2/13/14 – Former Sawbill crew member (and our daughter), Clare Hansen, is featured in the University of Montana News article below. – Bill
UMSL ABA Negotiation Team Invited To National Competition

(pictured above, left to right: 1L, Nick VandenBos [Bozement, MT] 3L, Clare Hansen [Tofte, MN] and Prof. Klaus Sitte, Coach).
UPDATE February 10, 2014:
The UMSL ABA Negotiation Competition Team of Clare Hansen and Nick VandenBos competed at the National Negotiation Competition in Chicago this past week. Nick and Clare advanced to the semifinal round before succumbing to the University of Minnesota Law School team which eventually took 3rd place. The ABA does not officially ranked teams below the final 4.
Clare and Nick are remarkably gifted negotiators. Clare’s appearance in the Saturday morning round marked the end of her amazing 3-year competition career. She is one of only a handful of students who has competed in the Regional Final round twice in successive years, followed by a national competition appearance. I have had no other Neg Team member who has accomplished that feat in 22 years. Those of you who have had her in class are witnesses to her talent and competence. Nick, as a 1L, was notable just by his mere presence, let alone unique skills: not many 1Ls make it to national competition, of course. His ability to sense Clare’s next sentence is quite uncanny.
As you can tell, I am resoundingly proud of these 2 UM Law Students. Not only are they amazing ambassadors for UMSL, they are incredibly fun to work with. Please join me in congratulating their impressive achievement. – Prof. Klaus Sitte

2/7/14 – Here is the latest edition of the Cook County West End News from WTIP, North Shore Community Radio.
Below is an excerpt:
I am particularly happy to be able to report the West End News this week, because by all rights I should be either be in an intensive care ward or attending my own funeral.
Last Wednesday, I fell off the peak of my roof, plunging 22 feet straight down on to rock-hard frozen ground.
I was up there to clear a frozen sewer vent, which is something that a lot of West End residents have been doing lately. To access my roof, I climb the latticed radio tower that is bolted to the high peak of my two-story home. At the peak, there is a steep eave about 18″ wide that I have to step over to reach the much flatter main roof area. When I committed my weight in that first step, the snow on the eve broke loose and avalanched down and off. I wasn’t too worried because I still was holding the tower with both hands and my other foot. Unfortunately, the physics of the avalanche took a large chunk of dense snow off the flat part of the roof with it, including my foot that was buried within it. The huge mass of the moving snow plucked my hands off the tower like you would pluck a mosquito off your arm. Meanwhile, the foot that was still on the tower became momentarily wedged in the latticework and in the blink of an eye, I was spun around and launched into mid air 22 feet above the unforgiving earth.
I’m here to tell you that good old gravity accelerates a falling object frighteningly quickly. It’s one thing to observe an object dropping from the heights – and quite another thing to be the object.
I’ve often wondered what would pass through my mind if I were facing sure death with only a few seconds to ponder my fate. Would my life flash before my eyes? Would I think of my children, spouse, family or beloved friends? Would I feel regret or fear? Well, now I know. I had one thought and one thought only as the ground rushed toward me. Calmly and without fear, I thought to myself, “This is really going to hurt.” – and it did.
As it turned out, I was incredibly lucky to land a perfect belly flop on absolutely flat ground that was covered by 25 inches of soft snow. Thanks to the cold weather, I was wearing multiple layers of thick clothing. That combination saved my life. I had the wind thoroughly knocked out of me, but once I recovered from that, I had only a moderately sore shoulder and foot to show for my adventure.
The experience definitely did change my outlook on life. I was stupid, then lucky, and that’s a combo that you don’t get to repeat too many times in one life. After the fall, you can be sure that I’ve thought often about my children, spouse, family and beloved friends. – Bill

Here is the divot that is created when an outfitter and radio commentator falls 22 feet.

1/26/14 – We had a fun visitor to the office bird feeder the other day.

The pine marten is a member of the weasel family.

Pine martens are formidable predators, but they also like to eat sunflower seeds.

They are incredible climbers, spending much of their life in trees. It takes some serious skills to climb the steel bird feeder pole.
Here is this week’s edition of the Cook County West End News from WTIP, North Shore Community Radio. – Bill

1/18/14 – Mike Valentini, our friend who lives at the end of the Gunflint Trail, had a lucky encounter with a lynx this week.

It’s always a treat to see a lynx. Photo by Michael Valentini.

…but to see a lynx chasing its lunch is amazing! Photo by Michael Valentini.

Michael reported that the squirrel got away, but the lynx’ agility in the tree was phenomenal. Photo by Mike Valentini.
Tom Sonnek is a long-time Sawbill canoeist. Tom sent a link to this video on the Ugly Stik website highlighting his fishing adventures on Sawbill Lake.
Steve Gendron is another avid Sawbill visitor who sent along this note and picture:

Hello Sawbillians. Enclosed is a photo of a black bear that I made of chicken wire, papier-mache, and white pine needles. Insofar as I’ve got 14 white pines in my small, south Mpls yard, and I read at least one newspaper cover- to- cover every day, I’ve got plenty of supplies. I’ve also made a bull moose and an African, two-horned black rhino. Each is life-sized. Making these animals-except, obviously, the rhino, is one way for me to be “in” the BWCA in the deep winter. There aren’t rhinos in the BWCA, are there?

Steve Gendron, artist extrodinaire, inspired by his time at Sawbill.
Here is this week’s edition of the Cook County West End News from WTIP, North Shore Community Radio.

1/15/2013 – Long time Sawbill paddler, Helen Illich, sent along this beautiful colored pencil drawing that she made one rainy morning on Cherokee a couple of years ago. – Bill

Cherokee Lake from a rainy campsite by Helen Illich.
Here is last week’s edition of the Cook County West End News from WTIP, North Shore Community Radio.

1/9/14 – When I drove to town yesterday for an early meeting, I saw a rare January rainbow. The sky was completely clear, but ice crystals were condensing directly out of the sub-zero air. When the sun broke over the Sawtooth Mountains a full rainbow appeared in the Onion River valley. – Bill

A rare January rainbow at 16 degrees below zero.

1/7/14 – In the last 30 days only two nights have recorded a low temperature that was above zero. Two nights ago we hit -31F and yesterday the high temperature was -19F. The old timers used to say, “Time to button up the coat!”
When I stepped outside this morning, it was noticeably warmer at -22F.
I’ve been busy keeping our electrical, heating and communications systems up and running. Our radio phones have been flaky due to excessive frost on the antennas and some intermittent power failures at the base station in Lutsen.
All things considered, we’re maintaining just fine and looking forward to the coming heatwave. The forecast is calling for temperatures in the 20s by the weekend. – Bill

1/2/14 – Cindy and I recently returned from a lovely trip west for the holiday season. I visited my son, Adam Hansen, in San Francisco, where he now resides. Adam and I then joined Cindy at daughter Clare Hansen’s house in Missoula, Montana to celebrate Christmas.
A big thanks to Sawbill crew member, Nils Anderson, for business, home and dog sitting for us.

Nils reads “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” to the terriers on Christmas Eve. He may have been alone for a few too many days at this point…?

Nils also snapped this picture of the “Sawbill Guard Station” Forest Service cabin.
It has been chilly here since we got home. Last night hit -31 F. – Bill
Here are the Cook County West End News segments for 1/2/14, 12/26/13, and 12/19/13 from WTIP, North Shore Community Radio. – Bill

12/12/13 – Charlie Ward is a life-long Sawbill canoeist and camper. A few years back, his parents bought a cabin on the Grade Road, which is the road that takes you from Sawbill over to Brule Lake. Charlie just published a little book,“The Grade”, celebrating the wildlife that the Wards observe near their cabin. – Bill

“The Grade” by Charlie Ward
Here are the December 12th and the December 5th editions of the Cook County West End News from WTIP, North Shore Community Radio.

12/11/13 – Here are two links for your enjoyment.
The first was sent to us by Jan Kitzing, a retired teacher with many years of Sawbill camping experience. It’s a wonderful short film about how foxes hunt for small rodents under the snow. It was filmed in the Black Hills, but I’ve seen foxes doing this around Sawbill. Even Phoebe, Chief of Outfitter Security, does this under the bird feeder, although not with same altitude and intensity as the fox.
The second is from a good organization, Sustainable Ely, which is working to protect Ely, the BWCA Wilderness and the Lake Superior watershed from the very real threat of large scale copper mining operations. They are holding an information and fund raising event in the Twin Cities on December 22nd, which may be of interest to those who live nearby.
It’s cold but beautiful here at Sawbill. Today the high temperature was -8F, but the sky was blue, the trees are burdened with snow and there is almost two feet of fluffy, soft snow on the ground. – Bill