August 10, 2022 Wednesday Day 75: Meyers Chuck
Meyers Chuck is a little town, in a little cove off of Clarence Strait, near Ketchikan. Clarence Strait can get pretty rough, Meyers Chuck offers great protection from the strait. Coming into Meyers Chuck we knew the forecast predicted wind, and Clarence Strait was going to be rough, too rough for us. We were happy we could spend time staying in Meyers Chuck a few days until the water calmed down.
When we got to Meyers Chuck on Tuesday we saw a sign on the bulletin at the top of the dock, just to the right advertising cinnamon rolls. It had a number to call to place an order. We tried the number several times on Tuesday, but there was no answer, nor could we leave a message. (We learned Cassy wasn’t home so she couldn’t answer the phone, as it was a landline.) Luckily when we tried calling this morning, Cassy answered we were able to put in an order for cinnamon rolls for tomorrow morning. She delivers them to the boat around 7 AM, so we would head out after we got our cinnamon rolls.
After breakfast and ordering our cinnamon rolls, we headed out on a hike. Meyers Chuck really is a tiny town. There are no stores, roads, etc. There are paths to walk around town, and lead to a few beaches/overlooks. This morning we took the path to the right, just past the bulletin. This path takes you to a beach, but on the way you pass several houses/yards. We hiked through the woods and found some houses there as well. Finally we poked out at a really stunning little beach. There are stairs climbing up a small outcropping of rocks and trees and there was a house in there as well.
The kids loved playing on this beach, throwing rocks into the water and climbing on logs. We had great views of Clarence Strait here and indeed it was windy and very rough. We were happy to be enjoying Clarence Strait from the beach and not from the boat.
We headed back to our boat for lunch and naps, then ventured out on another hike on the left side of the island. We passed a chicken coop and Ellen loved interacting with the chickens! We talked to some locals and a couple that are retired and decided that they wanted to build a cabin/house out here and live in Meyers Chuck. This couple had their son and grandson out helping them with the cabin. (Last night we talked to the son and grandson as they were cleaning a halibut they just caught. As one does we shared our halibut story with them about our 74 lb. halibut.) It was our first time meeting the Grandpa, the one who was moving to Meyers Chuck, and he asked the kids if they were the famous halibut fishermen, definitely made the kids feel special. I am a huge introvert, but owning a boat/boating the inside passage makes you part of some club it feels, and chatting with other boaters/locals is actually quite enjoyable.
All three kids are starting to get a cold and feel yucky, so we turned back from our hike and headed back to the boat.
When we ordered cinnamon rolls from Cassy, we also ordered some cookies and pretty soon after we got back to the boat she delivered our cookies! Instead of dinner we just had Cassy’s cookies.
Ryan’s Thoughts: I got sick, we went on hikes, and saw chickens.
Lillian’s Thoughts: We walked around Meyers Chuck.
