8/17/09 – Blueberries! For months now, the woods surrounding Sawbill have been filled with loads of green, unripened blueberries. With the colder weather we experienced in late July and early August, the berries were maturing more slowly than normal. We feared that, as in some years past, cold weather and other factors could stunt an entire crop of berries.
Thankfully, our recent warm, wet weather turned things around in a hurry. Berries are quickly reaching maturity and the berry picking fanatics have taken notice. On one trip to Kawishiwi Lake late last week, I spotted over 20 people harvesting berries on a well-known patch along the remote gravel road.
Today, Sawbill crew members Katie Nulicek, Tess Dornfeld, and Gerrit Duys drove to their top secret berry patch, harvesting several pounds of blueberries. Today is August 17, 2009, and blueberry season is here. A little late, but certainly better late than never.

Gerrit and Tess prepare for harvest.

Pay dirt.
UPDATE: A thank you to Clare Hansen for whipping up some delectable blueberry pie.

Some of the freshest blueberry pie I’ve ever tasted.

I like pie.

8/15/09 – Sawbill was visited recently by former crew members Sandy Zinn (1991-94) and Michele Thieman (1997-98), and future crew member Anders Decker. Thanks for a great visit, guys.

Anders Decker (SAWBILL CREW 2027?!?!?!?!?), Michele Thieman, and Sandy Zinn.

8/12/09 – With summer finally starting to feel like summer, Sawbill crew members can frequently be found logging hours at the Sawbill Beach Club. On hot days (today could reach 90 degrees), the business is often left in the hands of three people: the General Manager, the Storekeeper, and the Rentals Manager. As for the rest of us, well, a beach towel, book, and bathing suit are all the work we can handle.

From left, Clare, Kari, Caitlin, KT, Brian, Dan, and Ellyn at the Beach Club.

8/11/09 – Phoebe, Chief of Outfitter Security, perched on a boulder in front of the store on this beautiful, sunny, warm morning.

Queen of all she surveys.

8/10/09 – Sawbill crew members pride themselves on knowing the fine details of the canoe routes in the Sawbill area. We all have our favorite lakes, campsites, and top-secret fishing holes. Indeed, experience has its value; but we are constantly amazed by the fresh perspective of first-time BWCA visitors.
In that vein, first-time BWCA campers and Sawbill customers Joshua and Alethea Huyser of Minneapolis embarked today from Kawishiwi Lake on the Lady Chain Loop. Joshua grew up fly fishing and hunting in Montana, and Alethea counts herself an expert on camping in Iowa. Check this space in a week for a chronicle of a first-time trip on a familiar Sawbill route.

Joshua and Alethea Huyser moments before launching on to Kawishiwi Lake.

Canoeing is fun!

8/8/09 – August is here, and the boys of Sawbill are hitting their fishing stride. Carl, Lee, Adam and Nathan took advantage of a break in the outfitting action to head deep in the Boundary Waters in search of northern pike. After a few portages, a pair of bushwhacks, and at least one Nathan face plant, the boys settled in for a leisurely, pike-filled afternoon.

Carl points towards the destination while Lee looks on.

Carl, Lee, and Nathan navigate the creek bed.

Made it. Nathan looks for structure while the others rig up the poles.

First fish. Carl shows off his fishing acumen with a pretty northern caught on his first cast.

Nathan, although the least experienced pike fisherman of the group, arguably had the most fun.

8/7/09 – Last week, Sawbill guide Dave Freeman joined a group of Norwegian college students studying climate change on a Boundary Waters canoe trip. One afternoon, students Miaken and Kjersti decided that fresh fish would be a great addition to the evening menu of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and s’mores.
Lake trout, the only species of fish on the lake where the group camped, are easiest to catch in the spring when they can be found near the surface; but with a little patience and some luck, lakers can be taken in the middle of the summer. Miaken and Kjersti worked together to land a beautiful trout, which they named Edward Frost.
If you would like to try catching Lake Trout in the summer, try trolling a medium size spoon slowly behind your canoe with a lot of line out. Stop every few minutes to let your lure sink. Lake trout are usually found in the deepest parts of a lake during the summer where the cold oxygen-rich water they need can be found in the hottest part of the summer.

Lake trout go great with peanut butter and jelly.

8/7/09 – Former Sawbill crew member Laura (Ter Beest) Strubbe and husband Ezra brought their five-week-old baby Micah for his inaugural Sawbill visit this week. Micah’s proud grandparents Jim and Rachel Ter Beest have been hosts at the Sawbill Lake Campground across the trail from the outfitter since 1985, and have been visiting Sawbill to escape the scorching Omaha, Neb., summers annually for 36 years. Both of Jim’s and Rachel’s kids, Laura and Nathan, respectively, worked here at the outfitter for a few seasons, so the Strubbes and Ter Beests anticipate Micah will someday put in his application to become a Sawbill crew member too. – Lee

Micah Strubbe and his mom Laura.

The Ter Beest family visit (left to right): Belinda Ter Beest, Nathan Ter Beest, Jim Ter Beest, Tori Strubbe, Rachel Ter Beest, Carter Strubbe, Ezra Strubbe, Laura Strubbe and Micah Strubbe.

Sawbill Crew, 2027?

7/31/09 – Swing your partner ’round and ’round! We got a chance to practice our do-si-dos Wednesday at Sawbill’s annual Dome Dance. Once a year we put on our dancing shoes and gather in the former outfitting dome behind the canoe yard to spin, see-saw and gypsy the night away at an old-fashioned contra dance. Terrance Smith, Duluth, called the dance, with the help of wife Marge on the tin whistle, friend Kelly on the fiddle and our very own Bill Hansen on the guitar. Guests from the campground and around Cook County came to dance their hearts out and revel in the July heat. It was a whoop-and-hollering good time, as usual. – Lee

A few of the dancers, with Marge and Kelly in the background.

Contra circles in mid spin.

Terrance gives a guest a helping hand.

7/30/09 – Lida, KT and I (all current or past crewmembers) just returned from an outstanding canoe trip full of rock jumping, roaring waterfalls and plenty of blueberries and raspberries to sweeten up our granola each morning. The berries were not quite ripe around Sawbill when we left on the trip so we were delighted to find abundant patches on nearly every site we visited.

Lida fills her cup on our very own raspberry island.

Our harvest on the first site.

Early morning yoga looking out at Knife Lake.
Despite an ominous forecast and forgetting a few important items (yup, it happens even to the professionals!), it was one of the best trips any of us has taken. We covered a lot of miles and the laughter was constant. Who needs perfect weather when you’ve got great friends?

From our site on Seagull Lake you can see the far shore is still brown and scarred from the Ham Lake fire of 2007.

Our eager group on the only sunny morning of the trip.
-Caitlin