10/4/10 – Yesterday morning, I heard a commotion in the shower house as I was walking in to open the store. A young grouse was trapped in the laundry room. Apparently, it walked in the open door, then decided to fly out through the screens by the ceiling and couldn’t figure it out.
I backed it into a high corner and climbed up on a table. When I reached out, it comically tucked it’s head under it’s wing with a very clear “don’t hurt me” attitude. I got it gently in hand and took it outside. Our two terriers were very interested, so I carefully lofted the poor grouse into the air, so it could fly to safety. To my surprise and consternation, it dropped like a rock and hit the ground with a thud. Phoebe was immediately on it, pinning it down with her paws and ready to have it for breakfast. With some frantic commands, I managed to distract her so I could rescue the dazed bird. I decided to put it on a balsam branch out of terrier reach. It immediately fell off the branch, again was pinned down by Phoebe – and another scramble to rescue it.
I guessed that dehydration and stress were causing it’s disorientation, so I sequestered the terriers in the store and carried the grouse down to the lake shore. It walked off in apparent good health and will be safe from hunters in the campground. – Bill

10/2/10 – Last week, Liz and Luke went on a trip to see the pictographs on Fishdance Lake. The two experienced an excellent trip. Moody weather made for some dramatic backgrounds, high water made for easy portaging and the pictographs gave them a view of history that few people get a chance to see. -Marc

These fallen trees create a natural arch between Townline and Kawasachong Lakes

Luke examines the pictographs

A portion of the pictographs in detail.

The beautiful sunset on Fishdance Lake

9/29/10 – April Knight was kind enough to send along this note and photos from her recent canoe trip.
The Boundary Waters is famous even down here in the Carolinas. I wanted to make the journey north in celebration of my new freedom from debt (years and years of student loans!) I have never overnighted in a canoe and was looking forward to paddling through all the pristine photographs I had seen of the BWCA. I did not picture starting out in windy cold weather but since my entry point was Homer Lake and the wind was due north on that day off I paddled….I was to swamp the
canoe an hour after this picture was taken. After that humble initiation I paid more attention (and respect) to Mother Nature. My four day three night solo journey took me past Homer, Whack, Vern, Juno, Brule, S and N Temperance, Sitka, Cherokee, Ada and last to Sawbill Lake. I camped the first night with a father/son team, Joe and Bobby Whiting of Two Harbors. I was to learn later that Joe attended college in the same town where I grew up in South Carolina- he and Bobby graciously fed me chocolate, soup, bacon and coffee. The next two nights I camped alone. I never felt alone, meeting others at the portages- a young couple out for six days with their fishing poles, a group of four Minnesotan men celebrating their 25th annual trip to the BWCA and the sounds of wolves and loons to lull me to sleep. Truth be told the wolves’ unfamiliar howling may have been the reason for those dark circles under my eyes the next morning! My last morning I made breakfast perched on a rock outcropping high above Cherokee Lake waiting for a beautiful dense fog to lift. The sight of Sawbill Canoe Outfitters was more than welcoming and I may have been responsible for the low supply of ice cream from their store’s freezer on that day! How appropriate it was to spend the fall equinox under a full moon back home but in a canoe out on a local lake! I will find a new reason to celebrate and return for another pilgrimage to Sawbill Canoe Outfitters again next year!
April Knight

Homer Lake

Cherokee Lake

Cherokee Creek

9/26/10 – Tyler’s birthday is tomorrow. To celebrate, his family came up from Duluth for a visit and grouse hunt. The hunting party came home with two grouse to go with mom’s birthday cake. Who could ask for a better birthday present than a successful hunt and two tasty birds in the freezer?

The Campbell Family

9/24/10 – Yesterday marked the first day of fall. Despite the rainy, blustery weather the crew’s spirits could not be dampened. Perhaps it was because we only got a half-inch of rain, instead of the downpour that other parts of the state received.
Rather than being able to enjoy the full moon, we celebrated by eating candy corn and fall themed cookies and playing Cranium instead. Today’s weather has not improved much over yesterday, but we are all crossing our fingers that the sun and 60 degree temperatures will show up as forecasted for the rest of the weekend. -Marc

Fall treats always make rainy days better.

Crewmembers Liz and Luke took these photos earlier in the week during a drive down the Honeymoon Trail.

A closeup documenting the variance in colors.

Homer matches perfectly with the fall atmosphere created by the weather, the fallen pine needles, and the Cinderella pumpkins given to us by customer Chris Riley.

Liz gives Tyler tips on how to sculpt in preparation for their upcoming turn.

9/22/10 – Though the end of summer has meant cooler temperatures and the end of the small-mouth bass season, the Sawbill crew has already benefited from the start of grouse season. So far crew members Luke and Tyler have been our most successful sportsmen, together they have harvested 10 birds. We have already enjoyed grouse curry and grouse and dumplings soup. Nothing beats delicious local meat paired with the veggies from our community supported agriculture share (CSA) on a cold September evening in the northwoods.

Tyler and Luke show off their birds on the season opener.

9/20/10 – Current and former Sawbill crew members gathered this weekend to give Eric (Frosty) Frost a belated stag party. Frosty was married in June, but we didn’t have time for the stag party then. Traditional stag party activities were replaced by paddling, bird watching and story telling on Alton Lake.
We had a very close encounter with a flock of migrating white pelicans – the first time any of us had seen them in this area. We scared them up while out for a midnight moonlight paddle and they circled down the lake, then returned to fly just over our heads. It was so quiet that we could hear their wing beats clearly and the moon gave them a ghostly glow.
A few minutes later, three otters surfaced near the canoe and gave us a look-over. Again, in the intense quiet, we could clearly hear them making little squeaking and cooing noises to each other.
The party was capped off the next morning by a gloriously beautiful hike along the Laurentian Divide west of Alton Lake. – Bill

Frosty, Bill Hansen, Andy Keith and John Oberholtzer prepare to leave the Sawbill canoe landing.

At the Sawbill/Alton portage.

On the Alton/Beth Lake portage.

The boys contemplate a placid Alton Lake from the Beth portage.

9/18/10 – The vibrant green of summer has begun to fade to the familiar shades of fall in the Northwoods, and with temperatures rarely surpassing 60 degrees it’s safe to say a new season has begun here at Sawbill. But despite the cooler temperatures fall is a phenomenal time of year to visit the BWCA. The air may be crisp, but the fish are still biting, the loons are still calling and with decreased traffic to the campground it’s a great time for quiet reflection and solitude.

Fall colors on south Sawbill Lake.

The terriers give another meaning to “out on a limb” during a fall walk.

9/15/10 – Sawbill campground hosts Jim and Rachel Ter Beest snapped some wonderful photos of a bull moose during a recent drive to Grand Marais. Jim noted that the moose was very large, with streaks of gray in its hair–a possible sign of the onset of moose middle age. The big bull also sported a fairly modest set of antlers, which appear to be a lighter shade of tan than is typical.

The bull moose makes his way towards shore.

Before leaving, the bull checks out his photographer one last time.

9/13/10 – Long time Sawbill customer Tom Pugh stopped in this morning after a three-night BWCA trip. Tom was joined by his three daughters, Lilia, Grace, and Annie Pugh. Joining the dad/daughter trip this year were Russ Hornback and daughters Taylor and Britta Hornback, along with John Lecy and his daughter Naomi Lecy. The Pughs are well known for bringing windy conditions with them to the BWCA, and this year’s trip was no exception. After four days on the high seas, the group descended on the Sawbill store this morning on a serious mission for hot cocoa.

In front of the Sawbill store, the adventurers drink hot cocoa and plan for next year’s trip.