Last Friday was Leigh's last Friday where her office closed at 3. We went home and prepared to leave for Hope early the next morning. The drive down Saturday went well and, after weeks of consistently crappy weather, the skies looked promising. We arrived at the cabin and were pretty pleased with it. The cabin doesn't have plumbing or electricity, but it has a woodstove and a clean outhouse, plus a camp stove and lanterns. Rustic, yes, but it had everything we needed. A couple of people could comfortably spend a night or two there, especially if they have some camping experience. Cannelle Puppy was beside herself with excitement, running around the cabin and smelling all the trees and mushrooms. So cute!
We got a fire started in the woodstove (after much trial and error), then headed out for a hike. We wanted to hike Twin Lakes, which involves a rather long journey up a rough dirt road for about 10 miles. It took us about an hour to get to the trailhead, but it was worth the drive!
Twin lakes is a beautiful hike through a valley with rushing streams and old mining equipment here and there. The path is pretty sturdy with some rocky parts, but we felt secure hiking the whole time. A few other families were out enjoying the trail too, so we felt safe from bears and such. Plus this hike is above the treeline, so the likelihood of a critter jumping out at us was minimal.
That evening we were invited to visit one of my District Court judges at her "cabin" nearby. The word "cabin" is really just another indication of my judge's modesty because her place is absolutely gorgeous, complete with electricity, plumbing and a fire pit. The structure was brand new when her family bought it, so it's not wonder they are making the 2 hour drive to Hope every weekend possible. Another judge was there with his wife and their dog. We had a lovely time with a glass of wine and some homemade ice cream.
Cannelle had a great weekend too. My judge doted on her on Saturday night, saying how beautiful she is (like Cannelle doesn't know that!), and she snuggled with us in front of the fire pit. She got to play outside a lot over those two days, which made her really from Saturday evening until Tuesday evening! She also got to bond with us for two whole days, even sleeping in the same room. This meant she kept trying to wake us up at night to play with her, but it was a good experience all around.
On Sunday afternoon Leigh and I started feeling a little icky. Sleeping on hard surfaces had done a number on Leigh's back and, after two days of indulging in rich food, my stomach wasn't too happy with me. We decided to head home Sunday evening instead of Monday morning. So we gave up one pre-paid night in the cabin, but it's cheap lodging and sometimes it's better to just listen to your body.
We found Hope to be generally very relaxing and beautiful. It was the perfect escape from our lives in Anchorage and only about 2 hours away by car! We've already decided to go back for some snowshoeing over Thanksgiving. In the future though, I think we'll just plan to stay one night.
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