NORTH TO ALASKA 2025 - DAY 74 - MORELY LAKE REC AREA

NOTE.... THIS IS PROBABLY IN THE TOP THREE CAMPSITES OF THIS WHOLE TRIP!!! 

We packed up at Lewe's Dam and headed out on kind of a drizzly morning further down the Klondike Highway. We had two campsites in mind to perhaps stop at. One of them was called Big Government Campground. But when we finally got there, it was alongside of a whole bunch of road construction. Tons of dust and noise would have made it impossible to stay in the campground. We saw three other campers there and I don't know how they managed it. Everything was covered with the dust blowing off the large grading areas right next to the campground. Even the trees were brown with dust??

So we drove on to our next place we marked on the map as a possible campground. Boy oh boy, am I ever glad we did!  It was called Morley Lake Rec area and it was just a few miles in on a muddy steep downhill grade. We were a little worried getting down there because it was awfully narrow and a lot of big mud holes in the gravel two-track road leading to the campsites.

Morley Lake Rec Area

As we pulled in, we found that there was one empty site, the three others were occupied. They are space so far apart we don't even see each other. It's like we were all by ourselves. I think we got the best site! 

There are only four sites, and they are free. There is an outhouse and fire rings and that's it. But it is absolutely well worth it to make the trek through the woods to get there.

Just look at this ...

We were soon set up, nestled in against the tall pines and having the full length of the private beach area alongside of us. The other three sites had their own beaches.  This one was all to ourselves.

I cannot imagine a better campsite. Everything was quiet and beautiful. Some loons were floating out on the water, calling to each other with few babies bobbing along behind.

We got the slides out and made ourselves at home. It was easy to get set up and comfortable. There was nobody else around nearby, and the other three campers were out of sight, spaced far down the lakeshore.

I mean, how many beautiful lakes can we end up camping at with mountains ringing around in every direction?

This is the view right out of our windows. I can not imagine anything better than this...

It was a bit cloudy when we got there, but the sun poked through later and we had absolutely gorgeous weather. There were barely any mosquitoes, no flies, and a slight breeze coming off the lake. We walked along the shore and picked up a few rocks. Everything was comfortable and peaceful. We didn't hear a sound other than nature all around us.

As we walked, we could see one camper further down the road. They weren't there, or they were inside napping. We didn't hear a peep.  We set up the Starlink and I finished up a blog post and got a video ready to send out. The signal was really good even though Starlink insisted on making us face it to the East. But usually it wants to face North, which was up across the lake? But oh well, who's going to argue with Starlink. If you don't put it the right way, you don't get a signal and that's that.

The lapping water on the shore made a peaceful tranquil sound. I have it recorded on the video link down below. We just sat there and enjoyed the nature and the comfort of such a serene campsite. When I think of our road trip, I will think of this campsite...

The tiny rocks along the shore were so pretty, almost in a terrazo floor pattern. I walked back and forth in my bare feet and let them massage the soles.  The water was pretty warm for being alongside of mountains. I think it was because of the sun shining down in the shallow areas warmed it up enough to walk in it.

Speaking of walking, as we were wandering along down the path, we saw bear prints. Pretty big ones! Of course, we were being bear aware, making plenty of noise, and had our bear spray with us.

The serenity of the pine trees and the muffled sounds made it even more peaceful and relaxing. It's like we were in our own little private world.

Towards evening, after supper, Steve decided it was time to work on a project. We have this really nice Williamsburg reclining loveseat but both of the pull handles have broken off at the cables, right next to the seat cushions on each side.

These are the little D-ring handles that have pulled off. The cable is actually shredded right down below the brackets alongside of the cushion. The rest of the cable is still attached down below in the mechanism of the chair, and it will still release and allow the footrest to come up.  

We can order new ones, but that doesn't help until we have a mailing address to ship them to. So we will just wait until we get home to order them.

They aren't even that expensive, and I think when I order them I will order two of them to replace what have broken, and order two extras to keep on hand--- just in case.

Our solution was an easy fix for now.  We pulled off the extra plastic tube and clamped a small vise grip pliers right to the shredded cable. Luckily, he had two vice grip pliers in his toolbox! One for each side. He clamped one to each of the cables and just left them tightly clamped in place. Then we just tucked each of the pliers down between the cushion and the arm rest, out of the way.  When we wanted to pull our cables, we would just reach down and pull up on the pliers. It was enough to release the inner mechanism and allow us to still use the foot rests.

While we were fiddling around with that, I made up a nice pot of beef minestrone soup. It sure smelled good in the camper, and made for a nice hearty meal in the woods.  Step by step recipe is in the video link below.

I did a little "panorama view" thing with my camera for fun. This is actually the long beach that was stretched out, now condensed into a short photo.  I wanted to capture it all for a memory! 

Evening came, with darker clouds. But we didn't mind because it sure was pretty, no matter what.

The light breezes died down and the lake was as smooth as glass. 

 

It seems like so many times we find these perfect spots alongside of lakes with mountains in the distance. Each and every single one seems special to me.

I guess that our "Wisconsin Eyes" are just not used to such terrain.  People that live up here in British Columbia, the Yukon, and Alaska are probably used to always seeing mountains off in the distance and it doesn't really mean much. But for us, especially with snow capped mountains in the middle of summer, I feel that it's really special. What a backdrop!

We had a peaceful night of sleep, with nothing to disturb us. Not a peep. 

We woke up with fresh cups of coffee in our hands and opened all of the windows to let in the fresh air. We could smell the wild roses all around. The dew in the morning really enhances the scent of the roses through the air.

We heard a gentle tap tap on our door. To our surprise, it was the neighbors from the first site way down on the point. They saw we were up and she walked over to ask a favor. They had decided to make pancakes, and realized they had forgotten to take along any syrup. Since the nearest store is probably a hundred miles away, they thought they might ask if we possibly had a bottle of syrup? 

Yes, we did. They kindly offered in return the opportunity to borrow their kayak or their fishing boat if we wished to go out on the lake. How nice was that? 

We grabbed our coffee mugs and walked along the beach for a morning stroll. There was a little robin that kept fluttering back and forth and back and forth. Nick always wants to chase them so we kept him on a short leash. He thinks he can fling his little body up into the air after them, as they fly away. Somehow he thinks he can fly just like the robins? I don't think he wants to eat them or kill them, I think he just wants to fly with them?

This other little bird, (perhaps a sandpiper type) kept trying to lure us away from it's nest.  She kept frantically peeping at us, trying to lead us off in a different direction. We complied and went the opposite way so she could be at peace.

We wandered along the shoreline where there was a nice little path in the woods. It was covered with pine needles and was soft underneath our feet. If you watch the video link below you could "join us" on our walk. 

The sun was dappling off the slight waves on the lake and making reflections bouncing up as we walked along through the woods.

This is heavenly...

We walked further back down the shoreline to the east and found this little memorial erected in stone, surrounded by white fencing. 

We did a little research:

https://www.explorenorth.com/alaska_highway/morley_lake-whitfield_memorial.html

William H. Whitfield. He died in 1942 during his service on the Alaska Highway Project. 

In Memory of William H. Whitfield
19005873
Staff Sergeant, 340th Engineers, U.S. Army
Born - Dec. 30, 1918
Died - Dec. 18, 1942
"The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord." Psalms 37:23

What a lovely spot to place a memorial in his honor.

After our relaxing morning walk up and down the beach and through the woods, it was time to gear up and start heading out. As much as we really didn't want to leave, we knew that there was heavy rainfall predicted for the next 2 to 3 days. The slippery muddy two track road coming in would only become more hazardous to try and get out. Especially uphill! Our motorhome is not made for such terrain, nor is it four-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. I highly doubt that a tow truck company would come down that road to come and un-stuck us?

So was time to keep this place in our hearts, and move on down the road.

If you watch the video link below, you'll get even more of an idea of why this place became so special to me:

Stay tuned

 as we head on further south, 

towards Dease Lake. 

119 miles travel today 

 6,238 miles traveled so far

NORTH TO ALAKSA 2025 - DAY 73 - PICKING UP YOOPERS ON SIDE OF ROAD - LEWES DAM

Before packing up to leave our free campsite at Pelly Crossing, we made one of our favorite breakfasts.  

I have two little round fry pans that are just the perfect size to scramble up one egg each. I leave them in kind of a circular fashion and don't chop them up too much. While I am doing that, Steve is toasting the English muffins. We cook up some bacon or circular breakfast sausage patties.

Better than any store-bought Jimmy Dean sandwich, or over the road fast food Egg McMuffin for sure!

Directly across from the campground was a service center called Selkirk Centre. Steve had hoped to wash off the many miles of road construction grime and clay and silt from the motorhome. They had a large RV Wash Bay, but sadly it was closed for maintenance. We would just have to stay muddy for a while longer. 

We headed further south on the Klondike Highway. We ran into more road construction. We knew we wouldn't be finished with that. We were told all along the highway there would be long stretches of construction and we would be waiting for pilot car escorts.  Sometimes it was 15-20 minute wait. Then a slow crawl through miles of construction. But it needs to get done and they only have a short time to do it.

The terrain was really pretty. We had a gorgeous day with blue skies and puffy white clouds. This will be an enjoyable travel day.  The tall mountains had given away to softly rolling hills. Lush green vegetation everywhere. They have had plenty of rain so drought has not been a problem in any of the areas that we are in. Which is great, due to such wildfire activity to the north. We do notice the humidity levels are very low. Our skin feels drier and our shower towels dry out really fast when we hang them up for a short period of time.

We reached an area with a scenic overlook called The Five Finger Rapids. We stopped and got out and took a nice break for the morning.

This area is now being preserved as a historic site and a recreational area all together in one.

It is noted for the four tall large columns of stone left in the Yukon River by the glaciers. That made five different channels of water to try to navigate through. Long ago, the water level drop going through was about 2 ft. It was really hard to maneuver the boats through them safely. The big paddle wheel boats could barely make it.  The tiniest channel to the far right was called the "pinkie finger" and was deemed to be the safest but it was also the narrowest.

They finally took the time in the early 1900s to dynamite and blast and chisel away the worst of the four offending columns. So there are no longer five fingers, now there are only four! Lol

Even though it's a fast rapid current, now the boats can get through in a safer route.

We did the tourist thing and took a few photos, and then we made some lunch. It was a nice relaxing break in the day. Nick enjoys getting out to sniff and run around full length on his flexi leash. That's kind of hard to do in campgrounds. So when we have an opportunity with a large parking area or an open field, we tell him to run run run and he races around us in big circles on a 20 ft line. He also likes to bark his head off like a foolish little puppy while he is doing it. Here he is all worn out now after he was done doing his exercise.

We drove on from Five Fingers and continued south on the Klondike Highway. 

Up ahead we noticed a motorhome pulled off on the side of the road with smoke billowing out of it! We pulled over a safe distance ahead of it and Steve ran back with the fire extinguisher to see if he could help! 

The smoke cleared, and it was from either the transmission or the turbo causing the problem. The owner of the motorhome was trying to start it again which caused all the smoke to billow out. But it was done for. Shot. Nada. 

It turns out these people were from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, not too far from my hometown! Residents of the Upper Peninsula are nicknamed "Yoopers" as in U.P.ers. But it is translated into the word "Yooper" which is a proud moniker that most of the residents declare themselves with. 

Their front license plate, which helped us know where they were from!

Well, we just HAD to help them out. It turns out that their tow truck would only have room for one person. There were four people total, two couples. It was a brother with his wife, and the sister with her husband. They were traveling up to Kenai for a week at a fishing camp for salmon. What a monkey wrench this has thrown into their plans!

Once everything was situated and settled with the tow truck company on it's way, the other three members needed a ride over 90 miles down to Whitehorse. That is where their motorhome was going to be towed. Of course, in the middle of the Yukon remote wilderness there are no Ubers. There are no taxi cab services. There is not a rental car agency for hundreds of miles! 

But there were friendly Midwestern people who are willing to help out. Yes, we let all three of them hitchhike a ride with us and head on down to Whitehorse!!! 

We surely couldn't leave them just sitting on the side of the road now, could we?  We know it overloaded our motorhome with passengers and weight, but we were very willing to help out and be careful as we drove towards Whitehorse. 

With lots of giggles and laughs to break the tension of their impending repair bill, it was time to let loose with a little relief knowing they weren't going to be abandoned on the side of the road. 

It turns out that of all the other vehicles that passed them by, only ONE other vehicle had stopped. It was also someone from Wisconsin, like us. It was two little old ladies that really couldn't help much, and didn't even have a cell phone, but they were hoping to give assistance in any way they could. How nice is that? 

The guys sat up front and did their jaw jacking and engine troubleshooting discussions, while we women sat in the back and laughed and giggled and found lots of things in common.

They were so relieved at being picked up by somebody that could relate to them as RV travelers. We weren't ax murders or muggers. We were just helping out in whatever way we could. 

Steve had originally planned to stop at Braeburn Lodge to get a huge cinnamon roll. So they agreed to stop as well and picked one up too. These things are huge, about 9 or 10 inches across! 

After an hour and a half or maybe close to 2 hours due to some more construction, we made it to Whitehorse. Of course, their tow truck and motorhome was not even remotely close to Whitehorse yet. So they did what most Yoopers would do, they asked us to drop them off at a brewery!

They would wait here until their motorhome was towed to a place nearby. They insisted that we stay for a beverage (or two) to thank us for our assistance.  How nice was that, sat around and visited for a while and exchange camping stories and favorite places in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. 

The brewery had a lot of cute flavors and canned brews available for purchase, as well as fresh brewed beer on tap.

We did the pose thing for a group photo before we went along on our way. After many "thank you"s of appreciation, we headed out the door. We wish them well and hope to hear sometime soon from them about the final diagnosis and result of their motorhome repair. We hope that they were able to eventually get to Kenai for their week-long fishing reservation at a friend's cabin.

Since Steve was unable to wash the motorhome at Pelly Crossing that morning, we found this huge RV wash directly across from the brewery!  

It was called Mighty Wash... Steve was mighty happy to pull on in and get all the layers of road grime off of the motorhome. Especially all of the gritty stuff that was in the joints of our awning arms and rollers and the pivot points of our electric steps. We have been trying to clean them out and lube them up as best we could with slide dry silicone lube. But everything really needed a good washing, including the underbelly.

Steve was grinning from ear to ear as he was able to scrub away the layers with the big foamy brush. It was $37.50 Canadian which later converted to $27.42 US.  Not too bad for a good thorough wash from top to bottom and end to end.

We continued on our way south of Whitehorse. It felt good to do our deed to help out these fellow residents of Michigan. We wish them well and hope everything works out. We drove on into the evening, and we were scouting the maps to figure out where to stop for the night.

It had been a long crazy day. We drove further south out of Whitehorse until we reached Lewe's Dam, with a large expanded bridge over the Yukon River. On one side there was a rest area large enough to overnight in. But signs suggested that it was not a camping spot, but merely a rest area for weary travelers for a few hours. But on the other side of the bridge was a very nice pull-off parking area, complete with a fire ring down below at a second pull off area. It was starting to rain, so that was a perfect spot to pull off for the night.

This was a little wider spot in the Yukon River because of the dam. Was a very pleasant spot to stop for the night and look out over the water. It was pretty darn peaceful. There was some traffic on the bridge, but even after 10:00 p.m. that slowed down. There's not a lot of night driving in the Yukon. Hitting a moose at night is not a fun thing to do. 

The next morning, it was so relaxing to look out over the water as we were waking up and getting ready to move on for the day.  It was kind of nice after our busy day to not have to go searching for a campground. Instead, we just found our way into this little side of the bridge. Sometimes we need to do that rather than a big fancy campground. Works for us. 

It was a slight drizzle as we got our things put back together, our back slide drawn in, and made up some coffee for our travel mugs. 

Who knows what adventures today is going to bring?

Here is the YouTube video that goes along with today's blog: 

202 miles traveled today 

 6,119 miles traveled so far