Not long after entering Alaska from Yukon Territory, Claire found a small lake with free camping through the Escapees listings. It was a short drive down a narrow dirt road, just small enough to keep out the big RVs. We were fairly early in the day and got the best lakeside site. We saw quite a few birds, Claire heard a loon, and I saw a pair of tundra swans patrolling the shore. The mosquitoes weren’t too bad, and during a short walk, we met a German couple who have been coming to the north country for 20 years, and had camped here before. We can see why they would want to revisit this beautiful lake. There couldn’t have been more than a dozen campers, and all were quiet.

It is amazing that this campground is free. This is the kind of camping experience worth paying for; it’s the $45 a night commercial parks where you are crammed in with noisy neighbors, just for a couple of dollars worth of electricity, that make no sense to us. Finding spots like Deadman Lake takes a little research, ie looking through the Escapees Day End list, but it is well worth it.