Wrangell redux

Here I am back at the laundry in Wrangell... After leaving Petersburg we sailed to Chapin Cove, then crossed Chatham Strait to stay in Red Bluff and Warm Springs on the east side of Baronof Island. We had planned to go on to Sitka and possibly take a ferry to Juneau, but the continuation of unseasonably bad weather (with accompanying strong winds)decided us on turning south. Also, our boating companions, who had discussed staying up here much later or even leaving their boats for the winter, unexpectedly got the "go south" bug -- and we want to continue to travel with the group as we cross the big bodies of water on the way home. Another consideration is Millie's welfare--we need to varnish and we've been unable to air out and fully dry our interior cushions. No mildew yet, but not a happy thought! We are mildly disappointed not to have gone further north, but looking forward to revisiting our favorite anchorages and exploring others we missed on the way up. While on Baranof we FINALLY saw brown bears. Our first, a skinny two or three year old, was just 100 yards away on the beach as we entered Chapin. Red Bluff had stunning alpine scenery and a bear meadow a quarter to a half mile from the anchorage area. We stayed several days, spending hours watching about six individual brownies as they went about their business. With their large humps and grazing behavior, they reminded us of buffalo. We were fascinated by the interactions between the juveniles and the older (huge)dominant bears. Several chase scenes convinced us that running from a grizzly would be futile; they are incredibly fast. Another treat was coming across sea otters, comfortably floating on their backs as we crossed Frederick and Chatham. We spent three days in Warm Springs where we were able to take a mile long walk to a lake and, of course, soak in the springs. My friend Jan and I did our soaking in the "natural" pools, literally on the edge of a waterfall. The men folk used the cedar tubs in a bathhouse set up near the dock. Jan and I, having left any semblance of personal vanity/modesty behind on this trip, wore only our bathing suits, sailing boots and jackets on our trips back and forth--a group of kayakers, in their fancy rain gear, pronounced us "tough ladies." Speaking of personal vanity, I'm having my hair cut at the Millie Salon--an overturned orange bucket on the back deck, a garbage bag cape and Mr. Kurt wielding the scissors. He does a pretty good job and in any case, I'm usually in a hat, hood, or head scarf. When we returned to Petersburg, we treated ourselves to a half day trip on a fast boat to the Le Conte glacier. As we traveled toward the glacier the bergy bits--from small to building-sized--were fantastical. Some square, others round--balancing on flat slabs of ice--and most carved into irregular shapes like modern art sculpture. Captain Ron took us as close to the glacier as he safely could. The floating ice there served as a harbor seal nursery, with several hundred moms and pups pulled out on the floes. As a bonus, we now have some bergy ice in our iceboxes! After chores today we plan to visit the museum we missed last time, and hike again up Mt. Dewey (a great viewpoint here in town).