No sooner had we put away the flip flops and snorkel from Hawaii we were packing our down jackets and boat shoes heading to Alaska to join Tom's family for a boat trip and visit to the bear preserve in Wrangell. We stepped aboard NOETA, Tom's sister and brother-in-law's 40-foot Nordic Tug (tug in name only, believe me, this boat was fully tricked out with all the comforts of a well-provisioned yacht) on July 3.We rushed to get there in time for what is considered the best July 4th festivities this side of ... well I don't know where. Log roll (in the exceedingly cold water), canoe race, logging skills contest and rolling pin throws highlighted the day, while a home-town parade replete with decorated horses, kids on bikes, and lots of candy thrown to the crowd, big steak dinner at the Kiwanis, and capped off with a street-dance and massive fireworks display made the 4th a more patriotic event than usual for these jaundiced eyes.
It rained ALOT but then that's just what we'd expect from Southeast Alaska but that did not diminish our enjoyment. We donned sturdy boots and rain jackets and enjoyed our time until the sun eventually did come out and the sky turned blue. We visited a small village, kayaked in coves, hiked down bear trails, saw whales and porpoises, and enjoyed the expansive views of glaciers and waterways before us. I drove the bought (sort of) from the fly bridge and we spent time in Ketchikan where we departed via Alaska Airlines. But the bears were definitely the highlight of our trip. First we headed to Anan Wildlife Observatory in the Tongass National Forest. There we walked on a "thousand-year-old bear trail" and we saw plenty of scat to prove it was the bear's main roadway, then watched both brown and black bear, some with cubs, walk around our very broachable perch. Our guides and rangers all had guns but truthfully, we all looked pretty puny compared to these huge bruins. On our way out we encountered a bear coming towards us as we stopped and waited the bear looked at us and slowly decided to step aside. Whew! Then one night, safely at anchor, we decided to take the small skiff and head to a secluded bay only approachable at slack tide. It was dusk and as we motored across the lake we saw bears casually feeding on grass on the far shore. As we approached they looked at us, we at them and then finally decided that we didn't want a more intimate view but before we left we took a small diversion that landed us high and dry on a gravel spit, which put us in loping distant of a big, big black bear (or maybe brown bear -- grizzlie -- we couldn't be sure). After a few tense moments and some quick paddling we were out of there. Okay, that reminds me of a joke told by our guide -- "Do you know the difference between black and brown bear scat -- the bells." Before we saw, we heard a man on the trails, bells a-jingling. He was European, it was his first visit to Alaska, and we were on a bear trail. He was told to make noise with bells to avoid a fateful bear-man encounter. It's funny now but honestly, I felt like following him out at the time.
Wrangell
Anan
Crusing
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