The Alaska Ferry
Petroglyphs at Wrangell, Alaska.
The stop at Wrangell was about an hour and a half so we walked to the petroglyphs.
About 30 of us from the ship made the 1-2 mile hike and scattered around the beaches looking for the carvings and guessing what they might be. Scattered there were many the black chunks of rock. On some of these rocks were carved the signs using circles, arcs and curves. The origins of these petroglyphs are unknown.
As we left the petroglyphs area, there was a boy selling rock containing garnets. The story goes that there is a vain of rock near the town containing garnets. This became the first fully woman-operated business (which was in 1907) and these women harvested the garnets and sold them. Through time the ownership of the business passed down and at one point it was inherited by the mayor. The mayor decided it to give the business to the Boy Scouts in town. To this day it is the youth of Wrangel, girls and boys, who sell these garnets to the public. So we purchased 1 rock with a garnets and a separate single garnet.