9/1/13 – Mary Alice Hansen, co-founder of Sawbill Canoe Outfitters, is celebrating her 90th birthday today.
Mary Alice lives in Grand Marais now, is active and in good health and celebrated with her immediate family.

If you would like to send Mary Alice a birthday greeting, her email is mah@boreal.org.

8/30/13 – The Towner family has a deep connection to Sawbill, going back to the 1940s. Last year, four Towner brothers, who spent many happy weeks at Sawbill in their youth, reunited for a canoe trip up to Cherokee Lake. Bill Towner recently sent a picture of a lovely portrait that he painted. – Bill

Bill, Bob, Mark and Josef Towner on Cherokee Lake.

8/29/13 – As fans of the moist weather we’ve been enduring, many juvenile American Toads have been inhabiting the area. An adult male and female American Toad can produce anywhere from 2,000 to 20,000 fertilized eggs at a time. She will lay them carefully in gelatinous strings in her laying site. After 2 weeks, tadpoles will hatch. And after 6-10 more weeks, they will metamorphose into toadlets. Thousands will emerge from the laying site. So if you’re planning to pay Sawbill a visit anytime soon, watch your step for the many camouflaged toads! – Nicole

8/28/13 – Here are the Cook County West End News clips from the last two weeks on WTIP, North Shore Community Radio. – Bill
West End News for 8/22/13.
West End News for 8/15/13.

8/27/13 – Here are few fun photos that we’ve received lately.

Nat Williams, from Chicago, proudly holds his first lake trout, caught in a lake near Sawbill.

Erin Threlkeld sent along this photo of the Kelso River dolmen. Some scholars have theorized that the dolmen is an ancient navigation marker, placed by Celtic explorers in the 5th century B.C. Apparently, the ancient explorers didn’t notice that they squished Erin and her friends…

By popular request, here is a recent picture of Hank, Sawbill’s deputy security trainee. This picture was taken during an “Orange” security alert, which means there has been significant chatter detected between known squirrels. Hank is vigilant, as always.

8/27/13 – There have been quite a few beautiful caterpillars around lately. – Nicole

This guy was found crawling around on some tents and tarps!

This is a leaf that a caterpillar made a good meal out of.

8/25/13 – Tim Petricek has always been a lucky guy. He catches big fish and has great wildlife sightings, many of which he captures on his camera. His luck may be influenced by the fact that he spends so much of his time in the woods around Sawbill, visiting at least three or four times every season. – Bill

Tim Petricek, from Racine, Wisconsin, holding a recent muskie catch from a lake near Sawbill. He quickly and gently returned this beauty to the water. Photo by Charles Petricek.

An osprey looks for its own muskie. Photo by Tim Petricek.

A doe swims across a lake near Sawbill. Photo by Tim Petricek.

08/21/13 – While we all agree that the Boundary Waters is largely comprised of blue skies, great campsites, good fishing, and abundant wildlife, it does have its seamier side. Take this little fellow, for example, that landed on the office window screen apparently checking in to see if there were any permits left for Labor Day Weekend (there aren’t many)!

A large brown bat.
And then there’s this lovely moment showing a mother garter snake instructing her offspring in the finer points of consuming a toad… whole.

They say… once on the lips, forever on the hips… unless, of course, you’re a garter snake.
-Cindy Lou

08/19/13 – We were lucky enough to be visited by the Cook County Explorer’s Club last week. The group of 21 children is led by Melissa Wickwire and is based out of Grand Marais. Swimming and canoeing fun was had by all! -Meg

Adventure in the making.

08/17/13 – Terry Olson, a retired Forest Service technician from the area, flew over Sawbill in his float plane the other day from Finland, Minnesota. He made a quick stop to visit us at the outfitters and offered the crew the opportunity to check out his mode of transportation. What an unusual sight to see at the end of the Forest Service dock!
– Meg

A beautiful plane in a beautiful setting.