July 12 – Anan Bear Conservatory won’t let us in.

We chug along on a slow, relaxed, flat calm rainy morning, towards Anan Bear Conservatory. It sounds really neat from the guide book – walk the boardwalk to the waterfalls to see the bears catching fish in the river, have a guided tour by park rangers, etc. We arrive in the rain (“wouldn’t this be beautiful in the sun?!”, we say). The anchor is not holding well, so Rick and Sharon don their rain gear and go ashore first, while we stay with the boat. They return sooner than we expect, with the sad news that because we don’t have the necessary permit and the park is fully booked, we can’t go in. Our guide book failed to mention that necessity. The several seaplanes we have seen flying in tourists from Ketchikan or Wrangell must have bought up most of the permits. It’s a big disappointment, but a lesson learned, and now we will be sure to apply for permits ahead of time. Fortunately, the stop was pretty much en route, so we motor slowly, dragging the fishing line, along a narrow channel to our anchorage at Berg Bay.