June 20 After breakfast as we were pulling out Peggy caught up with the manager of the campground who informed her that there had been a huge black bear in the campground in the early morning. Teach us to sleep in!
We drove on the Seward Hwy toward the Kenai/Chugash dividing line. We took a photo at the sign designating the exact spot. From there we continued for about 20 miles toward Seward until we came to the Hope Road junction. We turned on the Hope Road and went to Hope, AK (where else would the Hope Rd go to?). Hope was an old town started in the late 1890s as the result of a mini gold rush. Some gold was prospected from Resurrection Creek but when it ran out, the town suffered. However, a few hardy souls remaind to keep the town on the south side of the Turnagain Arm going.
The very small main street had a couple of bars and a restaurant but nothing opened until noon. We walked to the town’s museum which also wasn’t open but we could walk around the outside displays to get a feel for what life in a 1890s mining town was like. We were almost ready to leave when a young girl with keys unlocked the various buildings including a bunk house for miners and the town school. There sound recordings related info about the happenings of the times. The main museum building was also open by this time and had good displays and a curator who had good knowledge on the various characters that we had heard about.
From Hope we drove the 25 miles back to the camper for lunch. After we finished, Peggy and I went to Girdwood to ride the Mt Alyeska Tram. This ride was also in the TourSaver book we had purchased so we rode for half price. Once at the top we walked further up the mountain to get some better photos. We went to the ski cafe and got a Dove ice cream bar.
After we rode down we went back to the Chairs 5 Bar/Restaurant and had some drinks and ordered dinner. We fueled the pickup and drove back to the Visitors Center just beyond our campground for one last look around as tomorrow we head back to Wasilla.
When we got back in the campground we were greeted by the manager again who asked if we saw it. Another black bear was spotted just across the creek from where our camper was parked. But we had arrived back in the campground a minute after the last time is was seen. Oh, well...
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