Friday, Aug. 12th - Wrangell, AK

We woke up early for our 8AM Alaska Airlines 'Milk Run' flight to Wrangell, AK, with a stop at Ketchikan. We returned our rental car, checked in, and had breakfast at the terminal. We also picked up sandwiches for our lunch later on.

We were supposed to land in Wrangell around 10:30 and had a 12:00 scheduled trip to Anan Creek with Breakaway Adventures. We figured out it would be a bit rushed but doable. However, after landing in Ketchican, we were notified by the crew that the plan can';t take off to Wrangell due to due to fog and visibility conditions there... I guess we kind of assumed Alaska Airlines jets were immune to summer weather issues, but apparently they are not!

We were actually told by the crew that fog-caused delays are common in SE Alaska in the summer, and that sometimes the plane has no choice but to continue directly to Anchorage... We were already contemplating such worst case scenarios, but luckily (?), after an hour and a half on the ground in Ketchican, we were given the green light to continue to Wrangell.

By the time we landed and reached downtown, it was 12:30 and our Breakaway Adventures tour to Anan has already left. Fortunately they were able to book us on a similar trip for the next day with Alaska Waters, which was very nice of them. On a hind sight we should have left more margin for the flight time – As it turned out, this was our only major 'planning glitch' and the rest of the trip went pretty much as planned.

In Wrangell we stayed in the Zimovia B&B which was very nice. Barb the owner picked us up from the airport and gave us a short orientation to the town. We checked into the B&B and had our lunch. Since we now had a free afternoon we decided to explore the town by foot.

Wrangell is a great little town and we liked it a lot. It is small enough for everyone to know each other but large enough for having most of the needed commerce and services, for residents and tourists alike. It is out of most cruise ship itineraries (they only get one large ship a week) so the town is not dominated by tourist hoards and run-of-the-mill tourist traps, and maintains an authentic feel.

We toured the one-street downtown area and confirmed our activities for the next day.

After that we walked to Petroglyph Beach (about 20 minute walk from downtown). By then the fog lifted and it became quite warm so on the way there we peeled most of our layers – this was our only t-shirt day in Alaska...

We enjoyed the beach a lot and had fun searching for the original glyphs on the black rocks. We also had great views of the many waterways and islands surrounding Wrangell.

After that we walked back to town and entered the Wrangell Museum which was very informative and well organized. It gives a very good background on the history of SE Alaska in general and Wrangell in particular, starting from the Tlingit era, through the Russian fur trade, the gold rush period, the logging and fishing industries, and the evolution of the local community throughout.

We spent about 40 minutes there, then checked out Shakes Island. The Tribal House was closed but we enjoyed walking around and looking at the totem poles there.

The town pretty much closes down between 5 to 6PM so we went back to our B&B, then went to dinner at the Stikine Inn restaurant which is pretty much the only serious restaurant in town for dinner (there are also few fast food joints and a café which didn't look too inviting). Dinner was very good and so was our first try of Alaskan beer. By then our jet lag fatigue kicked in big time again, so after dinner we retired early for a good night sleep.