7/7/09 – Following up on the 1999 blowdown entry, I drove down the trail today to find a place where a clearing still showed damage from the storm. The pictures show how much the forest recovers from that kind of disaster over ten years. With sunny skies and temps breaking seventy degrees, it made an idyllic morning for a walk through the woods, yet a stern reminder of the destruction wrought by the forces of nature. – Lee

The tops of the trees broken off like matchsticks.

A few surviving white pines stand tall amid dead stumps and new growth.

7/4/09 – Today marks the 10-year anniversary of the devastating windstorm that hit the BWCA on July 4, 1999. Here is what we wrote and saw at the time:

7/5/99 – Things here are busy and a little hectic. We had a thunderstorm pass through here at about 2:00 p.m. yesterday afternoon, which lasted about a half an hour, with tornado-like winds and heavy rain. It took a lot of trees down and the Sawbill Trail was impassable until about 7 p.m. last night. There have been no injuries reported so far and all campers and Sawbill crew are accounted for. We are all a little weary, as this twist of events on the 4th of July has added more excitement to this normally peaceful place. It is events like this that bring to our attention, once again, to the awesome force of Mother Nature.

The storm was the worst in our history, with 80 mph windgusts violently uprooting trees by the thousands. After the storm passed, the Sawbill crew of 1999, including Laura (Ter Beest) Strubbe, Nathan Ter Beest, Eric Frost, Natasha (Warner) White, Adam Hansen, Laura (Smith) Greensmith, Anna Constance and Josh Bacscai, worked tirelessly to check on those people staying in the campground, and begin to clear the roads.

In front of the Sawbill store, a few days after the storm, the extent of the damage was evident.
Even after the storm passed, we still could not comprehend the total extent of the damage. A few days after the storm, we wrote:

7/7/99 – Now that we’ve had time to assess the damage from Sunday’s storm, we are counting ourselves very, very lucky. Although many trees went down here, in the campground and in the wilderness, it appears that no one in this immediate area was hurt. One family on the campground had two tents set up on their campsite. When the storm hit, they all dived into one of the tents. The other tent was totally destroyed when two huge trees fell across it moments later. Another group was driving over to Kawishiwi Lake with two canoes on a trailer. A large tree fell right across the trailer, destroying both canoes. Our worst loss here at Sawbill was our largest and most beautiful white pine, right by the picnic table in front of the store. It uprooted and fell just a couple of feet from our communication tower guy wires.
The Duluth News Tribune is reporting that 19 people were airlifted out of the wilderness with injuries. No deaths have been reported in the BWCA Wilderness, but a few of the injuries were severe.
– Bill

These stories are just a few among the thousands told by those who experienced the storm.
In the 10 years that have passed, the wilderness has shown remarkable signs of rebirth. Many exposed hillsides now bristle with new growth. More sobering, the BWCA has seen two massive wildfires–the 2006 Cavity Lake fire and devastating 2007 Ham Lake fire–burn through the blowdown area and beyond.
It’s hard to believe that 10 years have passed. It has been a truly remarkable period of destruction, change, and resilience–and a reminder that wilderness is a place all its own that does not always bend to human will. Through it all, so many of us continue to seek out wilderness year after year, occasionally humbled, but always inspired to follow our own path and see what lies around the next bend. – Adam

6/30/09 – June leaves me wanting more. On the way to town today I stopped for a few hours to fish for brook trout. After taking a few, I continued driving and found the roadside lupins in full bloom. With insect hatches and stormy weather, June sometimes makes the sunny afternoons of midsummer seem distant, but days like today make the meantime a thing to revel in, indeed. – Lee

A couple of young campers eye the brook trout brought back to the outfitter.

Two nice brookies.

Lupins: A view from above.

The Sawbill Trail packed with wildflowers.

6/29/09 – The Sawbill summer crew is here. We gathered in front of the outfitter for the annual crew photo the other day. Sixteen of us are working day to day now, and Jim and Rachel Ter Beest, campground hosts, will soon arrive from Nebraska. Returning crew members who showed up since the last personnel update are Caitlin Coomes, who is on her way to law school this fall at St. Thomas, in Minneapolis; Ellyn Phearman, who is between semesters at Luther College, in Decorah, Iowa; Tess Dornfeld, who this fall begins her senior year at Carleton College, in Northfield, Minn.; Marc Levoir, who is going to be a junior at Bemidji State University in north central Minnesota this fall; and Kari Anderson-Hermann, who has returned to the north country for another summer after spending the last year and a half traveling in New Zealand and working at a marine biology camp in Florida. Welcome back, gang. Looking forward to a stellar summer. – Lee

Homer, Sawbill’s golden retriever, presides over his ninth crew photo.

6/25/09 – Adam Hansen just sent along these shots from the crew’s annual lake trout fishing trip. Current and former Sawbill crew members unite each spring to goof off, retell old stories, and see who can find the biggest lunker. We’re going to keep the name of the destination lake to ourselves, but we’d like to let readers know that bragging rights for most and biggest fish this year go to Nathan Ter Beest, former crew member from Omaha, Neb. He caught four nice keepers across three days, and with the help of Adam and Josh, brought in a precarious but necessary load of firewood in their canoe on day two. Nice work guys, and great trip. – Lee

The gang gathers on the landing before the trip for a parting snapshot.

Nathan’s laker.

Nathan and Adam proudly hauling a load of sticks for the evening fire. Despite how it may appear, they had the bulk of the weight in the bottom of the canoe, in order to help keep it steady.

6/23/09 – The annual Sawbill Ladies Night Out: The group got off to an exciting start yesterday when they encountered a moose cow with twins along the Grade Road. They were on their way to Grand Marais for dinner, but stopped to take photographs. Once in town, they found a few former Sawbill babes, Jessa Wallendal, Laura Greensmith and K.B. O’Neill, who joined the party. The ladies hit up the Sivertson Gallery to check out the regional art on display, the Angry Trout for a delectable local dinner, and Syndey’s Frozen Custard for dessert. They even rescued a few painted turtles from the middle of the road on the way home. – Lee

The Sawbill Babes on the bay in Grand Marais.

The ladies take time out during dinner to savor the moment.

The calves emerged from the woods looking for the mother.

The moose cow overseeing the actions of her young.

6/21/09 – The Lenox complete outfitting group, from San Francisco, Calif., found these spider webs on a rock outside the outfitter this morning. The webs were covered with baby spiders. Because of their small size, we couldn’t tell what kind they were. Interesting to note, very few of the hundreds of these little ones will survive, as food sources within and around the web are scarce. – Lee

The yellowish patches on the rock are the webs covered with spiders.

One of the Lenox kids put his finger up next to the web to show how small the spiders were.

6/20/09 – Our season’s first orchid sighting happened today. Pay close attention while walking the trail during late May and June and you may encounter one of these, a pink ladyslipper (cypripedium acaule), also commonly known as a moccasin flower. Of about thirty-thousand orchid species in the world, six live in Minnesota. This specimen stands about twelve inches tall. The bulbous pink pouch is about two inches long. A sight indeed, and a marvel to think that this delicate perennial may bloom up to one hundred seasons. – Lee

Pink Ladyslipper

A closeup of the bloom.
Orchid information: Mark Stensaas, Canoe Country Flora

6/17/09 – Peter Grover sent along this photo of a pale corydalis he and his family observed on Alton Lake. Peter writes, “It was fun to see some color out there,” of the beautiful flower. – Lee

Pale Corydalis (capnoides sempervirens) is a perennial wildflower that stands between two and three feet tall at maturity. It blooms from early summer into fall on open rock faces and clearings.

6/15/09 – Troy Kubes and Dan Gliszinski found good walleye fishing in the area this weekend. The pair drove north from New Prague, Minn., to camp and fish with friend and Sawbill crew member Brian O’Neill. A nice stringer of walleye came with highs in the mid sixties, light wind changing directions throughout the day, and brief afternoon showers on Saturday. – Lee

Troy (left) and Dan hold up their catch before selecting a few choice morsels for a shore supper.

Brian displays a smallmouth bass he just landed.