August 5, 2009 – The Canyon

We woke this morning to rain, rain and more rain so we just hung out at the campground.  We did find more wood so Andy spent some time cutting it up (between the raindrops – :-)).

It clear this afternoon so we decided to visit the Canyon Overlook.  This is where Canyon Creek and East Fork converge.  In the late 1800’s there was a road house here and it is where many of the miners met before going on to their claims.   Some pictures of the creeks:

We decided to continue to some of the other overlooks and found a rafting trip just starting:

  Oops, forgot the raft:

Actually, they make them float down the river for a ways and then they get in the raft and go.  It really looks tempting – :-)

More pictures from our trip:

  

And it stayed clear enough to have a wonderful campfire!

I will leave you with one last picture:

Oh my!!

August 4, 2009 – Hope, Alaska

This morning we decided to walk to Hope (about 1 mile) and check out the town.

A view of Turnagain Arm and the mouth of the Resurrection River (low tide):

A view of the river:

 

The salmon are running and they were being caught:

A little further upriver where some are spawning (yes, some of them are dead here):

“I am on my way".

The river was pretty shallow so you could see lots and lots of fish coming in.  Next time I come to Alaska, I am going to learn how to fish – :-)))

Hope was originally a gold rush town in the late 1800s thru the early 1900s when gold was discovered on Resurrection River/Creek and some of the other creeks in this area.  At one time the population was 3000 people.  WOW!   Some of the buildings are still in use today.

The old school is now the town library:

The social hall is still the community center.

 

The mercantile, now the cafe:

One of the bunkhouses, now at the museum.  This building was occupied until 1995.

One of the roads in Hope – that’s right no paved roads:

The soil in this area was/is very rich so many fruits and vegetables were grown here to supply the miner’s camps.

Hope was also one of the towns that was hit hard by the 1964 earthquake when Turnagain Arm fell SIX FEET – can you imagine?  There was a street and homes that sat in this area:

One last view of Hope from the marshland (that also had buildings before the quake):

Although the show “Northern Exposure” was modeled after Talkeetna, I really think Hope is that town.  What a neat little place.

We headed back just as it started to rain.  After a short rest and since it was raining, we took a drive to Portage and Girdwood to check out some other campgrounds.  We do want to spend some time in Portage so hopefully we will get a site.

No campfire tonight – the rain continued.

August 3, 2009 – Travel to Hope, Alaska

We left Kenai this morning, stopped at Fred Meyers to fill up on water and groceries, dump our tanks and then away we went. 

Coming into the mountains:

Past the Kenai River – that blue/turquoise color is so intense:

 

How about this:

We arrived at the Porcupine Campground – the end of the Hope Road and here is our site:

 

Andy enjoying the campfire – :-). Check out the mountains in the background:

Andy goofing off with the camera:

After supper we walked around the campground and day area.  The campground sits on a bluff overlooking Turnagain Arm:

The fireweed blossoms are getting near the top.  (Soon we will be thinking about heading out of Alaska – :-().  Notice the bee on one of the flowers:

The bee was this little one’s supper:

Notice the beautiful colors – oh my! Nature’s colors are incredible:

“I’m keeping an eye on you.”:

   

We finished the evening with another great campfire.

Stats for today:

Miles Traveled:  105 miles

Routes Traveled:

Alaska:  SR-490 (Kenai Spur Highway); SR-1 (Sterling Highway, Seward Highway); SR-? (Hope Highway)

August 11, 2007 – The Bore Tide

Today and tomorrow are to be some of the better viewing days of the bore tides in Turnagain Arm. What are bore tides, you ask? Well, since you asked…

Imagine one wave stretched out like a wide carpet, unrolling in froth as it sweeps into a basin of water. Turnagain Arm’s narrow, shallow and gently sloping basin is ideal for this natural phenomenon. As the tide rises in Cook Inlet, it fills Turnagain Arm so rapidly that a tidal flood (or “bore tide”) is formed when incoming water collides with outgoing water. Bore tides vary from ½ foot to 6 feet high and travel at speeds of 10-15 mph. A large range in tide also causes this phenomenon. Turnagain Arm’s most extreme (the measurement from the lowest low to the highest high) is almost 40 feet. Extreme minus tides and new or full moon periods create the most dramatic bore tides. (Yes, I did copy that, but I still have pictures.) Anyway, today’s range in tide is 31 feet and there is a new moon so we were hoping for the best.

Some of you may have seen the program on the history channel or the discovery channel – it was listed as surfing in Alaska. Yes, some people do surf on these tides.

So this morning we went looking for a good viewpoint around the campground – Nada! We did find a spot yesterday about 6 miles down the Hope Highway. So off we went with the Tracker loaded with chairs, snacks, and drinks and set up at ~ 1 PM to wait for the bore tide. Such fun – we met so many people (since this was also a good viewpoint for Turnagain Arm) and had such nice chats.

And then ~ 4 PM, the bore tide came thru. Actually there were 2 carloads of people that were following it down the Arm. They came into the viewpoint and told us that it was on its way.

Some pictures:

Before (notice the calm waters):



Here is comes (from left to right):





We are not sure how high the tide was since we were on a bluff, but it was still incredible to see. And the water just kept rushing in - like a very fast high tide!!!

Nothing like spending a Saturday afternoon just watching the tides – what a journey!!

Another wonderful day in Alaska and another wonderful campfire.

Just another note: In the past 2 weeks everywhere we have traveled we have seen incredible wildflowers and berries. Here is one picture:

And these plants are tall – here is one of me from a few days again in the middle of them.

Isn’t that amazing!!

We are leaving here tomorrow to go to Portage and Whittier and hope to see more of the glaciers!!

August 10, 2007 – Travel to Hope

In our travels today, we crossed the Kenai Mountains and stopped at Summit Lake – what a view:
We arrived at the end of the road again and are staying at the Porcupine Campground – part of the Chugach National Forest. Here is our site (can you believe $5.50 and night):

The view behind our motorhome:

The white on Andy’s head is our nets – the black flies are terrible but they do disappear after the sun goes behind the mountains (around 7 PM) – Sunset is not until around 10:30 PM.

When we pulled into the campground a black bear crossed the road in front of us (too fast for pictures – sorry!). We found out later that he is the resident black bear and just loves the berries that are nearby.

After we set up we went to the small town of Hope. To us, this is exactly what we pictured an old Alaskan town. Actually this town reminds me more of Northern Exposure than any other town we have seen.

Some of the buildings:

We spent some time in the museum. It was a really neat place and we met the campground hosts who volunteer there. What a nice chat.

We had lunch at the Seaview Café and Bar. This is one of the original buildings in the town (over 100 years old) and has survived the weather and the earthquake. It is on the right in this picture.

Hope sits at the intersection of Resurrection Creek (lots of fishing) and Turnagain Arm (lots of mudflats and great tides). We drove around for a good place to view the bore tide that is to happen tomorrow (see tomorrow’s blog).

A view of Turnagain Arm;

On the lower part of the mountain is the Seward Highway that we took a few weeks again.

And another great campfire night!!!

I will leave you with a picture of Andy’s new girlfriend - :-)


Miles Traveled: 53
Routes Traveled:
Alaska: AK-1 (Sterling Highway); AK-9 (Seward Highway); Hope Highway