12/10/24 – This past weekend winter arrived in earnest. The festivities started off with a round of snow, followed by freezing rain, then more snow. All of that resulting in just over a foot of the white stuff now blanketing the woods.

Today fluffy flakes continue to fall, but at a much slower rate than the past few days. To highlight the vibe of the day I’ve included a few videos I took this early afternoon. -Jessica

12/4/24 – Ever wonder what Sawbill’s own Bill Hansen is up to following retirement from the outfitting business? WTIP North Shore Community Radio recently released this short film highlighting just that.  -Jessica

11/25/24 – Today marks the first snow accumulation of the season along with some notable skim ice and slush along the shore.

The past few days the skim ice has all but disappeared by midday. Today, however, that has not been the case and this weeks forecast is predicting highs in the 20s and lows in the teens. It seems as though permanent freeze up is near… We shall see. -Jessica

11/18/24 – The season of shortening daylight hours is upon us, and the snow buntings on the road are our signal to start up the snowmobile and set shovels by doors on the porches. While we’ve continued to have a warmer than usual fall, the nights are reliably dipping below freezing and there’s skim ice along the bays in Sawbill most mornings now. We are in the quietest month for Sawbill, with very few phone calls and no visitors. We use this time to reflect on the whirlwind of the past paddling season, take a little time off, and keep making progress on some of our longer term projects. Some of our best thinking happens on long walks with Sawbill dogs Huckleberry and Chile. We prioritize getting out into the woods onto trails that become impassable once the snow is deep. Dry conditions with a rapidly freezing ground and no leaves (and no bugs!) makes for great forest exploration.

If you’re in the market for a refurbished used canoe, Dan has been plugging away at them in the workshop slowly but shirley 😉 We have a few available currently with more coming in the next couple of weeks. Keep checking the used canoe page for updates and feel free to reach out with any questions. Our canoe sale always takes a little longer since Dan goes over each one individually, getting it professionally refurbished and prepped for a lifetime of use.

-Clare

11/8/24 – Quiet in the Northwoods as of late, so figured I’d share some pictures of lichen I took a couple days ago while out on a sunny midday walk.

Lichen are actually two organisms, fungus and algae, working together. The fungi provide the shelter, while the algae provide the sustenance. For more information I highly recommend checking out this article from the Minnesota Conservation Volunteer. -Jessica

10/19/24 – We are big fans of a good theme party here at Sawbill. As per tradition, October calls for a spooky dinner followed by pumpkin carving. The fall crew has been hard at work putting away canoes, shoveling out fire grates, and counting inventory in the store. After a few nights of good old fashioned cold temps, the weather has returned to be unseasonable warm. There’s a little rain in the forecast which we could sure use! Despite the ongoing gorgeous fall, we’re still closing up shop tomorrow. We’ll of course be around all winter, available by phone or email to help you plan for the 2025 paddling season 🙂

-Clare

10/15/24 – Wrap up mode is upon us. The parking lot has one lonely car, the campground is mostly empty, yesterday we had two customers walk through the door, we’ve begun winterizing the store, and the Forest Service is currently moving the canoe landing dock to it’s ice up home away from home.

Due to freezing temps overnight all of the outside water has now been turned off. This includes throughout the campgrounds, in front of the store, inside the shower house, and the dump station. There will be limited services available (cleaning/stocking of outhouses and garbage pick up) at the campgrounds through October 20th, but if staying at Sawbill, Temperance, or Crescent Lake be sure to bring your own water or have a plan for water gathering. Standard campground fees apply.

In the next couple days we’ll also start putting the canoes away for the winter, so if you’re trying to get in one last paddle we’ll be sending out aluminum or plastic canoes depending on what is accessible through the 20th. We’ll be available from 9am-ish to 4pm-ish up until that point, but after that see you in the spring! -Jessica

10/6/24- Sawbill has been staying busy into the fall season! We recently got the chance to outfit three different groups of students (from Eden Prairie High School, UMD, and Lake Superior College) ranging from 18 to 120 individuals. It’s always very energetic around Sawbill when we have these groups in the campground and getting outfitted.

We love getting to be a part of students’ outdoor education and appreciate how so many local schools bring their students up to the BWCA Wilderness. Some of our staff (past and present) first came to Sawbill and to the BWCA on trips like these so they are truly near and dear to our hearts. 

These students came at the perfect time as they got to enjoy both the gorgeous fall colors happening in the North right now as well as some of the last warm days of fall. We still have some nice days in our forecast, but are definitely starting to settle into a perfectly brisk October.

If you’re coming up to see us in the next couple of weeks make sure to pack layers and warm drinks to accompany a lovely, colorful north country fall. -Luna

10/5/24 – Due to continued dry conditions and high winds, the USFS has expanded the fire ban. The fire ban now encompasses the entire Superior National Forest. This includes the Sawbill Lake Campground, Crescent Lake Campground, and Temperance River Campground as well as the BWCA Wilderness Area. If you’re on National Forest land up here right now, you should not be having any open flames. Gas stoves with an on/off switch are still allowed.

-Clare

10/1/24 – The Forest Service has issued a fire ban for the BWCA Wilderness, effective today. As usual, this means no campfires, twig stoves, or other wood burning devices are allowed until further notice. A gas burning stove, with an on/off switch, is allowed. Areas outside of the Wilderness, like the Sawbill Campground, are not included in the ban – so you are still welcome to have a carefully tended fire elsewhere. The ban comes as a result of very dry fall conditions, low relative humidity, and many days of predicted high winds. There have also been a number of small but out of control fires both in and out of the Wilderness. Leaving your campfire smoldering, or even just warm coals left behind, can have devastating consequences. We appreciate everyone’s diligence!

Aside from the dry conditions, things are still lovely up here in the Northwoods as we inch closer to winter. Sawbill crew have been taking full advantage of the late summer weather and taking many last minute canoe trips. As of today, the permit quota season is over. This means that you still need a permit to stay overnight in the BWCA, but you no longer need to reserve it in advance. Between October 1 – May 1, you simply fill out a self-issued permit to enter the Wilderness. These self issued permits are free, there’s no quota limit to them, and they are available in little boxes at the entry points. All the same BWCAW rules apply though, so feel free to call or drop in if you have any questions about those.

We’ll be open our regular fall hours of 8am-7pm through October 9th. From October 10th-20th we’ll be here and open from 9ish-4ish, often times with a sign on the door to call for assistance. We’re here and the campground is open, we’re likely just out back working on fall winddown projects! Everything shuts down for the season October 20th.

Clare