9/04/05 – Sawbill has been buzzing with activity for the last week, but all of the activity has left us exhausted, which leaves me, the person in charge of updating the newsletter this week in a bit of a crux. It seems like every hour something new happens that is newsletter worthy, but before I know it is 10 PM and it feels like I haven’t sat down since my eyes opened at 6:30 AM. So instead of writing I am going to bide by the old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words.

A long time Labor Day tradition at Sawbill, Fish N Pick, was in full swing last night as about 50 people gathered to listen to some amazing folk musicians playing around the campfire in the canoe yard.

Last night the northern lights graced us with another spectacular showing. It was the perfect compliment to some fine music. Dozens of people staying in the campground stood at the landing admiring the light display.

Fall’s cool nights have rewarded early risers with some memorable fog filled mornings.

A mother and her son out to catch breakfast on Sawbill.

The crew helped Mary Alice Hansen polish off this giant cake on her 82nd birthday!

Adam Hansen left Sawbill to attend his first year of Law School at the University of Minnesota a few days ago and Clare Hansen loaded up several car loads of stuff and headed for the College of St Scholastica – Duluth, yesterday. Poor Carl Hansen is the only child left at home. He boxed himself up hoping that one of his siblings would take him along, but lucky for Sawbill, Carl remains undelivered and will continue to work at Sawbill for a few more days before starting his sophomore year at Cook County High.

8/31/05 –

Northern Lights shimmering over Sawbill Lake last night.
Campers heading up to the BWCAW this weekend will be happy to know that the fire ban will be lifted at 12:01 am on Friday September 2nd. Starting Friday morning campers will once again be able to build campfires inside of designated fire grates through out the BWCAW.
Last night’s calm, clear, star filled sky provided the perfect backdrop as our canoe surged across Sawbill’s inky black surface. We sat floating in a bed of stars, inhaling the cool air, listening to the haunting cries of a far off loon. Time passed unnoticed and a faint glow appeared on the northern horizon highlighting a stand of storm weathered white pines on a ridge above the lake. Reluctantly we turned South knowing that dawn and a long day’s work lay just around the corner. We returned to Sawbill and headed for bed, but the crisp air, was too hard to resist. I grabbed my pack and headed for the landing. Nestled in my sleeping bag I fell asleep as the northern lights lept over head and danced across the lake’s glassy surface.
-Dave

8/30/05 –

John and Kat Oberholtzer had their second baby on Wednesday, August 24th at 9:50 AM. Cy Oberholtzer weighs 6 pounds 13 ounces, and he and his mother are both doing great, and big sister Hazel is excited about having a new baby brother. Congratulations OB, Kat, and Hazel.

8/27/05 – After 49 years, Sawbill finally receives the fame it deserves, and with any luck, fortune will soon follow. It recently came to our attention that Sawbill Canoe Outfitters is currently highlighted on the homepage of an internationally recognized website. Yahoo, MSN, the New York Times are all good guesses, but no. Sawbill’s spotless bathrooms are highlighted on the homepage of www.restroomratings.com. A customer, with an eye for detail and an interest in public bathrooms, wrote a review of Sawbill’s sparkling thrones.
The weekend has been busy and our dwindling crew has been kept on their toes all week. I would like to think we have restroomratings.com to thank for the influx in canoeists, but others have given credit to the warm and sunny weather, good fishing, and the fact that school is about to start.
For those few newsletter readers who remain unimpressed by our dominance of the World Wide Web perhaps the feature article in Celebrating Greyhounds Magazine titled “Phoenix Goes Canoeing” will catch your attention. The photo filled article, written by crew member Pat Nash’s sister, is sure to send a pile of greyhound owners to Sawbill next summer. Sunny and Homer are basking in the starlight, “Most important the campground is dog friendly. In fact, they have two resident, one-eyed Golden Retrievers, Sunny and Homer.”
So I hope this is fair warning to all of our loyal readers. Remember to make your reservation well in advance because you never know how many bathroom loving Grey Hound owners will flock to Sawbill this Fall.

Celebrating Greyhounds Magazine (featuring a Sawbill Canoe on Sawbill Lake).

8/23/05 – Problem bears are nothing new to seasoned BWCA campers. According to conventional wisdom, yelling, banging on pots and pans, and throwing rocks are the best ways to defend one’s campsite from an invading black bear.
Convinced that more elegant (and entertaining) modes of bear deterrence were possible, Sawbill crew members Pat Nash, Carl Hansen, Jeff Green and Adam Hansen set out to find a better method.
After several fruitless hours of brainstorming, Nash conceived the “Bear Joust”: standing on a bear-proof barrel filled with food, holding a double-bladed paddle tipped with Shaolin sleeping bags of fury, delivering crushing body blows to all who wander too near.
The team immediately began honing their jousting skills in a Gladiator-styled death-match round robin tournament.
Although several minor injuries were sustained, the group made the important discovery that bear jousting is a completely useless, if not totally hilarious, technique for fighting off bears.

Fight! Nash and Carl get ready to rumble.

Four seconds into the match, Nash delivers a blow to Adam’s Adam’s apple.
Editors note: Remember, the best way to deal bears in real life is to be prepared, hang your food at least 12 feet high and 6 feet from the nearest tree or limb, and patiently stand your ground (i.e., don’t panic) if a bear does visit your campsite.

8/22/05 – After a summer of very light rainfall, water levels in Boundary Waters are dipping to lower-than-normal levels. Although most routes remain open, traveling with three or four people in one canoe is becoming increasingly tough, according to customer reports.
Here is the latest information regarding water levels on the popular routes in the Sawbill area:
Cherokee Loop – Cherokee Creek and Ada Creek remain open and fairly easily navigable. Jack, Weird and parts of Kelly Lakes are open but thick weeds and lily pads will slightly slow travel.
Lady Chain Loop – The river between Kawishiwi and Square Lake is low but passable–allow one extra hour for travel. Parts of the Phoebe River require a few pullovers.
Louse River Loop – Most of the already difficult Louse River is immune to low water levels. A few spots between Malberg and Boze Lakes require pullovers, but nothing longer than a few rods. The Bug to Louse Lake River is still closed due to a blown beaver dam. Stick to the northern Dent to Mesaba route when finishing the Louse River Loop.
Frost River Loop – The Frost River, described a few days ago by a customer as “misery,” should be considered closed to all but backcountry thrill seekers.
The Little Saganaga East and West Routes are mostly unaffected by the low water levels, except for the few parts overlapping with the routes described above.

The river between Koma and Malberg Lakes, normally a raging torrent, has slowed to a trickle.

8/19/05 – After hundreds of hours working to contain the forest fire near Seagull Lake, the fire crew expects to achieve 100 percent containment by 6 p.m. this evening. Fire fighters have traveled from across the nation to battle the flames, many expressing surprise that, for the first time in their careers, they had to paddle into the fire zone. Comments like these make many of us at Sawbill realize how easy it is to take the unique, serene environment afforded by the BWCAW for granted.
With over $2 million of damage done in the Seagull/Alpine Lake fire, it is astonishing to see that some people can be so careless with their own wilderness practices. The photos below show a small fire put out by some curious and well-meaning paddlers on Handle Lake just west of Sawbill. Apparently the previous occupants had decided that the campsite-less lake should have a place to stay, and they went about the creation of their own new site. The trees they cut down caught on fire when they abandoned their camp and didn’t put their campfire “dead out.”

Here is documentation of the crashed site.

8/13/05 – Bonnie Clay and her son, Jeremy, have been avid BWCA Wilderness canoeists for many years. This year, they brought Jeremy’s wife, Sarah, for her first trip. They traveled from Kawishiwi Lake to the beach site on Malberg Lake during a week of beautiful weather and good fishing back in July. Bonnie sent along some pictures for our enjoyment.

Sarah, Jeremy, and Bonnie Clay in the after trip (and after shower) glow.

Jeremy and Sarah give new meaning to the term “double portaging.”

Sarah in the well organized Clay family campsite on Malberg Lake.

8/12/05 – Families have enjoyed coming up to Sawbill for years. But it’s not often that we have a couple celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary and their 35th summer at Sawbill simultaneously. Tom and Nancy Gager celebrated this momentous occasion this past week in our campground. With a grandson on the way we can only hope for 35 more years. Congratulations guys!

Tom and Nancy pose in their celebratory T-shirts.

8/11/05 – After a quiet June and July the bears are back at Sawbill. Seeing wildlife is always fun and exciting but this time of year it’s especially important to remember to hang your food pack at least 12 feet from the ground and 6 feet from the nearest branch or tree.

Crew member Jasmine Hanson models a food pack recently destroyed by a bear.