By Hugh Nash
Special to The Review

The main highways in Alaska, during the state’s short and
frantic summer, are alive with speeding autos crammed full of
tourists who take only a few days to experience this northern
state which is large cnough to swallow British Columbia and
California, and still have room for all three maritime province
plus a chunk of Southern Ontario.

The autos play tag around lurching camper vans and pickup
trucks.

Everything is hurry, hurry. No time to waste. Winter’s coming;

school’s just around the corner; the scencry will disappear. Take
two pictures and move on.

But not every Alaskan holiday need increase the sale of anti-
acids. There are quict back pockets in Alaska’s jeans if you just
tun off the beaten tracks and avoid the most publicized arcas.

- -Qne such spot is Hope, population 224, a former gold rush

town, 100 miles from Anchorage on the south shore of Turnagain

_ Arm and only 16 miles west of busy Highway 1 which Icads

» south to Seward where thousands of fishermen stand shoulder to
shoulder casting for salmon.

There’s good salmon fishing in the Hope area too. Pinks in the
three to five pound range are numcrous in July and August and
nearby crecks spawn cnough Dolly Varden fill even the largest
sizzling pan. It’s easy to find your own private spot.

If you’re looking for a hub of commercial activity and exciting
night life, stay away from Hope. But its two stores, three cafes,
one gas station and handful of motels can supply your basic |
needs. Hope is not an extension of tawdry Anchorage.

It’s a place to watch trees grow, look for beluga whales chasing ©
salmon in. Turnagain (named by the British explorer Captain
Cook because after exploring yet another inlet, had to turn again
‘to get out), pan lazily for gold missed. by early miners, or dis-
cover sunbeams during a quict, woodsy walk among the spruce,
hemlock, alder and cottonwoods.

Turnagain Arm is actually-a fjord and has one of the highest
tidal variations in the world, more than 32 feet (10 micttes). Tidal
bores are frequently seen.

A good place to start soaking up Hope atmosphere. is in the’
town itself. Wander along its few streets and peck into gardens:

- beside the log homes. Smell the roses on the other ae of the

fences. ©

“Many of the buildings go back 100 years to the gold rush days.
The Hope Social Hall, built at the turn of the century, abandoned
in’ the’ 1950s but later declared an historic building, has been
given a new roof and rejuvenated for town mectings, elections,
square dances, ‘potluck dinners and even the occasional basket-
‘ball game...

= Grab.a coffee, snack or’a \ full meal at the Scaview Cafe: at the
on ‘end ‘of Main Street. Owners Joyce and Don Ohr are’ full of local
lore and Don, a barrel of a man, has co- -authored a 45-page: book-
let, A Place Called Hope, us he’ 's pleased | to. let you. browse
nit through - or. buy for $6US. 4

Jes “Hope wasn’t always a quiet: spot. a got its start in n 1895 when-a.

~- dozen cabins were: built, by miners taking. gold - from. nearby

i Resurrection,;'Six Mile; ‘Palmer and: ‘Bear’ Creeks. There! ‘Wasa?
“five-year. s stretch’ of-active'mining’which ‘py’thes early T900s’ was"
-: beginning to wind down. Scrious mining petered out in the 1940s °

but even today some claims are sul providing a living for a few =

| industrious souls.
"Relies of me gold rush days are > almost impossible to find J along,

THE REVIEW 9781-2nd St., Sidney B.C.

the creeks. "The environmental people made the mining people
get rid of it all," Ohr said. "So they just dug a hole and buricd it."

There are the remains of a cabin and a sawmill on the 3.5-mile
Gull Rock trail which heads west from the Forest Service Por-
cupine Campground at the end of the highway a mile or so past
Hope. It’s an easy trail and you are treated to views of Turnagain
Arm and ice-covered mountains in the distance.

Other trails lead into the mountains of the Chugach National
Forest. Ambitious hikers might want to tackle the 38.6-milc
Resurrection Pass trail. It’s.a popular trail and reservations are
required if you want to bed down in one or more of the nine,

_ trail-side Forest Service log cabins - cost $15 a night.

There’s a whole network of trails in the mountains. It’s just a
matter of deciding between a picnic beside a waterfall and a trck
above tree linc. You might even catcha meal in one of the many
streams or lakes.

~ Occasionally a brown (grizzly) or black bear will want to join
in the fishing. or see what you have in camp. It’s best to Iet the

‘bear have its look around. |

There’s an casy way to tell a black from a grizzly. If you climb
a tree after annoying a bear and it follows you up and chews on
you, it’s a black bear. But a grizzly can’t climb uces so it will
push the tree over - and then chew on you. It’s best to give bears
a wide berth. After all you’re in their territory, they’re not in
yours.

Hope sits on the northern edge of the Kenai (pronounced keen
eye) Peninsula which hangs by a 10-mile-wide sinew of land like
a wattle of carth, ice and mountains under Alaska’s chin. The
Kenai Borough is home to over 40 per.cent of Alaska’s sports
fishing and is rated as one of the world’s most heavily populated
areas for moose. Wolves roam the woods and caribou play. in the
high lands.
~ According to Ohr, you can stand on Hope’s Main Street with
binoculars, and watch white Dall sheep and mountain goats

“bring their kids out-into the sunshine on the sheer, rocky crags"
towcring above the town.

The sheep. may not remember the violent earthquake that
rocked the town on Good Friday, March 27, 1964, but the r resi-
dents certainly do.

A Place Called Hope says that the ground heaved and rolled;
people. were thrown against walls; canned goods flew from
shelves and rolled about the floors; a large section of town

' dropped seven fect and the sea rushed in.
Homes were swept away, orchards destroyed and the store Or
“now owns "stood in several fect of water." Concerned residents

“jacked it up and now it stands as‘the last building at the end of =
“Main Strect. You can stand on its.porch, gaze seaward, and not.
“envy those people almost a quarter century ago who scrambled to.

save their town after they had ‘saved themselves. Miraculously,
no one-in Hope was killed or seriously injured.

-. Now, other than the occasional mild earth rattle, a common oc- mee
“currence throughout Alaska; life’ pretty. much just coasts along in...
~ Hope. So if you plan a whirlwind:tour of the: 50th state and.want. |

“to. insert some quict, breath- catching time into. your program, pull oe

“off the road at Hope and take time to watch the trees grow.
“Ss For further: information, write:

‘ Soldotna, Alaska, 99669,"

‘Nine committee recommendations coatitmed:

BREADNER VETERI

Dresses, Pants, Tops, Shorts, Skirts.

WHAT A BARGAINI!
652-3143 -. BRENTWOOD BAY

Shugach National: Forest, Ane ©.
chorage Raniger.District; P.O. Box 110469, Anchorage, ‘Alaska, *. -}
- 9951 1;. or. Anchorage Convention, and’ Visitors Burcau,-201-E..
foe “Third Avenue, Anchorage,’ “Alaska, 99501; or State of Alaska
~.:Division of: Parks and Outdoor: Recreation, P.O. Box. 1247, a

Page A9

NARY SERVICES

DR. SHELLEY BREADNER D.V.M.
We care for small animals and birds and provide
a mobile service for horses.

— 2144A Keating X Rd. 652-9700.

Saanichton

FINAL MARK DOWN
on
SUMMER WEAR
at

ALYCE'S FASHIONS

V2 PRICE

Effective til ‘Aug. 31/88

\ee

_ In-Store
Specials
- 80%-50%

Echoing itself, North Saanich Saanich council. ~ preparing the 1989 budget. - Acecpiable access ‘in. the: area.
council confirmed. nine Use of Kanishay Park by the. Council agreed to purchase a ~~ Acting mayor Bill: Taylor noted
committce-of-the-whole deci- Sunset Riding Club was referred 1979 grader from Finning Ltd. residents are now meeting ‘and
sions at last. Wednesday’s. to municipal. staff for review. for $70,000, provided municipal ... trying to reach some agr eement.
special meeting. Council is to receive a report on. staff find the equipment accep- ‘on 1 the roads,

~~ Council. agreed. to defer any the issue at its Aug. 29 meeting, table. .
decision on connecting. after which the park use may.be. - Council also agreed to ‘pure

Dunsmuir. Lodge ..to the _ referred to the parks commis- chase of an asphalt roller from wo
municipal | sewer system: until -sion and the municipal solicitor the company for $7,519. ji a
“after an-on-site sewage. disposal .forcomment: - © The extension of © cither, & \

_ report is received» ‘mid- The parks commission was Falkirk Avenue or Jura Road ff. 4
~ August... - directed to consider installation. was. tabled by North Saanich. -B som ‘
~The lodge, oper rated by. the © of garbage containers at Chalet council to. give residents. a. B ] "
Unive rsily of Victoria, requires Beach and. other beaches when chance to work out a amutually i i
connection ‘to..the municipal _ 3, ; we hl i, :

system 1o-meet Waste Manine: PRICES EFFECTIVE WHILE E STOCK ‘LASTS OR UNTIL AUGUST 13th, 1988
ment Branch requirements anc
because the existing tile Field is
substandard,

Tenders for four firms: bid-
ding on the official community:
plan update will be considered
after they make presentations 10
North Saanich. council: Bylaw

_ amendments (on ‘underground

/ power: requirements, telephone
and eablevision are to be refers”
red to the upcoming community
plan review. :

~The Benes C reek storm sewer

project will go to tender as soon
as, the municipal engineer. has:

finalized” thes plans, and eases
ment, discussed the project with.
the affected «property. owners

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