Santa Anna Inlet to Wrangell

We had less than 40 nautical miles to go to reach Wrangell, so we were able to leave a little later in the day (about 7:00 am). I was very excited to get to Wrangell because Aaron was flying in that day. I’d finally get to see him after being away for two and a half weeks.

We arrived in Wrangell around noon and it was just pouring down rain. I’d packed up the night before, so as soon as we arrived, I called for a ride and unloaded my bags from Sanctuary and went directly to the hotel. Just as I was checking in, Aaron arrived – perfect timing. Sadly, we didn’t have time for a romantic reunion, as Wrangell was the location for our final events. Instead, Aaron went back down to the dock with me and we organized the participants to meet together at Chief Shakes House, a beautiful clan house in Wrangell.


While we were prepping, Wilma Leslie, my primary contact in Wrangell, came by and picked us up. She took us to her father’s house, where he had just smoked salmon using traditional methods. He had actually caught and smoked nearly 30 lbs of salmon, and later that night, he would present it to each of our participants. The smokehouse was small, like a closet. The smell of the burnt alder was fantastic. He cut us slices of the freshly smoked salmon and we all got weak in the knees when he passed it around for us to enjoy.



As we left Chief Shakes House, we encountered a young entrepreneur (she was ten) selling Wrangell Garnets. There is a great story behind the Wrangell garnets. It seems that many decades ago, the garnet mining business was owned by a group of women. They tried to make a go of the business but the poor quality of the garnets yielded little profit. The women decided to close the business, but they bequeathed the mines to the children of Wrangell. Now, kids hunt for and sell the garnets to tourists. They use the money that they collect for a trip to Disneyland or for college. Our young saleswoman explained to us that she had been in the business for years, since she was six.

After Chief Shakes House, Aaron and I went to the Nolan Center, where the group would be going next to tour the museum and then for a cocktail party. We met up with our contacts there and got things prepared for the arrival of the group. The museum was great. People really enjoyed walking through it. After that, we had a guest flute player in the lobby while we had drinks and appetizers. The Mayor of Wrangell came to greet us, and Grand Banks was presented with a beautiful piece of art to commemorate the visit. Wrangell really rolled out the red carpet for us and made us feel very welcome.



After the event, in typical fashion, we went to a bar (one on land this time) and had a great time playing every song in the jukebox.