8/7/09 – Last week, Sawbill guide Dave Freeman joined a group of Norwegian college students studying climate change on a Boundary Waters canoe trip. One afternoon, students Miaken and Kjersti decided that fresh fish would be a great addition to the evening menu of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and s’mores.
Lake trout, the only species of fish on the lake where the group camped, are easiest to catch in the spring when they can be found near the surface; but with a little patience and some luck, lakers can be taken in the middle of the summer. Miaken and Kjersti worked together to land a beautiful trout, which they named Edward Frost.
If you would like to try catching Lake Trout in the summer, try trolling a medium size spoon slowly behind your canoe with a lot of line out. Stop every few minutes to let your lure sink. Lake trout are usually found in the deepest parts of a lake during the summer where the cold oxygen-rich water they need can be found in the hottest part of the summer.

Lake trout go great with peanut butter and jelly.

8/7/09 – Former Sawbill crew member Laura (Ter Beest) Strubbe and husband Ezra brought their five-week-old baby Micah for his inaugural Sawbill visit this week. Micah’s proud grandparents Jim and Rachel Ter Beest have been hosts at the Sawbill Lake Campground across the trail from the outfitter since 1985, and have been visiting Sawbill to escape the scorching Omaha, Neb., summers annually for 36 years. Both of Jim’s and Rachel’s kids, Laura and Nathan, respectively, worked here at the outfitter for a few seasons, so the Strubbes and Ter Beests anticipate Micah will someday put in his application to become a Sawbill crew member too. – Lee

Micah Strubbe and his mom Laura.

The Ter Beest family visit (left to right): Belinda Ter Beest, Nathan Ter Beest, Jim Ter Beest, Tori Strubbe, Rachel Ter Beest, Carter Strubbe, Ezra Strubbe, Laura Strubbe and Micah Strubbe.

Sawbill Crew, 2027?

7/31/09 – Swing your partner ’round and ’round! We got a chance to practice our do-si-dos Wednesday at Sawbill’s annual Dome Dance. Once a year we put on our dancing shoes and gather in the former outfitting dome behind the canoe yard to spin, see-saw and gypsy the night away at an old-fashioned contra dance. Terrance Smith, Duluth, called the dance, with the help of wife Marge on the tin whistle, friend Kelly on the fiddle and our very own Bill Hansen on the guitar. Guests from the campground and around Cook County came to dance their hearts out and revel in the July heat. It was a whoop-and-hollering good time, as usual. – Lee

A few of the dancers, with Marge and Kelly in the background.

Contra circles in mid spin.

Terrance gives a guest a helping hand.

7/30/09 – Lida, KT and I (all current or past crewmembers) just returned from an outstanding canoe trip full of rock jumping, roaring waterfalls and plenty of blueberries and raspberries to sweeten up our granola each morning. The berries were not quite ripe around Sawbill when we left on the trip so we were delighted to find abundant patches on nearly every site we visited.

Lida fills her cup on our very own raspberry island.

Our harvest on the first site.

Early morning yoga looking out at Knife Lake.
Despite an ominous forecast and forgetting a few important items (yup, it happens even to the professionals!), it was one of the best trips any of us has taken. We covered a lot of miles and the laughter was constant. Who needs perfect weather when you’ve got great friends?

From our site on Seagull Lake you can see the far shore is still brown and scarred from the Ham Lake fire of 2007.

Our eager group on the only sunny morning of the trip.
-Caitlin

7/27/09 – Sawbill crew member Lida Storch just finished a bike trip around Lake Superior. The intrepid Alaska schoolteacher returned to the lower forty-eight this summer to work at Sawbill for a few weeks and pedal her heart out on the 1,200 miles of highways circumscribing the lake.
The trip started with Lida and three other Alaska schoolteachers biking the south shore leg from Superior, Wis., to Sault Sainte Marie, Mich. At that point two of the riders left and Lida continued with cycling partner Brian Tesch.
That’s when the road got rough, Lida says. The hills and mountain roads of the Ontario shoreline made for a challenging closing leg. Overall, the cyclists averaged 60 miles a day, and completed a 140-mile day to finish the trip in the Twin Ports on July 20.
After a few days of rest, Lida passed through here again to visit and go on a canoe trip with Caitlin and Katie. Looks like Lida is going to get the most out of her summer before starting school again in the fall. – Lee

Lida spinning.

Waterfall bliss.

Brian Tesch over the hills of Ontario.

The happy cyclists after their last day on the road.

7/24/09 – The first Sawbill crew member paid us a visit this past week. Tom Kubiak drove up from his home in Illinois for a multi-purpose visit to the North Country. Between stopping in Duluth to see family and pop in on a fiftieth class reunion, he spent a few days fishing and camping here.
Kubiak began working as a guide at Sawbill Lodge in the mid fifties and started working for Frank and Mary Alice in 1956. Now retired from a 25-year career in the United States Air Force, Kubiak remembers fondly his early years working in the area, and chuckles when recalling watching Bill Hansen catch a monster northern pike on Sawbill Lake when Bill was just old enough to cast a line.
To rekindle these and other memories of campfires past, the Kubiak clan visits Sawbill and the Boundary Waters every three or four years now. The proud grandfather says his affection for the place had spread.
“Sawbill, Sawbill, Sawbill. That’s all I hear.” Kubiak says, imitating his granddaughter. “Once Sawbill gets in your blood, it’s always there.”
Asked to give a word of advice to today’s Boundary Waters pilgrims, Kubiak offered a classic refrain: Be prepared for anything. – Lee

Tom Kubiak

7/22/09 – More wildlife sightings: Paul Gray sent us these photos from his recent trip in the area. After he snapped the picture of the wolf from the side, it trotted down the trail in front of his car for a quarter of a mile or so. It is likely the appearance of the car waylaid the wolf from a day’s hunt. I hope the moose cow and calf stay alert. Wolf packs (as well as bears and humans) present one of the greatest threats to moose populations. Lucky for the moose, their size makes them a foreboding obstacle for wolves to tackle, and they are usually good at evading contact. Wolf or no wolf, stay quiet and keep your eyes peeled while traveling through marshy areas like the one pictured. You’ll have a better chance to see a moose up close. – Lee

Wary wolf.

Moose cow and calf.

7/20/09 – Greg Fangel just sent us a nice photo email. Greg writes that he was driving to check on the blueberry growth in the area and met a fox family playing near the Sawbill Trail. As you can see below, the two kits proved especially photogenic. Thanks, Greg! – Lee

Kits at play.

7/18/09 – It’s not every day we see a house rolling by. In fact, Bill says it was a Sawbill first. Monday a semi-tractor pulled into the Forest Service parking lot adjacent to the outfitter. The driver was looking for Gust Lake, which is on the way to the Brule Lake entry point on the Grade Road, about seventeen miles away. Once he got his head, and his truck, pointed in the right direction, he continued the delivery, but not before getting his rig jammed in the intersection out in front of the store. All it took to get him through was some deft trailer backing and a gathering crowd. – Lee

This is what we saw from the front of the store.

That’s what I call a tight squeeze.

And away he goes.

7/15/09 – I caught this walleye on Sunday evening on an area lake. I hooked into it and I immediately knew it was not another 12-inch walleye. It made a few runs which made me think it could be a decent northern, but the fact it was staying down toward the bottom made me hope it was a large walleye. After about a five minute battle I got it within landing range, but naturally I did not have a net. After two missed attempts I was finally able to land it with my hands. I was lucky enough that someone was on shore with a camera and able to snap some photos. My main concern was getting the fish back in the water, which I was able to do quite quickly. The fish was 28 inches long and I’m guessing in the 8.8 pound range. Fish of my dreams! – Brian

Thanks Britt for taking this photo for me.