2/5/26 – In the thick of winter it can sometimes feel like paddling season will never come back around…
Until you get a delivery of 24 canoes fresh from the Northstar factory. They’ll be squirreled into storage the rest of the winter, but before we know it they’ll be coming back out to head on their inaugural canoe trip. -Jessica
1/13/26 – Sawbill is celebrating a momentous milestone this summer. This season marks our 70th year of business! To celebrate the achievement, we are cordially inviting all former crew and their families to return for a celebration. Mark your calendars for July 10th – July 11th folks! We’ll have an informal gathering at Clare and Dan’s backyard on the 10th as people roll in, and July 11th will feature a catered dinner in the canoe yard, a short program, and as much reminiscing and story telling as we can handle. If you haven’t seen the Facebook event invite, or if you don’t use social media, please send an email to Clare at clare@sawbill.com and I’ll get you looped in.
12/22/25 – The solstice really does feel like the official kickoff of winter around here. Sure, there’s been snow for about a month, but not quite enough to justify breaking out the snowshoes or skis. In the last handful of days, however, we tipped the scales to the point where it feels like you’re really stomping around in it. The best!
To celebrate the occasion, I dug my snowshoes out of the basement and headed for the woods. The weather cooperated perfectly with a total absence of wind and some of the bluest sky I can recall. A moose had been out and about before me so I wasn’t the only one who had the idea of going for a stroll. I followed their tracks for quite a while before they veered off toward a patch of tasty looking twigs.
I finished off my hike on the lake where the snow wasn’t quite as deep as the woods, but I was still glad to have on my snowshoes. Back inside I made myself a cup of spruce tea from a handful of black spruce tips I collected along the way. A happy solstice indeed. -Jessica
12/16/25 – Alert! Alert! The snow is perfect for snow sculpting right now!
The forecast looks like temperatures will dip back below freezing the rest of the week in our neck of the woods, but central Minnesota might get another chance at snowball making conditions tomorrow. -Jessica
12/5/25 – I practice a healthy dose of caution when it comes to going out on early ice, which basically means I don’t (AKA I’m chicken). But, Yesterday afternoon following a number of days at or well below freezing, I walked out with relative confidence and measured a solid 10″ of ice.
As we all know/eventually learn, ice is never 100% safe, so proceed with caution. Especially in areas more likely to have current or animal activity. I learned the second lesson the hard way a few years back following a run in with my right leg and a snowed over otter hole. -Jessica
11/26/25 – Yesterday morning we lacked any snow to speak of, other than a few patches desperately trying to hang on. Cut to 1pm today and we’re up to 9 inches! This isn’t the case everywhere, however, as the wind is whipping the snow around, especially near the lake, doing it’s best to rearrange things as it sees fit. -Jessica
While taking the above videos at the canoe landing I felt like a camera person for the Weather Channel as my loose fitting jacket snapped around in the wind.
11/18/25 – Most mornings and evenings, as of late, I’ve been making a point to get down to the lake to see what the ice is up to. The report has been ever in flux from one day to the next. Just as it appears to be fully covered with ice, the next day rolls around with a stiff wind to break it all up.
Over the past twelve hours the weather has cooperated nicely with temperatures well below freezing and no wind to speak of, resulting in ice as far as the eye can see. Will it stick around this time? Only time will tell. -Jessica
11/12/25 – We now have a few refurbished canoes listed in the “used canoes” section of our online store. Dan will be cranking them out on a rolling basis throughout the winter.
Learn more about how we refurbish canoes by following the link to Dan’s blog post about the subject. -Jessica
11/11/25 – In the past handful of days it’s starting to look a little different around here. Ice is creeping in and a blanket of white has covered the forest. This afternoon I took a stroll along the lake path, which eventually will be so drifted in it will be nearly impossible to navigate, even with snowshoes. -Jessica
10/22/25 – And just like that the paddling season, as far as our rental canoes go, has concluded. Although our brick and mortar will be closed until spring, we’ll be around to answer phones and emails the duration. Don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions! -Jessica
