Wrangell - hidden gem

As we steam north on the M.V.Matanuska heading from Wrangell to Haines via Juneau, we reflected on our three days in Wrangell,  a small settlement given over to fishing, shipping, timber and tourism.  Our first impression was one of a bleak and raw town but we realised that this was not correct.  The people were warm and welcoming and we enjoyed the laid-back atmosphere, as damp and grey as the weather was.  We stayed at the Stikine Inn which is probably the best the town has to offer and as basic as the accommodation was, it was warm and comfortable and had a great restaurant which was very popular in the town.  This is a town where the huge cruise boats can’t reach because of a fairly shallow bay, subject to huge flooding from the Stikine River which runs back into Canada some 200kms plus to the headwaters.  Much of the Stikine is protected wilderness and we did a tour up the river with an extremely knowledgeable guide – Jim Leslie from Alaska Waters Tours.  We travelled up-river to the Canada border, some 60kms, to virgin wilderness looking for bears, moose and other wildlife.  It is some of the most beautiful country we have seen and showed off the Alaskan wilderness most effectively.  Spectacular waterfalls, racing river, eagles and nests and finally a huge black bear, which Jules spotted as we were returning.  We spied moose tracks, wolf tracks and bear tracks in one of the areas where these animals are commonly seen, but no live animals. 

Jim Leslie runs a shallow draft jet-boat, some 10 metres long, with twin Cummins diesels and Hamilton jets and seats up to 20 people, although we were joined by only 2 others on the Stikine River trip.  On the previous day, we toured with Jim to Petersburg and then to Le Conte glacier, in Le Conte Bay.  There were several more people on that tour, but we are still very early in the season.  There are still lots of icebergs and ice-flows floating in the waters and Le Conte Bay was choked with icebergs, so we needed the steel hull of the jet-boat to break through many difficult areas.  Jim, with his son James driving the boat, managed to get us to within 100metres or so of the face of the glacier which is quite spectacular, particularly when it is ‘calving’ – large pieces of the face of the glacier breaking away and falling into the bay with a thunderous roar.  During our time in Le Conte Bay, we encountered a whale which dived as we passed and we saw the tail as it disappeared into the depths. 

  We have been very impressed with the service and hospitality of all we have come across.  Not just hospitality staff, but everybody we’ve met has been friendly and helpful and keen to talk and also to listen.  The hospitality staff everywhere have been keen to please, change orders or menu items to almost all requests and have done so without query.  Of course, they’re not particularly well paid and work hard for tips, but they certainly aim to please.  We have often chosen to share meals because the serves are huge, so often a main course and salad has been more than enough for the two of us.  Hopefully we can manage to get back with as little addition to weight limits as possible.  The fish has been fresh, but fruit has been a little difficult to find as it’s all shipped in.  Halibut and salmon are common and very tasty and fresh.  Prices are quite reasonable, particularly considering the enormous serves.

Currently we’re about to dock in Juneau on our way to Haines and it will be interesting to see whether any cruise boats are in town as they regularly disgorge 3000 people each into towns of quite small size and there may be several cruise boats in town at the same time – a frightening prospect.