It was a good decision to stop early yesterday and make camp. We had a good nights sleep and the wind died. The tide was up in the morning so loading boats was easy. We even waited till 7:30. We were going against the the tide, but we did not have a long paddle today as our destination is Wrangel. We passed numerous boats with their nets stretched far out behind them.
As we approached Wrangel, we noticed the water turning a deep brown color. Later we found out it was due to the Stikine River which flows into this area. This area is filled with sediments from the river.
We were somewhat confused as to where we should go in Wrangel, the first harbor that we checked out did not seem right and we were directed to the city docks. Upon arriving there that did not seem right either. We had a friend from NOLS that lives here and thought that if we could make contact with her, she could help us out. With the help of the internet, we were able to find a number and soon we were talking to Chris. She quickly invited us to stay with her and her partner Tim. Not only that she would come and pick up our gear and take us to her house. This was better that we had imagined. It was going to be another night in sheets. Within 10 minutes they were at the dock and we were on way to their house. They both went back to work and we spent the afternoon walking around the small friendly town of Wrangel. We met them for dinner at The Stikine restaurant where we filled up on seafood and salad. The evening was turning out to one of beautiful skies so Tim and Chris invited us to go for s sightseeing flight over the route that we would be taking tomorrow, the Le Conte Glacier and the Stikine River Valley.
Dinner at the Stikine With Chris and Tim
Looks like it is going to be a great evening for flying
Nights like this are not real common as often there are clouds and rain obscuring the views, but not tonight. We took off and soon we were flying over our route tomorrow. We would be crossing thru Dry Straits which at certain tide levels becomes almost dry. We need to be off early to make the crossing. Tonight though our attention was just to look at the beautiful views. We were soon making our way up and over the Le Conte Glacier. This glacier is the southern most tidewater glacier in the US
Le Conte Glacier
We continued our flight up and over the glacier and then the Stikine River valley came into sight, This river is on our list of ones to paddle someday and it looks like it would be a beautiful one to do.
Sticking River Valley
Back to the airstrip and landing as the sun is setting. A long and memorable day.
Plan to get up early tomorrow so we can get thru Dry Straits. Looks like the weather report is going to be a go for our departure.