We went camping at Hope over Memorial Day weekend. I took Friday off and after dropping Auggie at the boarding kennel (he’s gotten too old and slow for four days of camping), we high-tailed it for the Porcupine Campground, hoping to get there in time to grab two campsites. The extra site was for some friends who would be coming down on Saturday morning. We got lucky and got the last two adjoining sites.

After setting up the two tents (our giant Coleman car camping tent and the spare backpacking place-holder tent in the other campsite) we hooked up Lola and Bolleke and walked into Hope to look around. It’s a nice little town that sprang up prior to the gold rush and hasn’t grown too much since then. (See the link above.) There are several buildings remaining from the last several decades, like the Seaview Cafe.

We walked for a couple of hours, eventually winding up back at camp around 2:00 or 3:00. We relaxed for a little while and then about 6:00 decided to go back into town to have dinner at one of the two restaurants in town; it was some of the best food I’ve had in Alaska.

After getting back to camp, we decided to walk the dogs around a little bit more and hit the sack. Despite being packed to the gills, the campground was pretty quiet.

Saturday morning our friends arrived and after bringing over the camp host to get rid of the midnight squatters that had shown up in the second campsite, we had a really nice time. We wound up with six dogs, a brand-shiny-new baby, two tents, four cars, and a free-standing awning between the two campsites.

We finally figured out how to tire out Bolleke: three solid days of hiking. To Lola’s credit, she never flagged either.

Hope Point Photos

The Dogs

I love having this many dogs around. Anchorage municipal code limits us to three, and really, that’s plenty for an urban house. But if we ever move to a rural location …

Bolleke	Hey! Teresa has food!	Lola learning to stand
Now we just need a sled	Sleeping Bolleke	Sleeping Lola

Climbing up to Hope Point

Hope Point is a peak just above Hope. It’s about a 2,000 foot climb, which isn’t too bad, but it all happens in about two-and-a-half miles, which makes for some pretty steep paths. Take a look a the picture of the tree below to get an idea.

Katie and Teresa headed downhill

The hill up to Hope Point

Turnagain Arm from the Hope side

The Hike Along Palmer Creek

Palmer Creek comes down off the mountains that surround Resurrection Pass. There’s an access road that goes all the way back up to the mountains along the creek. It’s no longer maintained, but it’s nice and wide and pretty well graded. We hiked in probably four miles, stopping when we came to where the road was still covered with snow.

This was the first time I had seen real beaver ponds. There were dams and lodges all along the creek. I posted a couple of pictures below. It was a really great hike.

Hope is one of my favorite places to camp. Sounds like you had a fabulous trip. Here's hoping for more!

Comment posted by Betty Atkinson | June 13, 2003 03:04 PM

I didn't look at a map, but it sounds like Hope is south of Anchorage if you were looking at the Turnigan Arm. How far is it? Is the campground crowded during the week? What were the temps?

Sounds like you have found nirvana!!

Comment posted by Ruth | June 13, 2003 07:14 PM

Adrian and i been wondering how you guys are doing, so we got online and found you. Looks like all is good. All is well with us and we would love to hear from you. I do not have a current e-mail for you so drop us a note at akarma63@hotmail.com or call 713-880-9605.

Comment posted by | June 14, 2003 09:56 AM

Hi. Sorry to leave an off-topic comment, but just wanted to let you know that your page doesn't seem to be displaying the CSS when viewed in either IE6 or Mozilla 1.4 (for PC). I only note this because of your disclaimer at the top touting "modern graphical browsers."

Comment posted by Lane | July 15, 2003 02:49 PM

And after posting a comment, I note that the individual archive pages work fine.

Comment posted by Lane | July 15, 2003 02:50 PM

Oops! I was in the middle of a redesign and left town. How embarassing. Thanks for the heads-up, Lane.

Comment posted by mccreath | July 15, 2003 09:47 PM