Hope is a historical community on the Kenai Peninsula at the mouth of Resurrection Creek on the south shore of Turnagain Arm, about 22 miles (35.5 km) southeast of Anchorage and 18 miles (29 km) west-southwest of Girdwood, Alaska. The town started as a mining camp called Hope City, which was established about 1896. 

In the 1890s, Resurrection Creek was the site of Alaska’s first gold rush. Charles Miller located the first claim on the creek before leasing it to others. By 1893, about a dozen miners were working claims and in the following year, more claims were established on the creek. Seldovia and Tyonek were the nearest villages and only landing ports during the Resurrection Creek gold rush until Anchorage was established. Most gold seekers would arrive in Seldovia by ship from Seattle and then travel overland to the Resurrection Pass Trail and on to Hope. The alternative was to board a shoal-draft vessel at Seldovia and proceed up Cook Inlet to Tyonek, and then take a smaller boat to Hope. Since 1895, Resurrection Creek has yielded about 30,000-40,000 ounces (850-1134 kg) of gold. 

Today, the Resurrection Pass Trail is a popular recreational hike. The trail is about 38.4 miles (62 km) long between the northern end near Hope and the southern end at the Sterling Highway near Cooper Landing. Public use shelters are available by reservation at Caribou Creek, Fox Creek, East Creek, and at Devil’s Pass cabins. Recreational gold panning is still allowed in designated areas. The trail offers spectacular scenery and opportunities to see wildlife including moose, black and brown bears, caribou, wolves, marmot, Dall sheep, mountain goats, ptarmigan, and grouse. The trail goes through spruce and aspen forests at lower elevations and alpine tundra with wildflowers above treeline at 2,400 feet (732 m). Read more here and here. Explore more of Hope here: