Prelude and Reid lot draws went fast to campers
Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (May 16/01) - The anxiety became increasingly visible on their faces as the lots began to fill, and their names were still not on the list.
More than 60 hopefuls entered the ballot draw at Fred Henne Park last Sunday, May 13, for a chance to pick a campsite for the summer, but more than half went home empty-handed.
Campgrounds along the Ingraham trail opened for the season yesterday.
According to Bruce Davidson, park attendant for the Prelude Lake campsite, the annual ballot draw is a time when even the least superstitious do just about anything to ensure lady luck is on their side.
"Everybody's got there own strategy," Davidson said of the draw, which began at 3 p.m.
"Some people pray, others kiss the ballot."
Participants wrote a check or money order for $500 to get into the running for one of 28 seasonal campsites available -- 15 at Prelude Lake, and 13 at Reid Lake.
It was clear from almost the first ballot drawn which campground was preferred by most. By 3:30 p.m. almost all the Reid Lake campsites on the list had been filled, while Prelude Lake remained relatively empty.
"It's further away from the city and it's the best lake in the world," said Sherry Wiseman, who squeaked through with one of the last remaining sites available on Reid Lake.
Even though she was happy her ballot was drawn, she, like many others in attendance, felt there was a need for more seasonal campsites.
Gary Tees, co-ordinator for Parks Services North Slave region, says adding more campsites to the Ingraham Trail is simply not feasible for the time being.
"There's just not any suitable space to build," said Tees. "It would take a lot of blasting and stuff. The suitable land base at Reid Lake is running out."
Tees says there may be more campsites added at Prelude Lake in the future, but it will have to wait until an environmental assessment of the area is completed, and that could take another year or more.
And even though the seasonal campsites fill up quickly, there are still plenty of overnight spots between the two campgrounds available throughout the summer. Although, Tees warns that they often fill to or near capacity, especially on long-weekends. Yet, as the available seasonal sites at the draw dwindled to a few remaining spots on Prelude Lake, the number of participants yelling out "declined" increased exponentially.
Lindsay Smallwood, who had been waiting patiently for his name to be called, decided to pass when his ballot was finally drawn nearly an hour after the draw began.
"Disappointed," he responded, when asked what he thought of what remained for him to choose from.
"You wouldn't get much more than a 15-foot trailer in there."
At least for Smallwood, and everyone else who did not get their dream camping site for the summer, there is always next year.
