Hope, Alaska – Our morning started with an 80-mile drive to Hope for the start of a 5-day hike on the Resurrection Pass Trail. The weather was cool and grey, but without rain, and Turnagain Arm looked calm enough to trick us into some pre-hike optimism. Steve and Sherry drove us to the trailhead with Frankie the dog sulking in the back seat clearly aware he was going to be left behind this time.
For the record, I weighed in at 182.4 pounds this morning. My pack added another 20, Jason’s 30, not counting water. Numbers on both scales that felt way too high especially once we started walking.
Our departure from the North trailhead turned into a bit of a comedy. Steve insisted on a photo shoot to commemorate our big sendoff, while we frantically tried to start the GPS tracker, dig out our trekking poles, and look somewhat like we knew what we were doing. We finally signed the trail log for a five-day hike 39 miles from Hope to Cooper Landing and stepped out into the woods feeling mostly disorganized.
The first stretch of trail is a little under 8 miles to Caribou Creek Cabin following along the banks of Resurrection Creek. It's a pretty walk but I'm sure our legs would probably swear it was much longer. It took us four and a half hours, and I spent at least half that time wondering if I had packed too many snacks for the trip.
Caribou Creek Cabin sits above a swift little creek, surrounded by spruce and the smell of wet earth. It comes with dry firewood, a decidedly stinky outhouse, and a wood stove that quickly became Jason’s new best friend.
J started a fire while I made us coffee, and we sat on the porch for a little while letting the quiet settle in. We finished the evening with a few rounds of cribbage that I lost as usual.
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