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From Baranof Warm Springs, we head across Chatham Strait to the Tlinglit town of Angoon, the only town located on Admiralty Island, and surrounded by the Kootznoowoo Wilderness. "Kootznoowoo" means "Fortress of the Bears." There is a greater concentration of brown bears on Admiralty, with an estimated population of 1600 grizzlies. Angoon has about 700 people. Angoon doesn't get much press, but we really enjoyed our visit there, while refueling.
We had read the guide books, which indicated that the fuel dock was located in from of the town. We floated in front of the town, and did not notice any visible signs of a fuel dock, so we hailed the town on our VHF. We were promptly and clearly instructed on how to take inlet behind town. The inlet has well marked channel, helpful in navigating through a small current. Part of the town is located on a narrow strip of land which could be seen from both the Chatham Strait side and the Kootznoowoo Inlet side.
We arrived at the fuel dock, and noticed that the dock connects to land by way of a gangway that connects to a steep hillside, with a building above. We watch a local to determine the protocol for fueling. On the dock, there is a speaker/megaphone apparatus for communicating with whomever is in the building above the dock. Following the local fellow's example, Shawn approached the speaker, and said, "Hello!"
The speaker, clearly expecting someone familiar, responded with, "Who is it?"
"Hey, it's Shawn."
"You're not from around here, are you."
"Uh, no."
"Ok. Go ahead and fuel up, then come up to the building."
So Shawn filled up our tanks, and we both walked up the gangway to meet the voice in the building. We were greeted by the friendly fuel guy, who calculated what we owed for fuel. When Shawn took out our credit card to pay, the fuel guy informed us that they can only take credit cards at the store in town. The fuel dock and the store are owned by the same organization. But the fuel guy was more than happy to call the store to arrange to have someone pick us up from the fuel dock building and take us over to the store to complete our transaction. Cool! We get a tour of Angoon! We waited a few minutes and our ride showed up. The fuel dock guy identifies the driver of a rattling care as "J.R."
We walked down the steps to meet J.R. who first introduces himself as Matt.
"The guy upstairs told us your name was J.R."
"Oh. J.R. is what everyone in town calls me," he said with a smile.
J.R/Matt. took us to the store, and was more than happy to wait for us while we picked up a few grocery items, and paid for our fuel.
When we finished our transaction, J.R. offered to give us a tour of Angoon, which we readily accepted. As he was driving, J.R. gave us the insider's background story of different parts of the town. We saw the school, the senior center, J.R.'s little nephew (a rowdy one, according to J.R.), and a housing development where "people who are in trouble with the law" live.
He also took us to the dump, to see if any bears are there. There weren't any this time. We have discovered, that when in Alaska, you're really "in there" if someone offers to take you to the dump. Dumps in Alaska can be among the most interesting places to visit. J.R. also shared with us the difference between the Caucasion pronunciation of Tlinglit with the native pronunciation.
On the return trip through Angoon, we remember to have our checkbook handy, even though we would have liked another tour of the town.
We always have really great experiences when we visit native towns. It really helps to just step back from looking at things through familiar and conventional lenses. I find that we learn much from local inhabitants when we listen and are genuinely interested in learning about where they have lived for longer than we can imagine.
Marty, a young Tlinglit and Tsimpsean native we met in Elfin Cove, reflected on the "weird stuff" some non-native teachers (particularly outside of Alaska) teach about Alaskan natives. I know what he means.
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Harping in Appleton Cove. More great weather!
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Sergius Narrows, at a less than optimal time. It was like running whitewater rapids with a little fog for added interest. We timed it a little better on the return trip from Sitka.
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Rusted shipwreck in Peril Strait, on the way to Sitka.
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From Angoon, we crossed Chatham over to Peril Strait. We anchored in Appleton Cove, where we spent the night before heading through the rest of Peril Strait/Sergius Narrows to Sitka.
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