9/28/08 – The brilliance of the fall leaf color is at its peak. It doesn’t seem to matter how many autumn seasons you already have under your belt, the colorful closing serenade of summer will take your breath away every time. Blissful fall afternoons have already succeeded in wooing plenty of peace-seeking travelers into spending their spare moments driving the back roads of the north woods or paddling the lakes of the boundary waters. Predictably, the traffic through Sawbill has calmed since the summer, making September the perfect time to squeeze in one more canoe trip. – Caitlin

This taste of the fall canopy shading the Sawbill trail is brought to you by our very own Lee Noble.

9/19/08 – David Coauette sent along the following note and picture today:
Dave, Ben, Dan & LeRoy spent last weekend enjoying some canoeing and caught several walleye as an added bonus. What a spectacular moonlit weekend and a great time was enjoyed by all.
Thank You Sawbill!
David Coauette

9/10/08 – Phillip Martin of Chicago sent us these wonderful cow moose photos taken between Sawbill and Cherokee only a few days ago.


Crisp, calm mornings and evenings signal fall’s arrival. The temperatures have not yet dipped below freezing, but the foliage is beginning to show signs of autumnal brilliance. Birch are beginning to yellow and the reddening moose maples create a dramatic contrast to the green backdrop of the boreal forest.

9/6/08 – Moose sighting: Elisha Polomski just wrote us to share this account and photograph from her BWCAW trip with Jeffrey Thieret in August.
“The fellow in the attached photo hung out snorting and chewing grass all day long at Elton Lake! When we woke up the next morning he was still there, seemingly unafraid of our presence!” she wrote. What luck! The pair also heard wolves howling at night. Elisha said they had a great trip; they just wished it could have been longer. – Lee

Not often do you get to see a moose up close, let alone a bull with such great antlers.

9/3/08 – Thanks to a good soaking in the last week, campfire restrictions in the BWCAW have been lifted as of noon today. Campfires are now allowed in the wilderness area. From the Forest Service website: “Visitors are urged to use extra care with campfires, and as always, they are encouraged to use gas or propane cook stoves to reduce impacts to the Wilderness.”

9/2/08 – Special thanks to all the returning crew members who stopped by Labor Day weekend to lend a helping hand. Adam Hansen, Laura Greensmith and Jasmine Hanson pitched in, along with our guides Dave Freeman and Amy Voytilla. It’s great to see the old faces and take time to catch up, even if we find ourselves working holidays! – Lee

Jasmine helps Frosty stuff and fold calzones for dinner.

Adam slathers the sauce on his famous kabobs.

Laura doing her nightly store cleaning duty.

9/1/08 – Chris and Adam Seitz, father and son, came up from the Twin Cities for a canoe trip last week, leaving us with a funny memory from their trip. They found an abandoned football (quickly nicknamed “Wilson”) at their Sawbill campsite their first night here, and decided to take it along on their trip to Burnt Lake for a little something to do in the downtime. Upon arriving at camp, they had another idea.
Chris explains, “At our site on Burnt Lake the tall trees were getting the best of our arms trying to string our bear ropes. Adam grabbed ‘Wilson’ and attached some parachute line that was left behind at a camp site on Kelly. And there you have it. ‘Wilson’ became our new launching device. Very accurate with good distance.”
Chris also says if anyone sees “Wilson” in this update and wants to reclaim him, he’ll gladly return the football upon request. Thanks Chris and Adam! – Lee

Go deep! Adam Seitz prepares to launch “Wilson,” his bear rope projectile.

Nice recovery: Chris and Adam Seitz picked up the orange cord on Kelly Lake and the football at Sawbill. They ended up using them both to help hang their food pack.

8/31/08 – My brother Todd and my nephew Devin came up to Sawbill for a week of camping and fishing. They live in New Jersey and it was Devin’s first time in the Boundary Waters. Todd hadn’t been here in over 15 years and the last time he came he and his wife only caught one fish. I joined them for the first couple days and showed them a few of my favorite spots. After 6 days they came back smiling and full of fish stories, having caught dozens of fish, including the largest walleye Todd has ever caught, and Devin’s first northern pike! It is easy to see why family canoe trips can quickly become a cherished tradition. – Dave

Todd and Devin with a nice walleye they caught near Sawbill.

Devin shows off his first northern pike.

8/29/08 – Crew member “Tiny” Tim Rinden recently stopped by the pictographs on Fishdance Lake during a personal trip and took pictures. Tiny was paddling with friend Bill Cook. The guys went up north to Little Saganaga, southwest toward Fishdance and headed back toward Sawbill, stopping along the way. Tiny said they had a great time and four days of enviable August weather out there. – Lee

Tim posing from the bow seat in front of the Fishdance Lake pictographs.

Tradition says these pictographs were left by native tribes many years ago. Can you make out the images?

Tim and Bill relaxing at a long-sought campsite.

8/26/08 – Ruthie Hansen, photographer extraordinaire, was here for a brief visit last week and took this cool picture of Roy, Deputy of Outfitter Security, riding in the beautiful Seliga wood and canvas canoe. – Bill

Roy on lake patrol. No terrierists were detected on this day, but the little island on south Sawbill got a good barking.