Summer at a Glance

As usual, the blog posts during the summer have been sporadic non-existent. That is a good thing though, because it means that we have had a busy summer season. We had lots of repeat guests and met many new travelers who had never been to the park before, lots of whom live in the Cariboo and were just discovering Dragon Lake for the first time!

2012 brought many exciting changes to the park, one of which was our wonderful lighting upgrade compliments of BC HYDRO. A huge thank-you to all who voted for us in the spring. We couldn't have done it without you. For anyone who lives in BC, the Energy Fix Contest is run yearly and I highly suggest clicking on the BC HYDRO link above so that you can bookmark it and enter next year. $5,000 in improved lighting can be a huge savings for your business! We had our shower house upgraded because, as many of you know, they are some of the nicest washrooms in BC, but you couldn't turn off the lights! Now they work on sound and we have noticed a huge savings from them not having to run 24/7 for 6 months out of the year. Fancy that! 

Other changes included: re-doing the front row of pull through sites with new fencing panels and shrubs, improved security with a new coded entrance gate for guests and their children, a fancy new patio boat for hourly/daily rental as well as an after dinner cruise option with snacks and operator and one of the MOST exciting changes will be taking place at the end of the season - we are opening up our house as a vacation rental! Not only will this be a great opportunity to have friends and family all in one great location (sleeps 9), but it will be the only rental available over Christmas. 30 acres on the lake is a great opportunity for a great family vacation filled with x-country skiing, snow shoeing, skating and ice fishing. Our accommodations page has all the rates and details, so make sure you check it out!

I will leave you with a few pictures from this year and, for all the fishermen reading this who have suffered through a lot of information that they couldn't care less about, I will give you what you have been waiting for.... The cooler night temperatures have cooled off the lake and the fish are jumping! Guests are even catching a good number of fish off the end of our dock at night! So call for a reservation, get your boats loaded up, and we'll see you at 'The Roost'!

New Rental

Robert's Roost has added a new boat to our rental line up! Seats 11. Rental Rates for the 2012 season are $350/day (maximum of 8 hours) or $75/hour. Must have pleasure craft operators card or equivalent to rent. Please call 1-888-227-8877 to reserve. Price includes fuel. Watch for upcoming dessert cruises to be added in the near future. Keith will be your captain and a light after dinner snack will be provided.

March 26, 2012

March 26, 2012, a set on Flickr.

In regards to a tweet a few days ago, maybe the x-country skier wasn't going so fast because he heard ice cracking.... Ice is still 22-24" just off the point. Saw a truck driving on the lake today after hearing an ice auger going for quite some time. Thought we'd go and check it out. The results were disappointing to say the least....

The re-location & re-assignment of Trailer #3

For a lot of our customers who have spent years in trailer three down on the point, I am posting some pictures of a project that was undertaken in April of this year.

Trailer 3 is an older trailer that does not have the benefit of any air conditioning. It sat right down on the point where it received the full brunt of the hot afternoon sun. And, due to it's age, was not the nicest trailer for everyone to look at all year long!

After much debating, we decided to de-commission the trailer and move it to site #1 where it is right beside our front gate. This is a nice shady site and is a prime location for either a new office location or for a night security person.

The first set of pictures is a collage of 'moving day'. Keith had just gotten home from the oil fields in Alberta, so his truck was a little filthier than usual!

From this:



To this (note the nice new paint job? Now it blends right in and I don't even see it!)

Snow and Swans

Winter is officially here. Last night we had our first snow fall of the season, and although it is already melting, I know that more is on the way.

We were paid our annual pre-winter visit by the swans yesterday. Even though their visit often coincides with snow, it's always nice to see them as they scare away the geese. I know that swans are just as, if not more, aggressive as geese - but there are also only four of them and about 100 geese. They also don't wear out their welcome as they are often only here for a few days at the most.

It's very cool to watch the four swans swimming towards the geese to temporarily claim the lake shore. The geese try to act tough for as long as they can, but fly away when the geese get to about 100 feet away. There is plenty of posturing on both sides during the confrontation and it's almost like two gangs meeting on the street.

Plans for today include: staying off the roads until the snow is completely gone, lighting the wood stove, making a batch of Chai tea and getting some homework done while I watch life unfold out my kitchen window.- R

As I was browsing through Quesnel's local book store, I happened upon Brian Smith's book, 'Fly Fishing BC's Interior'. In this guide, Brian shares information on local fishing spots as well as fly tying patterns and fishing techniques. Some of the lakes he writes about in the Quesnel area are: 10 Mile, Bellos, Bishop (Brown), Marmot, Fishpot, the Blackwater River and Tributaries as well as my personal favourite, Dragon Lake.

As I read the book, I was starting to think that the author, is a very knowledgeable man. I had pretty much come to this conclusion already, but when I read this sentence, there was no doubt left in my mind as to the infinite wisdom of Brian Smith. "The accommodation at Robert's Roost on Dragon Lake is the finest among the region's campgrounds (see website at www.robertsroostcampsite.ca)." Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?

If you are planning on fishing the waters of the Central Interior or North Cariboo, I highly suggest picking up a copy of this book. And Brian, if you are planning on staying with us again, we would love to have you in for a glass of celebratory wine.

Congratulations on the fantastic book! - Robin & Keith.

Good News...

Well, I have some good news and I have some bad news. The Good news is that the winds have been blowing the ice off the lake at a phenomenal speed.

The bad news is that it has been blowing it this way!