Our ship docked in the small town of Wrangel today, population 2000. I had wanted to go to the Anan Bear observatory, but the excursion was all booked up, so instead we went on a guided tour in the woods. The excursion was early, so we had room service delivered to us. We did the excursion, but it was literally a walk in the city park - there were dog walkers who passed us several times. And since everyone in the town knows everyone else, the guide could introduce the dogs to us too. But the guide was very informative and pointed out various plants and eco systems along the trail, and their importance and uses based on knowledge passed down from the Tlingkit. It is apparent that the development of the town into a tourist destination is done in conjunction with the tribal leaders, so most of the cultural information we get originates from the Tlingkit perspective.
When we got back, it was only 10, and we ran into LPCR and her family going out on their excursion to see the town’s sights. We got back to our room to drop off binoculars and change, then promptly headed back out to shop and to visit the city museum, where we ran into LPCR’s family, who were visiting the museum as part of their excursion. It was an interesting museum, but one could spend a couple of hours there at most.
When we got back to the ship a second time, it was 11:10, and the lunch place we wanted to go (the burger/pizza place) wasn’t open yet. But we couldn’t get on the ship anyway, because the tide had risen since we docked, so they had to move the gangway to one deck down. So we got to see the equipment used to remove and install the gangway, and to see what goes on with “plugging” the hole left by the gangway once it’s removed.
After lunch, we went on the Mount Dewey trail, which I found out later was also an excursion. Luckily we went up at 12:30pm, an hour before the excursion’s time, so we avoided the crowd. The German expedition ship from Happag-Lloyd was also in town, so this town’s population almost doubled from these ships parked here. It was a bit of a walk, both from getting from the ship to the trail head, and from the trail head to get to the viewing platform, but the view was worth it. Some part of the trail was a bit scary though - it was just planks of wood on a steep slope with no railings. But we managed to get to the top and ran into some people from our cruise who also had sailed with Hurtigruten before, so we could recognise each other with our bright read jackets (that makes the second couple now). They were very kind and took our couples pictures, and talked about our travel experiences on the coastal cruise. But the viewing platform was only a 10x6ft platform, so you can only spend so much time there. I realized when we made our way back that we’d only spent 50 minutes on the trail.
We returned to the ship the third time; by that time LPCR’s family just finished lunch. So we went to an Axe-throwing game. It was run by one of the singers (as part of her “entertainment team” gig). And it was not an actual axe, but rather a bristle target set. It was kind of silly, like something I’d imagine 4th graders would do on a summer camp.
I retired to the coffee bar to read (and watch highlights from Women’s Euros’ other semi-final) with La Prof., and later went to join LPCR and her husband to read by the pool. We then got ready for dinner at the asian-themed restaurant. I’m not sure if it’s the best restaurant on the ship, but it was certainly different. The spicy duck watermelon salad was indeed very good. I had high expectations and they were met.
Tomorrow’s port will be even smaller, so I’d expect more of the same.
Does this trail up Mount Dewey look safe?
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