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Step back in time along Anan Creek, in Southeast Alaska
Bill Wagner / Contributing photographer
A curious Alaskan black bear ambles down the boardwalk trail along Anan Creek in southeast Alaska, which is near Wrangell.
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It was a simple chore. All I had to do was bring up the rear and keep watch. How hard could that be?
We're no more than a minute or two down the trail when Brenda Schwartz-Yeager, our rifle-toting guide, stopped. I thought our little group of six was too spread out, but Brenda seemed to have something else on her mind as she looked past me.
Oops. I failed in my appointed task. A black bear was ambling down the boardwalk less than 100 feet behind us. We tourists were ready to go into "bear prevention" mode, which includes lots of arm waving and loud talking and possible shouting "Whoa, bear!" No need, Brenda just said a few nice words to the bear and he or she (they all look alike to me) finally turned off and headed to Anan Creek, opting to grab a pink salmon or two rather than hassle the tourists.
The close encounter of the bear kind was just one experience that made this trip to southeast Alaska - our third - the most memorable yet.
Wrangell, a small city on the island of the same name along the Inside Passage in southeast Alaska, has been our destination each time.
Visiting Wrangell is like traveling back 50 years when folks in small towns were just plain friendly, knew everyone, and many didn't bother to lock their doors.
There's a sign over one boarding establishment that says it comes highly recommended by selected relatives. One coffee house displays a certificate of merit from the chamber of commerce. It offers congratulations to a woman, because most men in town wake up to her - as she gives them their morning caffeine fix.
We were standing outside Bob's Supermarket - one of just two places to get groceries - reading the posted fliers when a woman, waiting for a ride, simply struck up a conversation with us. She didn't know us, but we obviously had that "tourist look." Wrangell isn't only a small town but a small world. Her husband arrived and we discovered his sister lives in the Redding area.
We always stay at John and Judy Baker's Grandview B&B. This time we had reservations at their new B&B, which was a little closer to town and right on the Zagovia Straight, which flows past Wrangell. The B&B was there but not John and Judy. A medical emergency sent them off to Seattle a day before we arrived.
Not to worry, they drafted a delightful couple, Earl and Mary Benitz, to fill in for them.
We immediately hit it off with Earl and Mary and ended up feeling as if we were staying with friends as opposed to guests at a B&B.
The real interesting thing about Mary and Earl is that they live on a homestead on the Stikine River a few miles up river from Wrangell.
We're not talking about spending the fairly mild spring and summer months up there, we're talking year-round. That's right. For four months each winter, they're "iced in."
And just to make things more interesting, they don't have satellite TV and no Internet access.
They can pick up Wrangell and Petersburg news on the radio along with NPR, and seem more than happy with that.
Earl is a laid-back former high school science teacher, and Mary is an outgoing former homecoming queen, who really seems to enjoy the company of others. But they've been married for decades, so it's obviously working.
As I mentioned earlier, everyone knows everyone in Wrangell. The first day or so when folks spotted Earl, they wanted to know how John was doing. However, it didn't take long for concern to spread to worry about Earl.
After all, he was hanging around Wrangell for days and not just a few hours to come to town for supplies. He was even seen driving the B&B's van. One local expressed concern that Earl might have a reaction to becoming "citified."
Since they had a new guest arriving on the flight that was to be ours when it came time to leave Wrangell, they kept us company at the airport.
When we left they seemed to be doing well. Mary was enjoying seeing her friends and relatives for more than just a few minutes. And Earl? Well, when no one was looking he actually seemed to be enjoying himself - but not too much. Inside he was counting the hours until he could get back to the 'ol homestead.
Bill Wagner is a freelance writer.
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