July 25

Today we made our trip to Hope. It was very scenic with some of the most spectacular mountains we have seen. The town was bustling with fishermen and had several very old small log cabins in which it was obvious that people were living. The picture is of the town Social Hall that was built in 1902 and is still in use. On the way the views of the mountains and the Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet were breathtaking in spite of the low-hanging clouds. You will notice that the tide is going out in the picture across the Arm. Tides in the Cook Inlet can vary by more than twenty feet. On the way back near the junction with Highway #1 there is an old highway bridge just above the current bridge shown that is crossed with a paved hiking trail. In the stream below we spotted a pair of Chinook or King salmon spawning. It was very interesting to see the female turn sideways and swish the creek bottom with her tail to lay eggs and then the male would come over the spot to fertilize them. They had the deep reddish color on their backs that is typical at this end-of-life ritual. A little later, in the stream just below, we spotted the dead and decaying body of a Chinook salmon that had completed its mission. It was sad to know that their life cycle is to be born, swim to the ocean for three to five years, return to the stream in which they started life to start the cycle all over again for the next generation and then die. In a sense I guess that is true of all life forms on earth including ourselves. However, aren’t we happy to know that we have a higher potential and purpose?