10/24/06 – Persistent cold temperatures have brought the canoeing season to an early end. All the small ponds, shallow bays, and slow moving streams are frozen. Rick Kollath, from Duluth, was out over the weekend and sent these pictures.

The channel to Rick’s campsite on Ella as viewed from the far side of the lake.

Paddling into Phoebe Lake, weekend of October 21st, 2006.

10/20/06 – Izzy is our newest Sawbill dog. She’s the small, black dust mop you saw running around here this summer. She turned one year old today and celebrated with a radical haircut. Apparently, her puppy fur was too matted to comb through so she is getting a fresh start with a near shave. – Bill

Izzy strikes a pose with her new hair style.

10/17/06 – Well known Minnesota photographer Richard Hamilton Smith took a trip up to the Cherokee/Long Island area a few weeks ago. He was kind enough to share a few of his pictures with us. Every time I see his photos, I want to throw my camera in the lake! – Bill

10/13/06 – Whoops, we spoke too soon about the depth of the snow! We received 10″ of snow from this storm (so far). The National Weather Service called us this morning because they saw what was happening here on the radar and they wanted a report from the ground. They told us that we have the most snow in Minnesota, it is a record for the date, and this storm is recording one of the lowest barometric readings in history. They said pressure readings like this usually are associated with tornados.

Frosty documents the snowiest Friday, the October 13th in history.

Carl Geving shovels snow into a pile on the deck. What is he up to?

Ahhh…, he’s made a snow cave for Homer and Izzy.

Welcome to Sawbill! Canoeing anyone?

10/12/06 – It was just a tad chilly this morning. 19 degrees with a strong northwest wind. The forecasted 8″ of snow didn’t materialize, but we have a solid inch on the ground. Temperatures will moderate over the next week, but it is fun to have a little preview of winter.

Chilly canoes hunkered down in the yard.

10/10/06 – Two large fires burned north of Brule Lake last month. The Forest Service declared them contained a couple of weeks ago and reopened the area for travel. Yesterday crew member Eric Frost and I took a day paddle up to see the effects of the Famine Lake Fire. The way we chose was to enter the BWCAW at Brule Lake and paddle up through the Cones (South, Middle, and North Cone Lakes) to Davis Lake. The most recent map we had, from September 17, showed that the far west end of Davis Lake had been touched by the fire. As we paddled and portaged north with Frosty’s dog, River, riding patiently in the middle of the empty canoe, we began to see some smoke coming from the direction we were heading. Smoke can be hard to place, however, and it seemed fairly distant, so we continued on our planned route.
When we arrived on Davis Lake, we turned west to see quite a bit of smoke down near the north shoreline, far from any portages. It turned out that the high winds that had blown all day on Sunday had kicked up the fire in a few areas; now, though, the wind was almost completely calm–so we headed over to check it out. The result was a fantastic photoshoot which shows how quickly a few small pockets of fire can consume dry forest.



These shots were taken in the same spot on Davis Lake over the course of about an hour.
Later, we took some photos at a western campsite on Davis that had burned completely and is now closed to use so that we will be able to return over the next few years to an easily recognizable site to compare the systemic changes in the forest. Should be some good blueberries there in a couple of years! –Molly

10/8/06 – October is usually known for its cold mornings and brisk days. This year has been against the norm. Today the high is 68. This past week has been wonderful. Highs in the 50s and 60s with bright sunny days, has made this October beautiful. The parking lot is proof of this gorgeous weather. Here is a cool picture from the barrier-free fishing pier taken by crew member Ruthie Hansen:

-Carl G.

10/6/06 – A canoe left in the yard last night with a life jacket on the front seat was covered with frost this morning. By 10 am though, it was sunny, warm and breezy. It is still very colorful, but the leaves are falling like snowflakes with each gust of wind.

The usual expression is “frost on the pumpkin” but here in canoe country it’s “frost on the life vest.”

10/3/06 – The arrival of October is a sure sign that summer is over. However, Mother Nature seems to follow her own schedule as it was 70 degrees and sunny yesterday. We all enjoyed one of summer’s last hurrahs. There have been many moose sightings on the trail in the past few days and in that spirit I’m including a photo of a cow moose spotted on the Kawishiwi River this past July by Sawbill customer Paul Fixell. -Corey

Moose seen on Kawishiwi River by Paul Fixell.

9/30/06 – The Wales family has been exploring the area around Sawbill by canoe for many, many years. Donald and Helen Wales introduced their children to wilderness canoeing beginning in the ’50s, staging large scale trips out of the Sawbill Lake campground. They have a particular tradition of exploring remote and less visited lakes. Don passed away in 1991 and Helen lives in Phoenix now. The fourth generation of Wales are now carrying on the tradition.

(l-r) “Dani” Becker, girlfriend of Joel Wales; Zachary Moreno, oldest child of Pamela Wales-Moreno and great grandson of Donald and Helen Wales; Greg Wales; Connie Wales (who honeymooned with Greg on Ada Lake in 1969); Joel Wales, Greg and Connie’s 6th child; Moriah Wales, Greg and Connie’s 7th child.