4/29/26 – Big downy flakes of snow falling this morning, although I don’t think they’ll amount to much accumulation based on the forecast.
Ice out progress seems to have slightly stalled as of late, although a little more open water appeared near the Sawbill Creek outlet after an all day rain this past Monday. Lows in the 20s and highs only up to the 40s predicted through Friday night won’t speed things up in the near term, but a slight warm up beginning Saturday will hopefully get us back on track. -Jessica
As I approached the canoe landing this morning a trio of Common Goldeneyes took flight. They apparently had been hanging out in the open water near the point, until I so rudely startled them.
Looking north ice reaches as far as the eye can see.
4/27/26 – Continued progress over the past few days, plus steady rain today, has us pondering if the ice will be off the lake sooner than later. At the moment I’m guessing it’ll go out sometime next week, but the weather in the near term is looking pretty chilly overnight, so that might stall things a bit.
Makeshift panorama from the canoe landing taken this morning just before the rain started.
The ice has broken away from shore and is now free floating. Those of us currently here are not feeling motivated to venture out onto the punky ice that still remains. In a few days some of the crew will be arriving to help us put the store back in order for the season, so maybe one of them will be willing to shimmy out there in a canoe to test things out. 🙂
Also of note; Dan did a little exploring this morning to see what other lakes in the area were looking like. He found Baker Lake open, with just a little ice floating around the edges. The road getting in he described as “dicey,” so probably not advised unless in an all-wheel drive vehicle until a bit more of the snow melts (patches holding on in the shade). Baker is one of the first lakes to open in our area. If going there in the near future proceed with EXTRA caution as it sounds like the water is high, very cold (probably goes without saying), and fast. The southern side of Baker just east of the canoe landing flows into the Temperance River and picks up some crazy speed this time of year on it’s way out of the lake. -Jessica
4/24/26 – Progress toward ice out is happening now. Last night’s thunderstorm resulted in 1-1/4″ of rain which did a number on the remaining snowpack.
She’s breaking up Captain! The ice is really starting to show signs of letting loose around the shoreline (pictures taken about 1pm this afternoon).
The snow, or lack of snow, varies widely from one area to the next. Each of the above pictures were taken maybe 20 paces from one another.
Major drifting always happens in the canoe storage area and up onto the campground road between sites 1 and 2 blocking off driving access to the majority of the campground. -Jessica
4/17/26 – Over the course of the last seven days it seems spring, and eventually paddling season, is on it’s way! To catch you up here are some of the milestones met since our last update…
Sunday: Notable rain started off the party and resulted in quite a bit of water on-top of the ice.
Water flowing off the lake toward shore.360° on Sawbill Lake Sunday afternoon.
Monday: The rain and fog lifted, which allowed the sun to get in on the melting party.
Tuesday: Back to drizzle and fog. First robin sighting of the season.
Scene from the canoe unloading area near the landing Tuesday afternoon.
Wednesday: Pretty much all the ice has melted off the Sawbill Trail (all winter it is more of an ice road than a gravel road). First geese of the season heard and then spotted in a calm area of the Sawbill Creek. Patches of ground now exposed here and there, although the majority still snow covered.
Mediocre picture of geese chilling in the Sawbill Creek courtesy of a phone/binocular combo.
Thursday: Water has now drained into and off of the ice. My test hole revealed about 29″ of ice from top to bottom, with some pretty notable layers. The top 12″ was more like dense slush/honeycombed ice that supported my weight, flowed by a pocket of water amounting to about an inch, and then 16″ of solid ice.
Tools of the trade.
The forecast over the next few days looks comparatively much cooler, but good progress has been made none the less! -Jessica
4/11/26 – Looking at the seven day forecast this morning made me pause when I noticed a chance of showers five of the next seven days. As a result, todays blue skies urged me to get outside and measure the ice before needing to dig the rain jacket out of storage.
Just before the auger broke through the ice. A deep squat was required to finish the job. 🙂Official Sawbill Lake measuring stick back in action!
Currently there is about 28″ of ice, with some of that consisting of compact slush. Travel on the lake has been quite easy as of late, but we’ll see what happens in a weeks time. -Jessica
4/6/26 – It is with great sadness that we must share the news that Sawbill’s best good boy Huckleberry has passed on. After 13 years of the best dog life we can imagine, he developed an aggressive cancer which ultimately made his bad moments more numerous than his good ones. An integral part of our family, we were sure he would live forever.
Huckleberry came to us while we were living in Missoula, Montana, by way of Beaver Bay, Minnesota. He spent his young years hiking Waterworks hill, catching frisbees in the soccer field near our house, and swimming as much as possible in Dickey Lake. The first time we brought him up to Dan’s grandmother’s house on the lake, he ran full tilt off the end of the dock. We weren’t even sure if he knew how to swim, he was still just a 6 month old puppy! He splashed to the surface, and basically never left the water voluntarily again for the rest of his life.
Huck and his frisbee in Dickey Lake. Trego, Montana
When we moved to Sawbill, Huck was THRILLED by his new proximity to Sawbill Lake. That first summer, we had to double his food intake due to the calories he was burning with hours of swimming. I cannot tell you the number of times we had to wade in up to our thighs just to snag his collar and get him to come home for the night.
He always preferred a launched entry, you didn’t even need to throw anything for him!
Huckle’s second great love was kids. We often joked that most people get a dog for their kids, but we had to have kids for our dog. The gentlest soul, I never doubted his calm behavior around kids of all ages for one second. Our kids learned how to walk with their chubby little fists clutched tight into his fur. He could often be found lounging on the Sawbill Store floor with a gaggle of kids loving on him.
Always a snuggler, even in the canoe.
If you ever stayed in the Sawbill Campground, there’s a good chance you got a visit from Huckleberry. He loved nothing better than sneaking out of the store and making the rounds of the campsites. A social butterfly through and through, he once even tried to sneak a ride on a school bus destined for Eden Prairie.
We know Huckleberry was special to many of you, and we want to say thank you for loving on our good boy over the years. It’s a unique feeling to share parts of our family life so intimately with everyone who visits Sawbill, but we know our lives are all the richer for these connections.
3/26/26 – Meteorological spring is upon us and the temperatures are starting to feel like it. We still have a decent amount of snow on the ground however, so it doesn’t particularly look like “spring” quite yet. Yesterday morning, for instance, I measured an average of 24″ of snow in the woods around Sawbill and much much more piled up in areas that commonly drift like the Alton Lake side of the Sawbill to Alton portage. A couple days ago I walked that direction and found drifts probably higher than I am tall.
Lake travel has improved since our most recent big March snowstorm as well. Things have compacted/solidified a bit more making post-holing into deep deep slush much less common, but conditions change on the daily this time of year along with the weather. -Jessica
Yesterday afternoons view just inside the Boundary Waters.
3/5/25 – If you’ve ever camped at the Sawbill Lake campground, you’ve likely interacted with the residents of site 17 – the Sawbill campground hosts. Campground hosting is a unique chance to spend a season living in the Superior National Forest and interacting with the world’s nicest visitors (seriously, we are so lucky). Hosts work closely with us here at the outfitter, but operate on an independent schedule, leaving lots of opportunity for fishing, paddling, biking, berry picking, you name it.
The hosting season runs generally mid-May to mid-October, although we will consider folks who can only do a portion of the season. Job duties include daily cleaning and maintenance of the 10 outhouses, keeping occupancy records, and posting reservation tags. It’s a physical job, so applicants should be prepared to regularly lift 5 gallon buckets of cleaning solution and be comfortable walking on uneven ground.
Kit and Sig loved helping last year’s host Hawk with outhouse duties.
Sawbill provides a golf cart and all the cleaning materials needed, as well as a dedicated office space. Hosts also have access to showers and laundry and some limited fridge and freezer space at the outfitter. Site 17 does not have electrical hookups, and hosts are expected to have their own accommodations (RV, popup, tent, etc).
If you’re interested, a full job description is available upon request at info@sawbill.com. You’ll find the application form here. We look forward to hearing from you!
3/2/26 – Typically February and March boasts the easiest winter travel conditions. The higher and more direct sunlight slightly melts the top layer of snow while temperatures are still cool enough to freeze the sun-kissed snow into a durable crust (I’m sure there are more factors I’m not accounting for like wind). With the right snowshoes or skis you can often stay above the slushy fray lurking below, but if temperatures raise too much above freezing things turn to slop and before you know it you have frozen blocks of slush attached to your legs. Significant snowfall in February delayed prime travel conditions a bit, but sunny days and cool temperatures toward the end of the month shifted us back in the right direction.
Yesterday I broke out my snowshoes with the largest surface area and headed up the lake. The high topped out at 18° F which was perfect for maintaining the structural integrity of the crusty snow and just a whisp of a breeze made me glad I brought a buff along to cover most of my face. -Jessica
Out of curiosity I stuck one of my snowshoes into the snow to see how far until it hit ice. Before putting these bad boys on I experimented by walking off the beaten path and it was post-hole city.
Just south of Boundary Island an otter is clearly keeping open a couple holes with the equivalent of an otter slip and slide between them.
When looking at the snow surface from a low angle it’s easier to appreciate the “crustiness” of it and how much it really does reflect the sun.
I was very glad I decided to use these giant wooden snowshoes rather than the smaller plastic and steel option I also have. I feel quite certain they wouldn’t have stayed afloat nearly as well.
Chile elected to stay on the previously packed trail for the most part. Anytime he’d stray off he too would crunch through the top layer. Now I’m imagining dog snowshoes so you’re all welcome for that visual.
2/5/26 – In the thick of winter it can sometimes feel like paddling season will never come back around…
Until you get a delivery of 24 canoes fresh from the Northstar factory. They’ll be squirreled into storage the rest of the winter, but before we know it they’ll be coming back out to head on their inaugural canoe trip. -Jessica
