By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

Although the county lake had about double the campers it ordinarily sees on a Labor Day weekend, the reservoir had fewer than usual.

Mike and Stacey Swader, formerly of Herington until they began their “after retirement RV life” Aug. 26, camped at Cottonwood Point with their Aussie shepherd, Alita Grace, and their retriever mix, Delance.

During Labor Day weekend, the Swaders had to move from one campsite to another because campers with a reservation had booked the Swaders’ first site.

The Swaders packed up their RV Tuesday and went to Fall River Reservoir, next stop on a leisurely trip to Florida. Their visit to Florida will be followed by a trip through New England.

Lake patrol deputy Dan Kinning said 201 campsites were in use during the weekend, with many campers packing up and leaving Monday morning.

Camping at the reservoir has been slow this year, Kinning said. The reservoir closed earlier in the summer because of blue-green algae and didn’t put out notice when it reopened.

At the county lake, the weekend was busier than he expected, lake director Isaac Hett said.

“For Labor Day weekend, this is probably twice as busy as it’s been,” Hett said.

People fished, boated, skied, sunbathed, and camped.

“I had four sites with water and electric open, and that’s it,” Hett said.

Hett speculated that the lake having escaped blue-green algae problems most of this year is part of why camping has been up all summer.

“I’m not complaining about it, I know that much,” he said.

The lake was busy in May, June, and July, then not so busy during August, he said.

Many people told Hett that August was too hot to want to be at the lake.

“It finally cooled down enough if you’re tent camping, you could be comfortable,” he said.

Over the weekend, campers had two large fish fries and a horseshoe tournament.

Several campers and anglers brought in photos of fish they’d caught.

“The water temperature has already dropped about 10 degrees, which makes the fishing better,” Hett said.

Hett anticipates camping will slow down this month because of weekend school activities and the opening of hunting season.