Anan Bay

Sunday July 26- “On the road again”, left the intimate city of Wrangell by 7:30am. Destination Anna Bay to visit the Wildlife Observatory. We arrived shortly before 11:30am, departed around 4:30pm for Meyers Chuck, we arrived there around 10pm.

Anan Creek has the largest pink salmon run in Southeast Alaska, attracting large numbers of black and brown bears during July and August. The observation platform and photo blind overlook cascading falls where the salmon jump up river and the bears catch their meal. 250 boardwalk steps, up and down, 1/2 mile, to get to the bear blind.

The Anan estuary Observatory is only accessible by boat or plane. Access to the site is managed by the Forest Service, the number of visitors in a normal year was limited to 60 per day, this summer the limit is 24. There typically is a high demand for daily passes, they should be obtain at least 6 months in advance. We purchased our passes online Saturday for entrance on Sunday. There was only the three of us and two other visitors that day.

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Monday July 27- Meyers Chuck, is off the grid, with no roads or cars, accessible only by boat or seaplane is a quaint area of approximately 25 residents located about halfway between Ketchikan and Wrangell. There is a dock for transients to tie up to. In normal times, during the summer, the dock would be full with boats rafted off each other two deep. We walked a trail that meandered by nearly every residence. We spoke to several people, all were so friendly and offered their knowledge of the town’s history. They even have their own zip code, the post office is open every other Tuesday, when the postmistress hangs out the flag.

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Ron’s great great uncle was a missionary who lived here, the only one who spoke English. When the Army Corp of Engineers surveyed the area, they named it after him, Meyers Chuck.

We departed after our walk, heading to Ketchikan.