July 30, 2013 Tuesday
Day 23

Just saw the gas station in town, wow $4.75 gallon! Glad we don't need gas.
Today's Tour:
Stikine River Trip - a cruise (on a jet boat) up the Stikine River into the roadless Stikine Wilderness. The Stikine (pronounced stik heen) is the largest and longest free flowing river wilderness in North America.

Big "doings" in town today - a helicopter actually landed on the dock (the towns people were shocked!) Apparently some billionaire Russian vodka baron with his 480 ft yacht anchored in the harbor had sent his security detail on the helicopter to see about buying out a whole boat for the Stikene River Trip. He of course wanted the newest and biggest boat for his group and since he was paying for it, that is what he got. Only thing is, that was the boat scheduled for OUR tour. Sooo, we had to wait an hour for the tour company to scrounge up a boat for us. Turns out we got the better of the deal, though because our boat, being smaller, was able to go places the bigger boat couldn't get to, like the spectacular Chief Shakes Glacier. And since our boat didn't have a head, we got to make a couple of stops at cool places to explore and use the "facilities". One stop was at a secluded forest service cabin with an outhouse; another was at the most beautiful glacial blue stream, surrounded by wild flowers and white stones.

Some tour sights:
- The water was so clear in parts of the river, where it was 12-14 feet deep, you could see thousands of salmon
- High peaks of the Coast Mountains towering up to 10,000 feet above the river
- Forests, harbor seals, sea lions, bald eagles, even a porcupine on the beach
- Mt. Rynda Forest Service Recreation Cabin, available to rent; can only be reached by plane or boat
- Towards the end of a tributary we began seeing small chunks of ice floating in the water which was now 800 feet deep. The temperature became increasingly colder and we really had to bundle up
- As we moved along, the chunks of ice became larger and larger-20 plus feet high and gloriously blue/green/teal in color
- At the end of the tributary we arrived at Chief Shakes Glacier, a fresh water glacier - SPECTACULAR!
Overall, this tour was beyond incredible. The sights and smells and sounds were indescribable and the fresh air that filled our lungs was invigorating.

After our tour, we drove to the Forest Service Ranger Station and picked up some maps and information. Michael enjoyed talking with "his people" the district ranger and a soil scientist.

Then we made stops at City Market and Ivy's Organic Produce for groceries, finishing off our day at Zack's, Cafe. We both had halibut and chips, salad, made with organic greens from Ivy's. We splurged and had dessert-carrot cake for Michael, chocolate moose truffle for me. The owners of Zack's were such nice people, when we asked where we could buy some locally caught salmon, they generously gave us some of theirs, wouldn't even let us pay them! When in Wrangell, eat at Zack's.

Wildlife Sightings
Harbor Seals
Bald Eagles
Porcupine
Sea Lions