Car Camping
Saturday was by far one of the most beautiful days I’ve spent in Wrangell. The temperature definitely hit 70 degrees which is a big deal here, huge.
It took us a while to get everything together but by 2 in the afternoon (perhaps a bit later) Adam and I were on the road in Kevin’s truck – tent, sleeping bags, grill in tow – officially on my first camping expedition in Alaska, albeit car camping.
We had planned to go on Sunday, given the Memorial Day weekend, but it was way too amazing on Saturday not to go immediately, and thank god, because it was definitely grey and drizzly on Sunday. I had never been exploring on the island. My knowledge of the island extended to 11 ½ mile which is where Vena lives. I’ve been a few miles beyond but not that much. What does lie beyond is miles of gravel road drivable by a variety of vehicles depending on where it is.
Our goal was to meet Phil and Kirsten around dinnertime at Earl West Cove where they were kayaking. Earl West Cove is on the eastern shore of Wrangell Island. On the way we stopped at Three Sisters Overlook, Anita Bay Overlook, and Lower Salamander, which is where I think we ended up setting up camp since Earl West Cove was crowded with locals. The local thing to do for Memorial Day is go up the river to the hot tubs and stay in your cabin or your friend’s cabin, so supposedly the poor man’s Memorial Day is spent camping on the island. This is not something I would ever say – just hearsay.
We drove on roads that seemed right out of a video advertising Alaska as a travel destination, sat before views of still snowy mountains, felt the sun, and perched on rocks drinking beer waiting for Phil and Kirsten in the midst of such idyllic scenery. Sometimes life on this island seems too good to be true – sometimes, as in when the sun is out.
They finally did appear as two dots coming out of the channel. They, too, seemed like figures out of a promo video. The water was calm and they could’ve been the spokespeople for kayaking, even though it was only Kirsten’s first time doing so.
Dinner was an ordeal. We had a grill with a deteriorated bottom, no spatula, no condiments. But our bacon cheeseburgers turned out better than expected. We thought the fallen bacon would make good bear bait, but alas, there were no bears to be seen all the rest of the night or the next morning.
Phil and Kirsten took off after dinner and Adam and I were left with a three star evening (literally, there were only three stars in the sky that night, and two of them were very faint) and conversation. Luckily, we actually have things to talk about and tell each other, so much so that falling asleep in a tent in a sleeping bag was actually quite easy.
It took us a while to get everything together but by 2 in the afternoon (perhaps a bit later) Adam and I were on the road in Kevin’s truck – tent, sleeping bags, grill in tow – officially on my first camping expedition in Alaska, albeit car camping.
We had planned to go on Sunday, given the Memorial Day weekend, but it was way too amazing on Saturday not to go immediately, and thank god, because it was definitely grey and drizzly on Sunday. I had never been exploring on the island. My knowledge of the island extended to 11 ½ mile which is where Vena lives. I’ve been a few miles beyond but not that much. What does lie beyond is miles of gravel road drivable by a variety of vehicles depending on where it is. 
Our goal was to meet Phil and Kirsten around dinnertime at Earl West Cove where they were kayaking. Earl West Cove is on the eastern shore of Wrangell Island. On the way we stopped at Three Sisters Overlook, Anita Bay Overlook, and Lower Salamander, which is where I think we ended up setting up camp since Earl West Cove was crowded with locals. The local thing to do for Memorial Day is go up the river to the hot tubs and stay in your cabin or your friend’s cabin, so supposedly the poor man’s Memorial Day is spent camping on the island. This is not something I would ever say – just hearsay. We drove on roads that seemed right out of a video advertising Alaska as a travel destination, sat before views of still snowy mountains, felt the sun, and perched on rocks drinking beer waiting for Phil and Kirsten in the midst of such idyllic scenery. Sometimes life on this island seems too good to be true – sometimes, as in when the sun is out.
They finally did appear as two dots coming out of the channel. They, too, seemed like figures out of a promo video. The water was calm and they could’ve been the spokespeople for kayaking, even though it was only Kirsten’s first time doing so. Dinner was an ordeal. We had a grill with a deteriorated bottom, no spatula, no condiments. But our bacon cheeseburgers turned out better than expected. We thought the fallen bacon would make good bear bait, but alas, there were no bears to be seen all the rest of the night or the next morning.
Phil and Kirsten took off after dinner and Adam and I were left with a three star evening (literally, there were only three stars in the sky that night, and two of them were very faint) and conversation. Luckily, we actually have things to talk about and tell each other, so much so that falling asleep in a tent in a sleeping bag was actually quite easy.
posted by Siapiau | 10:15 AM
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