Day 87 - Sunday August 13/17 (Written at Battleford, SK on August 31/17  Formatted with photos, and posted, at Prince Albert, SK on September 04/17)

A travel day today - on the Campbell Highway, from Little Salmon Lake to Frances Lake Campground (map)

Warm temperatures and a private wooded campsite facilitated our alfresco showers this morning. It was such a relaxing morning with bacon and eggs for breakfast that we didn’t leave the campsite until noon. 

We passed yet another ‘Johnson’ place name – this time for Johnson Lake Campground, so of course we had to stop for the photo op. (photo) 

Our lunch stop near the turn off for Ross River marked the end of the paved road. Now the highway became a dusty, bouncing, rattling trail. 

The views were less dramatic than the beginning of our travels on the Campbell Highway last night, but still the wildness and sense of isolation was enjoyable. We followed our progress in the road log found in The Milepost. We got laughing as we passed location after location named by Robert Campbell, the first white man to penetrate what is now known as the Yukon. For example we saw Finlayson Creek “This creek was named by Robert Campbell in 1840 for Chief Factor Duncan Finlayson who later became director of the Hudson’s Bay Co.” There was also Big Campbell creek (we can only guess who he named this creek after) and Pelly River “named after Hudson’s Bay Governor Sir John Henry Pelly”. We made some wonderful photo stops – one at the Hoole River Rapids, another at Lapie Canyon.(photos)

We stopped for the evening in deepening cloud at Frances Lake Campground. The lake and its associated river were “named by [guess who????] Robert Campbell for the wife of Sir George Simpson governor of the Hudson’s Bay Co.” Unfortunately the air was thick with blackflies – the first real problem with insects we’ve had in months. Nancy donned her bug hat. (Remember the picture from our first day?

May 19th bug hat photo

When we opened the door to the trailer things got even worse. We found everything was covered with a thick layer of dust from the gravel roadbed. We swept, wiped and washed, just to create a small semblance of order. It seemed a good idea to simplify our dinner plans so we had wieners, beans and coleslaw eaten inside the trailer. Bed followed shortly thereafter.