I had neighbors when I returned to my camp from town a few days ago! I recognized their R-Pod camper from the ferry ride out of Prince Rupert. I coincidentally took a photo of them pulling off the ferry in Ketchikan while I was walking Tango.
Vickie and Jeremy live in Georgia, and this is their second trip to Alaska. They first traveled here a few summers ago. We are following a similar path, the ferry and then inland after Haines. They shared advice about campgrounds and the scenery that will unfold along the way. Tango and I walked with them and their dog Munchkin a few times. I feel blessed to have met them and Tango enjoys Munchkins company. Just as I was beginning to long for company, they appeared in the mist! They are moving on tonight, for Petersburg, and I stay another 6 days. We exchanged contact information and hope to connect on the Kenai Peninsula. We have a great deal in common besides the Alaska trip and I look forward to catching up to them later this summer.
More people! Late Sunday evening, a young couple drove into the other campsite. They quickly built a fire and were just hanging out, grilling brats. We waved, and I returned to cooking my own supper. Then, I heard a baby cry, a sound that came from their little car! Great conversation started. They have a little girl named Millie who was born 11 days before my grandson. We talked for a long time and they kindly answered my questions about the area. I learned that the traffic on the dirt roads that pass the campground is mostly headed to a trail that leads to a lake. Also, the road loops around and joins that main road so a bit of the traffic would be people out for a Sunday drive. I asked about bears, and they told me I wouldn’t see any in the immediate vicinity. They also told me that this is early bear hunting season in Alaska! People like to bag a bear before they get fishy-tasting during salmon season.
I also asked the couple about smaller communities on the island, away from Wrangell. I had watched many small boats heading south and was wondering, imagining. They told me that the main island where I am and the majestic one across the channel both have small communities on the southern ends. “A handful of residents”, they said. My interest perked up, since these are the breed of folks featured on the Alaska reality shows.
The young dad grew up in another small town near here (wow, that would be waaaay out there by boat or plane). The mom grew up in Kenai where, she said, the weather is much colder. I asked if she was able to deliver her baby in Wrangell. She told me that expectant mothers fly out to one of the bigger cities two weeks before their due date and stay in a hotel! She went to Ketchikan. She also told me that insurance pays for the motel room during that time. What an interesting set-up. The local hospitals can do a regular delivery but do not have the facilities for an emergency C-section, so they avoid disasters by sending all expectant moms to regular hospital facilities.
The Alaska Air jet that services Wrangell – the same one that the new mom would have flown to Ketchikan – flies right above the campground and along the channel. I saw it leaving on Saturday around noon and again this morning as it flew north towards town. As expected, it is a small commuter jet.
The next day, I heard 4-wheelers on the road. They pulled into the campground and stopped at my site. My new friends: a newly retired couple who live on Wrangell but also camp whenever they can. They were set up about 6 miles more miles down the road at another Forest Service campground situated on a creek. I asked them about the bear-hunting season and if they like bear meat. They wouldn’t hunt or eat a bear for anything! “Fishy-tasing in the fall, and they stink like skunk cabbage in the spring”, he told me. “Besides, they are full of mites and other bugs, just don’t like them. I helped a guy skin a bear once and I didn’t even like that.” The couple does like moose, though. I asked about their limits on animals each year, “4 deer, 1 moose, 1 black bear”. Everyone here also has a “subsistence license” for unlimited fish, crab, and shrimp.
The couple, whose names I have not yet learned, offered lots of information about the smaller communities down south. They told me stories about the residents and their lifestyle, including how they collect water from their roof and about hauling everything to their place by boat. “ There is a place for sale out there right now”, the husband suggested. “I want to live there,” I sighed. The wife said, “Not me.” Coming from a woman who grew up in Wrangell, that is quite telling about the challenges of life further out. Guess I am destined to live on my fantasies about the Alaska outback.
After 45 minutes of conversation – mostly me asking questions and them answering with long stories about their adventures – they encouraged me to move to the creek side campground, which has plenty of space for a tent. I told them, because of the upcoming rainy weather, I was hesitant to give up my shelter. “The other sites each have a shelter,” he said. Okay, I’m in. I love my hilltop perch but I am always up for a new adventure, especially if it involves camping near a creek in the deep woods. Later, I pack up a few things and organize the car, because I am moving in the morning! I tell Tango and he looks up at me, expectantly…something new, something new, something new.
I visited town twice over the weekend. First, midday on Saturday to do errands and to people watch as everyone went about their weekend. As I drove to town, I saw a girl riding her horse along the water’s edge. A loyal dog, like Tango, followed along, next to the horse’s back leg, the typical herding position for the dog. Once in town, the scene was like any other small town, with families and working folks out. Nearly everyone I saw walking or socializing had a large, mixed-breed dog. I didn’t talk to anyone, but I took in everything. While in town, I found a laundromat with a shower so my clothes and my body are now clean. Later, I just drove around and found the post office, senior center, the local bars and a few cafes. I returned to town on Sunday evening — my ice-cream craving took over — and I saw people walking along the waterfront and enjoying the evening, which was warm by recent standards.
The next two days will be stupendous, with daytime temps in the 60s. The sky remains crystal clear and I can sit here peering out over the channel and across at the snowy peaks forever. An assortment of birds sing to me while Tango wanders. Eagles soar above the trees and Great Blue Herons fly in before nightfall. The young couple/new parents taught me how to listen for the Grouse mating call, which is more of a growl than anything else. And, certainly the highlight of the trip so far, I heard a whale blowing. The sound reverberated across the canyon, making it difficult to pinpoint its location. The retired couple told me a family of about 8 lives further down this channel and they come in right now to feed on small fish.
I enjoyed the solitude during the first week in Wrangell, but am enjoying all the people I talk to now. certainly everyone I meet is kind and friendly on this little Island.
