7/28/10 – Over the past few weeks I have been trying to make it a point to walk down to the landing to take a few quick photos of Sawbill Lake. It’s amazing to see how much it changes with the influence of different lighting, wind, and weather. Here are a few of my favorite pictures. – Jessica

The lake during a foggy day.

Sunny day on the lake.

The lake just after sunset.

7/26/10 – The blueberry season is in full swing and the crop is excellent this year. Not only are they plentiful, but the individual berries are quite large and succulent. As a side benefit, the black bears have been content with the berries and are staying away from campsites. – Bill

Ahh… blueberry heaven.

Dan Seemon, former Sawbill crew member, in an undisclosed location.

7/23/10 – This season Sawbill acquired some brand new sleeping bags for use in the outfitting department. As a result of this purchase some sorting needed to be done in order to weed out some of the not so new ones. This seemed like a daunting task when considering that we possess over 150 bags.
Luckily Sarah, Meg, and Ellyn were up for the job. The first order of business was to unpack all of the sleeping bags and lay them out in piles according to style. Secondly, they sorted out the ones to sell in the fall. They then had to stuff the bags back into their appropriate stuff sacks. Finally and most importantly, they had to make a giant sleeping bag fort out of it all. – Jessica

Meg, Ellyn, Sarah, and Leif taking a break on the piles and piles of sleeping bags.

Meg stuffing the sleeping bags into their stuff sacks.

Homer testing out the fort.

7/21/10 – Last night after all the work for the day was finished, the entire Sawbill crew convened for a delicious and festive dinner. Crew members Tyler, Luke, and Liz concocted a delectable fish fry along with some fresh greens, potato salad, bruschetta, and baked beans. Appropriately, the selected theme for the attire to be worn to the banquet was “fishing”. Many bobbers made an appearance, along with a variety of fishing lures and a few fishermen. All in all, it was a jolly good meal with a wide array of amusing costumes. -Meg

The entire crew, featuring Cindy as a daredevil lure in the foreground.

A rainbow trout, a seafaring pirate, and a fisher-woman from the show “The Deadliest Catch”.

Mr. Twister fishing lure wiggling around.

7/19/10 – Yesterday, crew members Luke, Kaj, Joe, and myself went snorkeling along the shore of Sawbill Lake in search of fishing lures and any other hidden treasure we could find. After an hour and a half of swimming through the beautiful (but chilly!) water, we returned to shore with blue lips and desperately in need of hot chocolate. Despite our frozen state, the escapade was completely worthwhile as evidenced by these photographs of all the reclaimed items from the lake. -Meg

The complete collection of tackle.

Some of the more unusual finds, including a flashlight and sunglasses.

A close-up of some of the loot.

7/19/10 – Carl and I took a wonderful canoe trip in Canada last week on the Kopka River which is about 3 hours north of Thunder Bay, Ontario. We went through our good friends at Wabakimi Canoe Outfitters in Armstrong. We had a very relaxing five days of fishing, bushwhacking, swimming and generally lounging around. – Bill

Carl admires the Double Falls on the Kopka River.

The Kopka has so many beautiful waterfalls that this beauty doesn’t even have a name.

Carl is dwarfed by this interesting cliff at the end of one of the crazy Kopka portages.

The infamous “billy goat” portage that requires a rope to lower the canoe, gear and even is needed to aid in climbing. I’ll never complain about a BWCA Wilderness portage again!

7/17/10 – Tom and Nan Gager, from Burnsville, MN, are celebrating their 40th year of camping at Sawbill this year and are also celebrating their 40th year of marriage! Tom writes, “Forty years ago we made Sawbill one of our stops on our honeymoon. We’ve always referenced it in our travels. We always miss it the day we leave until the day we return.”

Tom and Nan Gager.

7/15/10 – Crew members Jessica, Kaj, and myself were recently venturing around Alton Lake when we stumbled upon a sight none of us had ever witnessed before. Five loons were convened in front of our canoe, seemingly fishing as a group. The three of us had previously seen at most two or three loons fishing in such close proximity to one another. Amazed (and a bit confused) we paddled stealthily towards the fishing party until we were within twenty feet of the birds.
Soon, a few of the loons began issuing short and high pitched calls to their fellow creatures scattered all over the lake. We watched five loons turn into seven and then seven turn into eight as three more loons flew to the very same spot to join in on the festivities. The loons circled up and seemed to be corralling the fish, although their true purpose remains unknown to us.

The first five hunters.

The complete hunting party.
And now some zany loon facts. Of all birds, loons have the lowest wingspan to body-weight ratio. When you see them take off, you can tell- they take as much as a quarter mile of lake water to get in the air. In fact, it’s almost impossible for loons to take off from land, or to even walk properly (they have to furrow with their chest, doing a great wheelbarrow impression). The compensation for a lousy flying ability is that they are some of the best swimmers. Loons are also some of the deepest diving birds. Lake Superior fishermen have reported catching loons in nets up to an unbelievable 240 feet under the surface. They even fight under the water, propelling their sharp beaks into other loons that have dared tread upon their territory. Loons are some of the most solitary birds- they aggressively defend their territory against other loons, and often only choose one mate over the course of their entire life. However, according to author Bill Bryson, every fall loons of neighboring lakes have an “open house.” In groups of up to 20, each loon will lead the others to its nest. After a minute of observation, the other loons will erupt into a mass-chortle. Finally, loons have very few natural predators, but the two know adult loon predators are the bald eagle and the sea otter.
-Meg (zany facts courtesy of Kaj)

7/14/10 – Thanks to an unusually warm spring, blueberry season has almost already arrived up here, a full two weeks earlier than usual. I’m already thinking of delicious blueberry pie, backcountry jam, and melt-in-your-mouth blueberry cake. Or, you know, you could just eat them.
Luke found an excellent patch nearby that Meg, Jess, and I couldn’t resist checking out for ourselves. Sure enough, row after row of berries are just starting to ripen. In about a week or two, we’ll have more pickings than we’ll be able to carry out. Meg suggests making berry-picking a full-time Sawbill job. We’re keeping our spot secret, but you should be able to find blueberries and raspberries in any sunny clearing.
We weren’t the only berry-pickers out there–a fresh pile of scat proved a local black bear was getting in on the goodies as well. Bears here are easily scared, much preferring berries and other food it doesn’t have to chase, but getting close to one is still a thrill.

This article says that blueberries are full of phytoflavinoids. Yeah, I don’t know what those are either, but if it means more blueberry eating, then I’m all for it.
-Kaj

7/12/10 – This week we welcomed 25 Boy Scouts and their leaders from Troop 333 to the Boundary Waters. They hail from Prior Lake and Savage, Minnesota, and are spending their trip camped on the beautiful Alton Lake. For many of the boys, it is their first time venturing into the BWCA. We wish them a gorgeous trip filled with adventure and successful fishing!
-Meg