4/13/2011 – When we returned from vacation yesterday, we were amazed to find so much evidence of spring. When we left, everything still looked like winter and it was in the process of snowing four more inches. In a week we lost much of the snow and the ice on the lake is very degraded. We’ll start reporting on ice depth every day in the next few days until it goes out.

The snow on the north side of the store building slid off this week with this dramatic result.
While we were gone, my brother, Karl Hansen and his wife, Lee Stewart, were kind enough to business and dog sit for us. They had a friend visit, Bernard Palchick, who is a water color artist.

Bernard Palchick painting on Sawbill Lake just off the canoe landing.

And here is his painting of the little island in front of the landing. It is most often called “Mouse Island”.
Meanwhile, our first crew member of the 2011 season has arrived. Andy Keith was on the crew last year. Andy is a very skilled carpenter who lives in Mexico most of the time now. He works as a regular Sawbill crew member most of the season, but does some carpentry work here during the slow times. – Bill

Andy is replacing the store floor this spring.

4/9/11 – Cindy and I are on vacation in Anguilla. It is part of the subject of this week’s edition of the Cook County West End News. – Bill

Rendezvous Bay is the nearest beach to where we are staying.

4/3/11 – Check out this article in the Duluth News Tribune this morning, featuring our own Cindy Hansen in a sarong.
It is snowing this morning and we are under a winter storm warning. You have to love Minnesota! Plenty of water for spring canoeing. – Bill

4/1/11 – All week I’ve been saying “It’s just a matter of time.” I’ve been talking about the glaciers and skating rinks that are scattered all around the region and especially the three of four that are located here at Sawbill. It’s been a great winter for plenty of cold and snow, but now that the freeze/thaw cycle has started, the paths and driveways have become treacherous, leading to the prediction above. Well, this morning it happened. I was walking over to our generator for the daily inspection and was actually thinking that the path had a little more dirt showing than the day before and was slightly less dangerous. In the next instant, my body was horizontal and my thinking changed to, “This is going to hurt.” I crashed down with no grace on rough ice, and of course, onto the ubiquitous dog poop. Roy, the Deputy of Outfitter Security (and the probable source of the poop), actually looked amused and took the opportunity for some quick face licking. Other than a few physical and psychic bruises, I am unhurt. The whole incident raises the philosophical question: “If an outfitter falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, is it still considered swearing?” – Bill

3/25/11 – Here is my most recent West End News from WTIP-FM. – Bill

3/23/11 – Whoops, I forgot to post last week’s West End News. I read it live on the air during WTIP’s fund drive, so it might sound a little different. – Bill

3/22/11 – We’ve been riding the weather roller coaster for the last couple of weeks. It varies from warm, melting and raining to cold, freezing and snowing, and back again. As a result, the lakes are getting very good for travel – at least until today when they are too slick to walk or ski and too rough to ice skate. As always, conditions will be changing fast, so we’re keeping close track.
Yesterday, I skied around the Kelso Loop by myself. It was warm, calm and beautiful. I spotted a big otter on Alton Lake, but didn’t get close enough for a picture. – Bill

A ski-eye view of Alton Lake looking south on a warm late afternoon in March.

This is the hole in the snow that the otter I saw disappeared down. It was a well used access to get beneath the lake ice. Otters swim under the ice and breathe from large air pockets that are trapped under the ice. The little dark bits on the left are the pincers from crayfish claws.

This is a pile of otter scat nearby. If you look carefully you can see it is made up mostly of the exoskeletons of crayfish. The red coloring is from the red pigment of the crayfish.

The Alton side of the creek that flows from Alton to Sawbill Lake.

The distinctive rock face and white pine that mark the Alton to Sawbill portage.

3/11/11 – Here is today’s West End News from WTIP-FM, Cook County Community Radio.

3/10/11 – Last weekend, we had a lot of fun. For 30+ years we’ve owned antique, unreliable snowmobiles that we use to groom our little 5K cross country ski trail here at Sawbill. Our most recent snowmobile is actually a relatively late model (~10 years old), low mileage machine that is reliable enough to take for a ride without a high probability of getting stuck or stranded. Our good friends, John and Sue Davies, invited us to join them for trail ride on the excellent snowmobile trails near Lutsen. We had a great time, as it was a beautiful, sunny day and the trails were in perfect shape. The next day, Cindy and I snowshoed up the Onion River from Lake Superior through the intriguing canyons that that river is known for. – Bill

A pause on the trail. Notice the guy on the right wearing his snowboarding helmet and goggles.

Cindy ducks under a white pine windfall that spans the Onion River during our magical snowshoe outing during a twilight snow fall.

The frozen waterfalls have created ice palaces in the canyons.

Cindy navigates a tight corner.

Beauty in beauty.

3/6/11 – This week’s broadcast and text of the Cook County “West End News” on WTIP-FM.