George Buehler) linked this blog to his web site (dieselducks.com) and asked me to feature the boat more. How could I refuse?

Approaching Wrangell

The view looking south from the "summer dock"

Next stop Petersburg...