As planned, I got up early this morning, gathered my fishing gear and headed out to see if I could hook a Steelhead. Before we started this journey, I made sure we had good spinning rods that would stand up to a fighting Steelhead or salmon, but I didn’t very my fly rod was up to the task.
For some reason, I thought I had an 8 weight rod and 7, 8, or 9 are recommended. However, when I pulled out my Temple Fork rod which I hadn’t used in a long time, it was a 4 weight and I quickly realized a Steelhead would snap it like a dry, dead twig. Bummer.
Oh well. I put on my chest waders anyway, and I cast my lures at the fish. I had one strike but nothing else. I walked up the pretty river just enjoying the surroundings as I cast into some of the deeper pools and channels.
I didn’t have any luck, but the nature time by myself is never time wasted.
Later, I returned to the spot between the bridges, and Steve walked over from the campground and took a shot of me fishing the river.
Shortly after that, I called it quits, and headed back to help pack up the rig for this afternoon’s ferry ride.
We had to check in by noon, and our ferry sailed at 2:00 p.m. for a six-hour ride to Wrangell.
It seems our ferry rides have occurred in the best weather we’ve seen thus far.
On the way to the ferry is a free public dump station, and at the same location, but on the building marked Ketchikan Public Works, there is a water spigot available for public use.
So, we filled up our fresh water tanks, and then we maneuvered over to the other side of the drive to dump our tanks. Luckily, it was the weekend, so we weren’t blocking any city employees from parking or driving through. There is a sign saying "Only 1 RV at a time" in the parking lot so that those dumping block a minimum number of parking spaces.
From there it was a quick hop to the ferry terminal where we checked in and lined up in our assigned lane.
This particular segment we were riding on the Columbia, ....
a bigger ship with more amenities than the Malaspina. About an hour before sailing, we boarded with our four vehicles. This is a look back at the ferry terminal.
The Columbia, which runs the main line route from Bellingham, Washington, had more people, so it was harder to find a quiet corner.
Fortunately, our favorite spot in the forward Observation Lounge was fairly quiet with plenty of open seating.
Soon we were on our way, and I eventually walked around the ferry taking shots of the landscape.
The best thing about the Columbia for this sailing was it had a nice dining room more like you would see on a cruise ship. We enjoyed huge, delicious salads in a pleasant setting.
By the time we finished with dinner, we were close to Wrangell, and the scenery was improving with taller snow-capped mountains in the background.
We saw a couple of whale spouts along the way. The water changed color as the silt from the mouth of the nearby Stikine River mixed with the clearer ocean water.
Here's Linda pondering Wrangell as the sun is going down behind us.
This is a photo of Petroglyph Beach as we approached the ferry terminal.
We docked ....
and got all our vehicles off the ferry around 8:30 p.m.
Without having to search at the southern end of the island for National Forest Campgrounds, our only camping option was basically the City of Wrangell RV Park (aka Shoemaker RV Park on Shoemaker Bay) about five miles from town.
When we arrived, there was one RV of a construction worker and no one else around. The back-in RV sites were terrible, and the RV park was nothing as nice in the photo on their website. So, we sort of made up our campsites parking on the campground road where we had the best view and the best chance of getting level.
The grass hadn’t been cut and it looked like they weren’t ready for the camping season just yet. But they had 30-amp electric, so we got plugged in and set up. The cost was $30/night, and it was self-pay. In the box with the pay envelopes were large envelopes filled with brochures and information about Wrangell.
Now, there was no water at the sites in the “upper” campground where we were, but there was supposed to be water and a dump station down below in the harbor where there are a few more sites without hook-ups.
Well, the harbor was completely under construction and it was impossible to tell where those other sites might be. Now, they did have a functioning dump station, but the water wasn’t turned on. Fortunately, we filled up in Ketchikan and we were only staying two nights, so no big deal.
Linda and Esther immediately walked down to the beach below our sites to see what they might find. But they had their sites set on Petroglyph Beach for beach combing in the morning.
Soon, it was dark and we called it a night. Tomorrow, we hope to do a boat tour to LeConte Glacier, the southern-most tidewater glacier in the Northern Hemisphere. Stay tuned.
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