Southeast Alaska questions (Ketchikan, Petersburg, Wrangell: school, living in, cabins) - (AK) - City-Data Forum

EllaRose · 05-09-2011, 08:15 AM

Hello, I was wondering if anyone who lives in southeastern Alaska could answer a few questions for me. This part of the state is simply beautiful, but I was wondering what it's like to live with such ample rainfall. I don't mind the rain...but then again, I've never lived in an area with 100-160 inches per year. Does the sun show its face every few days, or is more like every few weeks?

Also, I love gardening. I'm sure with the rainfall that drainage must be an issue. Just wondering if anyone could share their experiences with gardening in this region.

Petersburg is one of the areas I am looking into...any info on the town would be appreciated. I've read that the school system is very good there.

Thank you very much in advance for any information!

tidelines · 05-09-2011, 11:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EllaRose

Hello, I was wondering if anyone who lives in southeastern Alaska could answer a few questions for me. This part of the state is simply beautiful, but I was wondering what it's like to live with such ample rainfall. I don't mind the rain...but then again, I've never lived in an area with 100-160 inches per year. Does the sun show its face every few days, or is more like every few weeks?

Also, I love gardening. I'm sure with the rainfall that drainage must be an issue. Just wondering if anyone could share their experiences with gardening in this region.

Petersburg is one of the areas I am looking into...any info on the town would be appreciated. I've read that the school system is very good there.

Thank you very much in advance for any information!

Rain is good for your skin, but not always for the psyche - especially if cloudy days affect your mood. Otherwise, most folks simply get used to the wet and life goes on. The sunny days are the ones that make it worth it -- or so the saying goes. Gardening is generally more successful in raised beds, but it depends on the effort you put into it. It's a lot of work and you see lots of hostas. Psg is drier than most SE communities, often rationing water. Wx is good, a bit better than other locations where rain is concerned, but still southeast and wet. Sitka is beautiful but expensive. Ketchikan is rainy-er than most communities. Wrangell is similar to Petersburg, and in close proximity. Hoonah is great, don't know about Angoon, and Gustavus is delightful - especially if you garden AND are self-employed or independently wealthy. Tenakee is a great little spot, too, but very limited as far as flat land or really any land if you're looking for a large parcel. It's cabins and smaller places and beach and mountains and bay and trees. Simply beautiful. It's hard not to find beauty anywhere in southeast. Go for it and discover for yourself. Paradise is where you find it.

EllaRose · 05-10-2011, 05:14 AM

@Tidelines-- Thank you so much for taking the time to respond! Gardening sounds far more difficult than I expected. I forgot to ask in my original post about bears. Do you see both brown and black bears? I watched a special on TV about Ketchikan black bears getting into garbage and causing problems in town...is that a problem for all of the southeast...or is it just concentrated to certain towns?

stiffnecked · 05-10-2011, 07:23 AM

Gardening isn't that difficult. It's just different. You have to leave your ideas of what will work behind and ask people that do it what works for them.

EllaRose · 05-10-2011, 07:33 AM

Thank you stiffnecked. I'm always willing to learn new things. Gardening is definitely something I couldn't live without!

Metlakatla · 05-10-2011, 01:23 PM

You should check out some of grammacabin's posts/photographs about gardening in SE.

Whether you see brown or black bears depends on the part of SE. Down in Southern SE we don't see brownies, but see plenty of blackies. I think there was one out there last night.

About the sun possibly showing it's face every few days....I've seen it go for weeks without even a shred of blue sky. I don't spend winters here anymore for that and other reasons. But some people love the rain and wind.

EllaRose · 05-10-2011, 04:49 PM

I will definitely check out grammacabin's posts/photos. Thanks! I'm not sure how I would handle weeks without sun. I guess that's the trade off of living in the part of Alaska with a milder climate. You don't get the negative temperatures the interior gets...but you don't get the sun too much either!

Metlakatla · 05-10-2011, 05:38 PM

LOL---since I last posted, it has rained, cleared up, rained, and cleared up again.

Ella, feel free to join my facebook page since I plan on having lots of photos of the area and of my potato farm that Gramma's Cabin send down from Wrangell:

//www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002376573547#!/profile.php?id=100002376573547&sk=info (broken link)

Metlakatla · 05-10-2011, 06:35 PM

There was some blue sky a few minutes ago so I took a picture of it.

ShipOfFools42 · 05-10-2011, 06:43 PM

Hahahahaha, that cracked me up. I literally did LOL. And to Ella... I have not been to Alaska yet, but I hang around these guys a lot, and knowing what I know about SE, it would be my last choice in AK if I was choosing PURELY on climate, sight unseen. I would not want to live in a part of Alaska where it is physically possible for it to rain in the winter time. The grey skies I actually really like - we have a high percentage of cloudy days here compared to a lot of the lower 48 - but I want any winter precipitation to be snow! 'Course, parts of SE get plenty of snow, as it seems with most things dealing with Alaska, you don't really know til you're there.