3/3/08 – We experienced a natural phenomenon yesterday that is unique to our 51 years at Sawbill. From late afternoon through the night, the trees were making strange popping noises. It was a spooky, hard to describe sound that sounded like people tapping on tree trunks with resonant sticks. With some quite close and the rest fading into the distance, the sound was nearly continuous. The air was perfectly still and combined with a star filled sky, it gave one a profound sense of the forest as a living organism.
My best guess is that some sap started to flow during the last couple of warm days. Last night the temperature quickly dropped to about ten below, causing the trees to refreeze and make the popping sound. On the mysterious side, we’ve seen sudden temperature drops many times in March and have never heard this before. Also, it was a much quieter, mellow sound than the cracking that trees do during extreme cold snaps in December and January. – Bill

2/26/08 – Lots of Sawbill news to catch up with. We enjoyed big group of visitors over the President’s Day weekend. The Sawbill Babes, an informal gathering of former and current crew members, held their annual skiing, wine drinking and laughing festival.

(l-r front row)Annie, Patti, Michele, Sandy, Phoebe (what a dog!), Cindy (l-r back row) Jessa, Caitlin, Clare, Lida, Beth.
Aside the Babes, we had visits from a number of other former and current crew, of both the male and female persuasion. Many are snowboarders and a couple of downhill skiers, so we enjoyed a big day at the Lutsen Mountains ski area.

Clare and Lida reflected in Cindy’s goggles while riding the gondola at Lutsen Mountains.
Cindy’s appearance on the popular public radio show “Car Talk” didn’t happen. In Minnesota, the big public radio network was pledging, so they substituted some “Best of Car Talk” recordings instead of the regularly scheduled show. In the rest of the country, the episode aired, but we were disappointed that they didn’t use Cindy’s segment. They may use it in future shows, so keep your fingers crossed.
Sawbill native, Clare Hansen, has decamped to Vina Del Mar, Chile, for the next five months. She is attending school there toward her anthropology degree and cementing her fluency in spanish. Her blog is www.clarehansen.blogspot.com/.

2/13/08 – Sawbill’s own Cindy Hansen is going to be on the popular public radio program “Car Talk” hosted by the famous Tappet Brothers, Click and Clack. After a couple of tries at being a guest on her favorite show, she was called back by Louie Cronin The Barbarian (who turns out to be a woman). She had to make it through a couple of screenings until they called today during the weekly taping of the show. She’ll be on the show that airs in approximately ten days (around the 23rd, depending on your local schedule) right after the Puzzler at the beginning of the third half of the show. – Bill

Cindy is holding the “Second Best of Car Talk” CD that she’s been studying in preparation for her moment of fame on an upcoming episode. Roy is very impressed to have such an illustrious owner!

Her question for the automotive experts stems from a spousal disagreement concerning the proper operation of this snow plow. She isn’t telling anyone exactly what the question was, or what wisdom the Tappet Brothers dispensed, saying: “You’ll just have to listen to the show.”

2/6/08 – Today is Frank Hansen’s 87th birthday. Happy birthday Frank! His email address is mah@boreal.org if you’d like to send him a greeting.
Shawn Peyton sent the following email and photo this morning:
Greetings Bill and crew,
Was just feeling the winter blues for paddling and reminiscing about last year’s trip, looking through the photographs. We came up in May and put in a day before they closed all the entry points due to the Ham Lake fire. Long story short it was quite an experience seeing that on the horizon for most of the trip. We came up with the plan on going up through the fire lakes, Kelly etc. and then into Brule. Then turning north up to Winchell then back east to the Frost River, south to the Louse River valley then back through Polly, Phoebe route to return to Sawbill. Needless to say we were turned back at the north portage out of Brule by a spray plane diving down over the treeline right above our heads. Perhaps not too bright to get any closer. We reversed directions going up through Cherokee to catch Frost lake and then back on the route planned. I’ll say in all the twelve years I’ve been coming up through Sawbill we’ve never had Cherokee Lake all to ourselves in May. I wish a forest fire hadn’t been the circumstances for that luxury. lol
Anyway, I’m passing along a photo I took on a quiet day on Mesaba Lake as we were looking for a campsite. My two compadres were in a tandem while I was paddling solo and on opposite sides of the point as we debarked to check out this particular site. Deciding against it, I returned to my boat to check out the one across the way. I heard some shouts and as I came around saw something that about made me fall out of my boat laughing. There was Jim and Meg standing on shore and their Prospector paddling off by itself. I paddled over to help out but not before, of course, a couple of photos were taken. Both Jim and Meg have worked in the outdoor industry for years, both have been instructors for Rutabaga’s (Madison) outdoor program, and are amazing paddlers. So it just made it all the funnier. If the photo made it onto your online newsletter it would be wonderful to embarrass them on a public forum in the name of good fun (wink, wink, nudge, nudge). Even experts are prone to those DOH! moments.
I was just having happy memories of the usual good time had every year as we launch out of Sawbill. I had actually just come from a week of backpacking on the Superior Hiking Trail and I really appreciate Kari letting me use the shower before they had been cleaned for the season. I’m sure Jim and Meg when they met up with me appreciated it as well. Hope ya’ll are having a great winter with all the abundant snowfall. Take care.
Shawn

2/4/08 – Every year the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon passes through our area. The Sawbill Trail checkpoint is 18 miles south of us and is an important way-point in the race. Dog teams stop to rest and eat, tired mushers get a little sleep and hundreds of spectators take it all in. As part of this year’s press coverage the Duluth News Tribune published pictures from the past twenty years, including the shot below of Cindy Hansen, who ran the Sawbill checkpoint for a couple of years back in the ’80s. Thanks to Mary Black from Hovland for spotting the picture and calling it to our attention. – Bill

Cindy Hansen surveys the facilities at the Sawbill checkpoint back in the ’80s.

1/30/08 – The weather has taken a dramatic turn here at Sawbill. The night before last, it was 34 degrees and raining hard. Due to the ground being very cold, the rain froze into a solid sheet of ice on the roads and paths. Yesterday the temperature plunged all day long and last night hit -22 degrees with 35 mph winds. I stood next to a healthy, hundred year old red pine last night and I could hear small cracking noises in the trunk. – Bill

The fast temperature drop, combined with high winds, is literally snapping branches off of trees. This large white pine branch landed on the store roof.

The big white pine next to the store is one branch lighter.

The birds are feeding frantically – trying to keep warm.

1/26/08 – Sawbill has a new dog. Roy Wonder is an Avon Terrier, just like Phoebe and the late Izzy. Cindy learned that the breeder was closing her business, so it was now or never for a new puppy from her favorite kennel.

Phoebe and Roy are becoming fast friends. Phoebe is teaching him good behavior and advanced outfitter security techniques.

Homer, Roy and Phoebe hold a meeting on Sawbill Lake.

The outfitter security team patrols for squirrels, pine martens and other threats.

1/13/08 – Today we had the great pleasure and honor of attending Cindy Hansen’s great aunt Millie Mainella’s 100th birthday celebration. She is a remarkable woman who still lives independently, just got her driver’s license renewed and keeps up on world affairs. Millie was a life long accordion player along with her older brother Clarence. Our own Clare Hansen is named after Clarence, who is her great grandfather. Clare, who inherited the love of the accordion from Clarence and Millie, played some favorite tunes during today’s celebration.

Clare and Carl Hansen with their great, great aunt Millie Mainella at her 100th birthday celebration today in Grand Marais.

Clare provides accordion entertainment.

Today was also remarkable for the freak snowstorm in the Tofte, Lutsen, Grand Marais area over the last 24 hours. We got nearly a foot here at Sawbill. Grand Marais received about two feet and just a few miles east of Grand Marais nearly 34″ fell. Here is a view from the Sawbill Trail of the beautiful Temperance River valley filled with snow covered trees.

1/2/08 – We had our traditional open house over the New Year’s holiday. Former crew, current crew, and friends spent several fun filled days together. It was a busy time of skiing, snowboarding, sliding, board games, saunas, and dancing. That’s not to mention excellent food, drink and company. Thanks to Molly Breslin for snapshots of a few highlights. – Bill

Caitlin, Belinda, Chrissy, Matt, Nat, Pat, Tess and Claire watch Pat 4 start a run …

… which comes to an abrupt end.

Alison reacts to the action.

Nathan, Carl and Clare sliding wildly.

Adam goes for speed. You know it’s fun sliding when someone wears a helmet and goggles …

… especially when he ends up in the ditch.

Pat gets some air time.

Belinda heads over the precipice.

Tess, showing style and grace.

Manwich (aka Matt) offers coaching and hill maintenance tips.

Clare, Carl, Adam and Nathan are a disaster looking for a place to happen.

Even though sliding chaos was going on just a short distance away, a lone rabbit left his tracks on the campground trail along the lake shore.

That night we all headed down to the Gunflint Tavern to welcome the new year while dancing to the Splinters.

The dance floor is packed as the Splinters rock in the new year!

12/28/07 – Tom (Hawk) Jensen sent this old photo the other day. Hawk was on the Sawbill crew in the early 70s and camped on the campground with his family for many years before that. He has continued to canoe in or near the BWCA Wilderness since he worked here, first with his kids and now with his grandkids. Thanks Hawk! – Bill

From left to right (according to my best memory): Bill Hansen at age 12, the dachshund is Liebchen – an early Sawbill dog, Karl Hansen at age 17, Mary Alice Hansen, Frank Hansen smoking a pipe(!). The year is probably 1965. The campsite is on north Sawbill Lake and is called “picnic rock”. At the time, it was a popular campsite, but was closed because there was no place to dig an adequate privy. It didn’t have a tent site either, which is why the old canvas tent is pitched with “poles”. It is still a popular picnic spot today. This picture was taken for a long defunct magazine called “Voyageur”. This particular shot was sold to the State of Minnesota tourism agency and was used in many publications.