5/6/26 – Official Sawbill Lake ice out happened yesterday evening, May 5th, although you wouldn’t have been able to launch from the canoe landing until this morning due to ice blocking your path. The last remaining ice, per our reconnaissance up the lake path, had been blown to the south end and was blocking the way. This morning no ice remains, although it is quite brisk out with a cutting wind and a cross between snow and graupel, but more on the snow side of things, is dropping from the sky.
The above pictures from the landing were taken around 9am this morning. All other entry points in our area, except for Brule, are freshly ice free. Brule is probably soon to follow, but it’s hard to get a good gauge on that one due to the positioning of the canoe landing in proximity to the main body of the lake. Historically speaking Brule is usually the last to go out in our area, but is typically one to three days after Sawbill. -Jessica
Example of the snow/graupel hybrid currently falling from the sky.
5/3/26 – The countdown continues! We measured 10″ of ice just off the landing on Sawbill Lake today. We try to measure in generally the same area each day for consistency, but as of last night the ice has been shifting around a bit. Where there was more open water in front of the landing, early this morning the ice sheet was pushing up into the gravel. By early afternoon, it had moved back towards the island. We have a dedicated ice measuring aluminum canoe, which is getting it’s moment of glory this week as we shove each arriving crew member out to check the progress!
New crew Annika stays dry while measuring.
Today’s ice measurement is brought to you by first year crew Annika! Annika just completed her junior year at Loyola University in Chicago and is already reveling in the abundance of nature and wilderness just outside her new front door here at Sawbill. She’s a seasoned BWCA traveler, with several trips out of the Sawbill area in recent years. Welcome Annika!
05/02/26 – We welcomed a new crew member to Sawbill yesterday evening! Kay travelled to us from New Jersey via DC and lucky for us, she plans to stay the entire season. As is tradition, we sent her out to measure the ice today. We are happy to report there is less ice than yesterday, just about 12″, and it is quite dark and rotten. As always, we’ll keep updating everyone on the ice conditions pretty much daily! – Sawyer
Kay using the manual auger to find the water underneath the ice. PC: Jessica
5/1/26 – I arrived the evening of April 30th for my eighth season. It feels so good to be back in the wood where I belong. And since I was the first person to arrive, that meant I got to go out and measure the ice. After a small mishap that got my boots (and socks) very wet, I managed to scoot my way out onto the ice in an old Alumacraft canoe. Unfortunately I must report that there is still 14 inches of ice, but the good news is that the condition of the ice is very poor so we are heading in the right direction! -Sawyer
Carefully leaning over to read the number on the ruler to get the ice thickness. PC: Jessica
I (Sawyer) stand in the canoe while using the hand auger to drill into the ice. PC: Jessica
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.
