Angoon

I left Monday morning at 4:45 am to get to Angoon by 2:20. Angoon is SW of Juneau. You can get there by Alaska State ferry or Alaska Seaplane, a floatplane company. I wondered why, since Wings of Alaska, on wheels, flies to neighboring Hoonah. When we flew in, it was obvious it would be almost impossible to build an airstrip near the mountainous, heavily wooded community clinging to the edge of the ocean.


I spent 2 days in Angoon. Last night, I stayed in a guest apartment overlooking the ocean. One of the locals made and delivered homemade tostadas for $6. I walked around town, finding the store where I could buy a variety of sweets, tobacco products and expensive staples....soup for $1.75 and $5 bread. The town was an interesting potpourri of new houses with modern conveniences and old mossy houses, some with Tlingit art on the doors and around the windows. The town has a Town Hall, ANB (Alaska Native Brotherhood), Business Center, Housing Office, Chatham School District office and lots more. It has about 100 kids in the school.

Its harbor is guarded by rocks. The tide was rushing in around the rocks like a river. A fisherman told me that you can only get in and out according to slack tide. Someone else told me that up in the mountains behind the village a Swiss millionaire built a house with a brass roof. Someone in the village sold the land. He has a million dollar view of the ocean that's for sure.

The trip back to Juneau today was really bumpy. The morning flight was cancelled and I was amazed to get a fast ride to hop on the Beaver. Below, I could see a tug towing a barge of containers bouncing around in the ocean. As we got closer to Juneau, lots of little coves and inlets had float houses anchored out. It would be an amazing and remote lifestyle, but tossing around in the waves, I wasn't even tempted.

Right now, the rain is coming down sideways occasionally with mixed hail. The vents in the heating system are rattling in the wind. I'm supposed to go to Hoonah. It doesn't look good. My backup plan is to take the ferry on Friday morning.