6/12/09 – John Berg, Charles City, Iowa, sent us some nice snapshots from his recent trip out of the Sawbill Lake entry point. John, brother Jeremy Berg, and friend Craig Carlson spent five nights in the Boundary Waters and reported that the area around Burnt Lake was teeming with wildlife. Great news, John! Thanks for the email and awesome photographs. – Lee

Bald eagle perched on dead tree.

Swimming beaver.

Hold on tight! The cameraman caught this little insect suspended from a stick above the water.

What luck! A moose lingering near shore.

And to top it off, the party saw a wolf on the way home.

6/10/09 – Here’s a fungi update brought to you by Ellyn and me. Spring and fall bring the boreal forest a bounty of funky mushrooms, and it’s interesting to keep an eye out for what’s going to pop up next. – Lee

This is a false morel. Please note: it is inedible, very poisonous, in fact.

Any one know what this one is? Ellyn saw it in a patch of moss. It must have been hard to spot. Notice the size. The sticks next to it are pine needles.

I took this picture of a redbelt shelf fungi during my walk last week. Notice the old man’s beard (a type of lichen) in the foreground.

6/9/09 – Robert Shrewsbury sent along these nice pictures from his visit over the Memorial Day weekend. – Bill

A beautiful morning on Sawbill Lake just north of the wilderness boundary.

A successful fisher-person at the Sawbill campground accessible fishing pier.

6/6/09 – A Sawbill customer and lake trout aficionado sent us these pictures from a recent trip. Mike and his son Orion caught a few nice lunkers on an undisclosed lake. They also went bushwhacking and found a small glacier-like ice formation. It’s holding on thanks to a sheltered location on the shady side of an embankment and a cool start to spring, as mud season (or when the snow melts) began more than a month ago. That’s endurance, but it can’t last forever. Summer temps are just around the corner. Thanks for sharing your trip with us, Mike! – Lee

With some attentive camera work, Mike captures Orion in the act of retrieving a lake trout.

A grin to fit the catch. Nice work, Mike.

With the young fisherman posing next to the ice, we get a nice sense of its scale.

The beautiful pattern on a trout’s flank against the water’s sheen.

6/1/09 – Jessica and Dain Carlson camped at Sawbill last weekend and sent along two great wildlife photos. – Lida

The Carlsons spotted this big guy on a drive over to the Hog Creek BWCA Wilderness entry point. It looks like he is sticking his tongue out at the Carlsons!

A wild Roy appeared right in the Carlson’s campsite. He is generally tamed quite nicely with a dog biscuit and a pat on the head.

5/31/09 – Ellyn Phearman, a current Sawbill crew member, took some great photos this evening after we finally received some much needed precipitation. Spring is an exciting time here because the greens are becoming greener and the buds are quickly beginning to bloom. Beautiful. – Lida

The marsh marigold grows in standing water in marshes, creeks, swamps and ditches. Its bright gold color is vibrant in this sea of greens and browns.

Reindeer lichen forms in large patches typically in old growth forests. Interestingly enough, we also learned that it is commonly used to represent miniature trees and shrubs in scale models.

The large-leaved aster is the most common ground cover in the Sawbill area. Eventually, many little purple flowers cluster at the top of the plant. Fun fact: the aster is also nicknamed lumberjack toilet paper (for obvious reasons).

These residual water droplets remain from this afternoon’s showers.

The Sawbill Trail looks beautiful in any season. To so many of us it’s a symbol of happiness, friendship, peace, quiet and escape.

5/28/09 – Memorial Day weekend was fantastic. Both the weather and fishing reports were great and customers were happy. We couldn’t ask for more. – Lida

We received this beautiful photograph of a pine marten from Gary Erickson of Chisago City, MN. He and his Boy Scout troop were just leaving their campsite on Flame Lake when this little guy hurried through. The troop comes up every Memorial Day weekend, and every time something new surprises them.

5/24/09 – Customers of Sawbill aren’t the only ones who love it here and return year after year. The employees also have a tendency to become completely enamored with this life, the people, as well as a shared love for the Boundary Waters. Customers return year after year and so do the majority of the crew. This year, like many others, there was very little turnover in our staff. Luckily we gained two great new people (and Dan, who arrived mid April). – Lida

Gerrit Duys is a brand new crew member this year. Originally from Northfield, Minn., Gerrit has spent many vacations paddling with his father in the Boundary Waters. He just completed his freshman year at the University of Wisconsin-Stout where he’s pursuing a degree in Apparel Design.

Brian O’Neill is originally from New Prague, Minn. He just finished his junior year at the University of Minnesota-Duluth where he is working toward a degree in Recreation/Outdoor Education with a minor in Biology. He’s an avid outdoorsman and spends many evenings fishing and kayaking around Sawbill Lake. He’ll obviously fit right in!

5/23/09 – Last year at this time, Bill had shimmied himself into Sawbill’s water supply tank with the pressure washer to spray the inside clean. This year, Adam was gutsy enough to squeeze himself through the circular opening with just an eight-inch radius. For those of you who have never met Adam, he is 6 feet 6 inches tall, so getting into the tank required some serious maneuvering, but now, thankfully, our water tank is clean! – Lida

This photo was taken from inside of the normally full water tank. The opaque shadows of trees and brush give the photo an interesting quality.

5/22/09 – Like so many loyal Sawbill customers, Grant and Janis Friberg of Wyoming, Minn., return each year ready to make the most of their time while here at Sawbill. They happily spend their days kayaking and fishing in and around Sawbill Lake. Janis said that it’s their favorite place, referring to it as a “mini Montana,” another one of their choice destinations. The Fribergs make it a point to return every spring and fall with their beautifully crafted wooden kayaks that they built themselves, and every spring and fall we’re so happy to see them. – Lida

This evening I watched the Fribergs launch from the landing. The sun was glistening off the water and the breeze was warm. Another perfect day for a paddle.


The perfect end to an ideal day.