1/20/10 – Starting today BWCA Wilderness overnight entry permits can be reserved on a first come, first served basis. You can check permit availability and make a reservation online at www.recreation.gov or by calling toll free 1-877-550-6777. You can request to pick your permit up from us rather than the ranger station in Tofte. Permit requirements, reservations and fees are available on the web.
As always, if you would like us to reserve a permit for you, just give us a call, or email us with the information requested on our Permit Reservation Form.
We are also happy to help with route planning or any questions you might have. – Bill

1/13/10 – Nathan, Jorgen, and Wyatt Holt were camping here at Sawbill last week during the serious cold snap. They pitched a double-wall canvas tent with a wood stove on campsite #1. They reported that it was easy to get the temperature up to 60 degrees. Nathan was kind enough to send along these great pictures from their adventure. – Bill

Wyatt Holt.

Jorgen Holt

Proud fisherman on a nearby lake.

1/9/10 – The North American Bear Center has installed a live webcam in the den of hibernating bear “Lily.” She is expected to give birth sometime in the next month. they got some national coverage yesterday and the traffic crashed their website, but they should have it fixed up soon. – Bill

1/7/10 – You know it’s January when you walk out the door in the morning into zero degree temperatures and it feels warm! The cold snap that followed our Christmas snow continues, but has moderated enough that I am looking at the short sleeved side of the closet again. We still only have a foot of snow on the ground, but it is (just) enough for good skiing and snowshoeing.
Cindy saw three wolves yesterday along Highway 61 near Grand Marais and all three had signs of mange. We can’t imagine how wolves survive in extreme cold normally, much less without all their fur. – Bill

1/2/10 – Over the New Year holiday we hosted the annual reunion of our summer crew members, current and present, along with some partners and special friends. We had about twenty people this year. They are just the finest group of young women and men that you can imagine – accomplished, committed, friendly and fun! We ran through the whole menu of fun: skiing, hiking, board games, foosball, feasting, conversation, and, of course, sliding. Thanks to the talented Alison Bents for these photos.

Part of the sliding crew traipses down Sawbill Lake toward the sliding hill.

The group confers on sliding strategy at the top of the hill.

Jessa’s face says it all…

The Train(wreck).

Caitlin, Liz and Lida show how it’s done.

This wonderful photo was taken under natural moonlight just a couple of minutes into the new decade. If this group is any indication, the future of the world is bright. – Bill

12/28/09 – The Great Christmas Snowstorm that covered the midwest was a bit of a disappointment here. We only got about 6″ of snow total out of the whole storm. With what we already had, we now have about a foot of snow on the ground.
The snow was very wet with temperatures hovering right around freezing. This caused the snow to stick to every branch and now it is frozen there, making for great winter scenery. – Bill

Alton Lake looking east toward the portage to Sawbill after the storm.

The wet snow stuck to everything – including the terriers. Phoebe could barely walk by the time she finished the hike to Alton.

Roy’s mask of snow didn’t diminish his vigilance toward rabbits and squirrels one bit.

12/25/09 – Happy Holidays to all! Here is a chronology of the Hansen family Sawbill Christmas season.

It is a family tradition to pile everyone (dogs included) into the pickup and go hunting for a Christmas tree.

This year we selected an unconventional birch. We also strove to reduce the height of previous years trees.

Phoebe decided that the tree stand was the perfect place to quench her thirst.

Carl the elf strategically places treasured ornaments.

The result of our labors.

It has become a tradition for us to visit John “OB” Oberholtzer and his family just before Christmas. OB worked at Sawbill for 13 seasons and settled in nearby Lutsen. Hazel and Cy Oberholtzer enjoyed teaching Carl Hansen an important skill.

On Christmas Eve we braved the storm to exchange presents with Frank and Mary Alice Hansen, beloved parents and grandparents, and Sawbill Outfitter’s founders, at their home in Grand Marais.

12/18/09 – Below is the Forest Service news release about BWCA Wilderness entry permits for the 2010 season. Although they call it a lottery, if you apply for overnight permits in the Sawbill area anytime in the next four weeks, you are highly likely to get the permit. – Bill

The lottery for Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) permits opened December 1, 2009 and will continue through January 15, 2010. The lottery provides the first opportunity for visitors to reserve a BWCAW permit for the coming season.
Applicants must set up an account on www.recreation.gov to enter the lottery. It is a quick and easy process. Application results can be viewed online between January 16 and January 20.
Remember, faxed or mailed applications, and payments made by check and money order WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. Only successful applicants will be charged a non-refundable $12.00 reservation fee and applicable overnight user fees.
Beginning January 20, 2010, first-come first-served wilderness permit reservations can be made online at www.recreation.gov . Reservations may be made by phone beginning February 1, 2010 by calling the National Recreation Reservation Service toll free at (877) 550-6777.
Please visit www.recreation.gov for additional information.
The BWCAW lottery was established to fairly distribute available quotas for entry dates and entry points where demand exceeds availability. For those who know their desired entry date and location well in advance, the lottery offers an early opportunity to make a reservation. In the lottery process, permits are awarded through a computer-generated, random selection.
The purpose of the wilderness permit quota system is to distribute visitors and use in a manner that protects the natural resources and wilderness values, and limits the social encounters to which are appropriate for each management area.

12/16/09 – It has been cold! It’s been a few weeks of unseasonably cold weather, which hasn’t stopped us from getting outside every day to enjoy some vigorous activity – until yesterday. With a high temperature of -5 F and a 20 mph north wind, the most we could stand was a bundled up walk through the campground. Even the dogs couldn’t wait to get back into the warm house. – Bill

When I say “bundled up”, I mean it! Cindy is in there somewhere. Even dressed like this, she got an ice cream fore-head ache walking into the wind.

12/10/09 – I went on an interesting hike yesterday. I hiked through the Sawbill Campground and around our little ski trail with a group of Forest Service employees. There is no part of the Superior National Forest that I am more familiar with, so it was interesting to hear the perspective of the forest experts. It was a multi-disciplinary group, with decision makers, foresters, regulatory experts, fire behavior specialists, wildlife biologists, and a silva-culturist.
The issue, as I understand it, is that by not allowing fire to take its natural course over the last hundred years, we’ve created a different forest then nature would have allowed. Eventually, fire will have its way, but it will likely be a very hot, disastrous fire, rather than the cooler, low intensity fire which was more common in pre-settlement times. This scenario has played out several times in recent years just 15 to 30 miles to our north.
The Forest Service is studying how to meet this challenge with an eye toward long term forest health and protecting the campground from being burned to the ground. The plan is still being built, but it sounds like on the land around the campground they will be removing the understory of balsam fir that has sprouted up in the last 40 years. They call these “ladder fuels” because they provide a fire with a ladder to climb into the tops of the tall pines. They will also remove the old, diseased birch and aspen, leaving the tall and healthy red pine, white pine and spruce.
In the campground itself, they will remove much of the balsam by hand, doing the work in the off season. They are very concerned that campers not be bothered by noise, or shocked by radical logging techniques. This fall they did this type of treatment around their cabin located just north of the campground, so if you’re curious, you can look at that the next time you’re here. They may not be able to stop a big fire, but if (when) there is a major fire, most of the large trees will survive and the Sawbill Campground will be beautiful and healthy for generations to come. – Bill