After a hard night of humpback whale watching, we awoke this morning at the northern end of Wrangell Narrows near the picturesque town of Petersburg, Alaska. Petersburg sits on the north end of Mitkof Island and was named for its founder, Peter Thams Buschmann. Buschmann claimed the site in 1897 and built a cannery and sawmill there under the name of Icy Straits Packing Company. Today the town of about 3,500 relies primarily on fishing and the three canneries that process seafood. Although there are a number of logging roads leading out of town, there is no land connection with the mainland nor with outside supplies. People here rely on barge, Alaska State ferry or daily air service for their material goods and that makes them fairly expensive.
Patti came down to the Sea Lion in her "PattiWagon" and gave us an entertaining introduction to Petersburg and its history and people. She stressed that this is a working town, not a tourist town--"not a place where you can buy plastic totempoles". After her talk, we spent the morning exploring town, hiking near Petersburg Creek, flightseeing or visiting one of the canneries. Then we were off across Frederick Sound to Thomas Bay where our trail through the forest was dappled with sunlight, wildflowers and mist from the roaring waterfall at Cascade Creek. Zodiac tours completed this day in warm, sun-drenched Southeast Alaska.
