It might seem like we’re on a permanent holiday but we’re really not. We’ve taken odd days here and there to give us some long weekends, but this is our first full week’s holiday of the year. And we were excited to be spending it in Alaska.

First up: Hope AK. We hoped it was going to be good and it was. Hope is a quintessential gold rush era small town (maybe even city), which in the UK would be considered a village or a hamlet. And like in the UK, it has a pub. The iconic Seaview Cafe and Bar, no less. We first came here in 2012 and the place hasn’t changed a bit, from the decor to the sole barman. It’s timelessness is part of its charm.

The main street – the only thing that seems to change is the cars parked opposite
And next door to the Seaview Cafe & Bar is the RV check in office
And next door on the other side is the RV park
The barman was quite taken with our baby. He thought we were traveling in a flying saucer.
Well it’s certainly different from the sea of white RVs. It’s tiny but it’s there – spot the BaseCamp!
Another aerial shot for you to get your bearings. Marshes, mud flats and a river in the foreground, the campground and the tiny hamlet of Hope center back
At the end of Alaska salmon season, this is what you get
If you can avoid the dead fish, there’s a nice little walk just steps from the BaseCamp
The moose thought so too
Down to the river she goes
Got this moose tracking lark down to a T

Our hike through the forest up to Hope Point shall forever be known as The Fungi Walk. I have never seen such diversity of mushrooms and toadstools in the wild before. Including the Super Mario Super Mushroom, which looked like it belonged on a pixie field trip.

Classic fairytale stuff
Ah but there’s more
Yep, still more
And they kept on coming
Imagine how many mushroom pics you’d have to scroll through if I didn’t do collages!
Got a sneak preview of the view about half way up
This was my view
Which opened up to this above the tree line. Could have done with a few less clouds over the Chugach Mountains but that there water is Turnagain Arm (so named by Captain Cook)
And the views kept getting better
Rain clouds scattered their contents like dust. Luckily not onto us.
Loving the autumn colors here

After all that hiking, it was about time we hit up the Seaview Bar.

You can see how perfectly old school it is inside the bar. Oh, and check out the view from the window, I spy a spaceship!
And who should we bump into inside but our buddy JP from The Boardroom co-working office, fresh from a rafting trip
Live music on the patio between the cafe and the bar made for a fun evening
After a few more scoops, we relocated from the bar to the campfire
Awesome as it was, I couldn’t keep up with the boys
Early night for me

The next day: a drizzly morning, a cozy BaseCamp, and a long drive from Canada finally caught up on us. Ah, maybe last night’s beers had something to do with it too.

It’s raining, time to move on
Good idea! Actually I don’t think we did have pancakes – those Top of the World blueberries were long gone. But we did have a lazy morning.
Until next time, Hope!