9/17/24 – The unseasonably beautiful fall days are inspiring all sorts of outdoor adventures this week. We’ve also been busy celebrating the littlest outfitter Sig’s birthday. He’s six years old now and reports that he does, in fact, feel much older and bigger than he did when he was five. Dan and Sig played hooky for a few days and snuck in at Kawishiwi Lake for a quick daddy/son trip to soak up all the warm swimming weather while we still have it. Not one to be left out, Kit quickly roped Dan and Sig into some day trips once they were back home.

The dry fall weather has made the water levels drop after a relatively high water season. This makes hiking the creek beds much easier and is one of the Shirley kids’ favorite pastimes. There are a lot of cool places and fun treasures to be found along the creeks.

We hope you all are enjoying the last of summer wherever you are! Soon enough we’ll be socked in with snow dreaming of the next open water season 🙂

-Clare

9/11/24 – Every fall I am awoken at 5am to the sound of gunshots. I think to myself, who on earth is out sighting in their guns this early? Grouse season isn’t even open yet? That’s when I remember – that’s no gunshot, it’s the resident red squirrels stocking up for winter. The sound of a green pine cone hitting an aluminum canoe or metal roof after being dropped from the tallest white pines is my annual fall alarm clock. The impact sends sap flying in all directions, often landing on the stacks of canoes waiting to be rented, so we keep bottles of liquid hand sanitizer at the ready for cleaning off our clothes and hands.

In addition to pine cones, the squirrels start stashing mushrooms in earnest this time of year. One enterprising young squirrel chose the stack of B19’s as a likely cache location this morning. I’m sorry to say that these canoes aren’t going to stay put in that place all winter so squirrely is going to have to move this particular stash. Watching this frenetic gathering has me fondly anticipating winter and reflecting on years past. A few winters ago, we selected a lovely little balsam as a potential Christmas tree. As we inspected it more closely, and just before we cut it down, we noticed a shriveled mushroom tucked into one of its branches. Further investigation revealed a dozen or more mushrooms scattered throughout the tree. Needless to say, we selected a different Christmas tree.

Despite what the squirrels say, with the beautiful fall weather we aren’t quite ready to begin our winter preparations just yet. We’re still in full swing here, and won’t shut down for winter completely until October 20th. The fall colors are looking to be a bit on the early side this year so if you’re hoping to catch some good color along with good weather the next week or two are your best bet.

-Clare

8/31/24 – As many of our long time visitors are aware, Sawbill is owned and run by the third generation of Hansen family. I (Clare) and my husband Dan took the helm from Bill and Cindy in 2016, and promptly started raising up the fourth generation here at Sawbill. One of my favorite parts of my job is sending out family groups with multiple generations sharing the experience and building core memories. This year I thought, shoot I need to do that with my own family! My kids, Kit (8) and Sig (5), have been on many canoe trips, but never with their grandparents. A quick search on recreation.gov and a phone call to Cindy and we zeroed in on the Granite River.

Day one found us loading up two cars and headed up the Gunflint Trail. Although we don’t live far from the Gunflint as the crow flies, driving to the end from Sawbill takes about the same amount of time as it does for us to drive to Duluth! We dropped off one car at the Saganaga lot and then headed for our put in on Magnetic (via Gunflint Lake). Sig spent the first part of the day scheming which cabin he would buy when he was a grown up. Paddling past motor boats and cabins was a new experience for these Sawbill kids!

We spent the day paddling at a leisurely pace across flat calm waters with the sun on our backs. The Granite River is a lovely stretch of some gently moving water broken up by short but rocky portages along side some beautiful waterfalls and rapids. We were accompanied by several eagles and a host of turkey vultures on Clove Lake. We even watched one eagle knock another out of the air and into the water! We enjoyed lunch on one of the more scenic portages before making our way up to Gneiss Lake where we planned to camp for the night.

We made camp on a west facing site on Gneiss so as to fully enjoy the stellar sunset. Much swimming was done and many smores were devoured that evening as we all settled in to our camping routines. It had been almost 20 years since I took a camping trip with my folks – I could hardly believe I had let that much time slip by! All of us are lucky to have friends who are family that we love to canoe trip with, so while we’ve all been spending a lot of time in the BWCA we seemingly forgot to do it with each other.

Our second morning welcomed us with water somehow even calmer than the day before. The kids were anxious to be paddling again right away so Bill took them out on the glass like conditions while Cindy and I enjoyed our coffee and packed up the campsite. Kit was thrilled to have her Pop Pop instructing her on some new paddle strokes while she steered from the stern. Sig was excited for a chance to practice his paddling from the bow, too. The kids paddled Bill all over the lake for over an hour before it was time to load the packs in and head out for our next destination, Big Sag.

We made good time thanks to Sig and Kit serenading us with many renditions of non-traditional paddling songs (Queen was featured heavily) and elected to paddle through our regular lunch hour to get to a site on Saganaga for the night. We ended up on a site on Oskenonton Island with a gorgeous red pine stand and great swimming rock. Sandwiches and swimming were on our agenda after a hot day of paddling! Bill and Kit spent the afternoon fishing from the canoe, while Sig collected feathers around the campsite. After much discussion of Leave No Trace principles and deliberation on his part, Sig made the tough decision to leave the feathers behind for others to enjoy – a big step for a 5 year old.

Our last morning was spent with more swimming followed by the long paddle down the Sag corridor back to our car at the lot. We topped off our few days of adventure with lunch at the Angry Trout in Grand Marais, always an excellent choice. We all left feeling like this was truly a charmed trip. Everything seemed in our favor and we all felt immense gratitude for the ability to sneak in this quality time together during our busiest part of the season. I think we’re all committed to making sure we don’t wait another 20 years to do it again!

Clare

8/21/24 – This August has been quite the treat when it comes to night sky gazing.  The lack of light from the new moon early in the month showcased our perspective of the spiral galaxy we know as the milky way (of which we are an itty bitty part of).  With our lack of light pollution the number of stars visible almost makes it tricky to pick out the constellations.  Let’s be real though, I don’t know my constellations very well, so that is probably part of it.

Then, on August 11th, just a day before the Perseid meteor shower was about to peak, we were treated to one of the brightest northern lights displays I’ve seen.  The glow was so bright that walking outside around midnight without a flashlight was no problem at all.  Pretty unique experience with the moon safely tucked below the horizon.

If that wasn’t enough, we’ve had perfect weather to watch the moon reach its “super blue moon” status Monday night.   Even the wolves seem to be extra jazzed about the special moon as they’ve been heard howling nearby multiple times this past week.  Pretty darn fun!  -Jessica

8/15/24 – A few days ago Nathan and Amy Dalager reached out with the following story that was just too good not to share. -Jessica

As newlyweds, we did a Cherokee-Frost-Hub Lake loop out of Sawbill Outfitters and decided to splurge on a tent from your used equipment merchandise instead of using our little discount store tent.  It felt like a big investment and we hoped that it would turn out to be worth the money.

Fast forward to this summer.  We just returned from yet another BWCA adventure using that tent.  We cannot count the number of times it has been used–many more BWCA trips, car camping, kid sleepovers in the backyard…our three kids grew up with the “green tent” and after its short life as a rental followed by 25 years of constant (not always gentle) use, it has only needed minimal repairs and a few screen patches.  It is still going as strong as ever.  That tent has kept us warm, dry, and cozy for 25 years, with no end in sight.

Thank you so much for the quality gear, and don’t hesitate to use our story if some newlyweds ever come into your shop and wonder if used gear will be worth the investment!

8/13/24 – We get asked all of the time about hikes in our area and we have loads of options. These can be great day trips if you are staying in our campground and want to switch it up from paddling or they can be done wherever you can squeeze them in before or after a trip. I am going to highlight three in our area, however, there are also tons of options along the shore and highway 61 as you are making your way up to Sawbill. 

The first two, Carlton Peak and Britton Peak, have their trailheads on the Sawbill Trail itself, just a few miles up from Tofte. For both of these hikes, you can park in the parking lot for Britton Peak, but the trail for Carlton is just across the street from that parking lot. Carlton Peak is a roughly 3 mile out and back (1.5 miles each direction) trail that gives you great views of Tofte, Lake Superior, and the surrounding forest. It has some elevation, but is great for hikers of all ages. Right before you reach the summit there is also a turn for the Ted Tofte Overlook which gives you an even better view of the forest North East of the summit, and of the summit itself. This hike takes roughly an hour and a half, but could be more or less depending on pace. Britton Peak is much shorter to reach the summit, only about a quarter mile, but it is quite steep. There are also a number of mountain biking trails that start at the Britton Peak trailhead, however, bikes are not allowed on the Carlton Peak trail. 

The last hike is Eagle Mountain, the tallest point in Minnesota. To get to Eagle Mountain from Sawbill, you will go down the Sawbill Trail until the road widens and at this point turn left on The Grade. The trailhead is down that road past the turn for the Brule/Homer entry points, past the Caribou Trail, and across from the Bally Creek Road. This is another out and back hike, however, it is longer at roughly 7 miles total (3.5 miles each way) so it generally takes more than 3 hours to complete. This hike goes into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and follows the Brule Lake Trail, so you will need to fill out a day use permit before starting the hike and cannot be in groups larger than 9 people. This hike is another very beautiful trail that takes you along lakes, across marshy areas, and finally up the mountain to the tallest point in Minnesota. 

These are only a few of the many incredible hikes on the North Shore, but hopefully give some options of hikes to do in the Sawbill Area! Happy Hiking! -Anna 

8/8/24 – News today from the USFS that the Tofte and Gunflint Ranger Stations are shifting their open hours. Effective immediately both Ranger Stations will be open Wednesday through Sunday 8 am – 4:30 pm. They will be closed Mondays and Tuesdays. If you have reserved a permit to pick up at either location on a Monday or a Tuesday, you should be making alternative arrangements. There are a few pickup locations in Duluth, as well as myriad outfitters who can also issue permits. All you need to do is call the Ranger Station and let them know your permit number and where you’d like to pick it up.

Here at Sawbill we regularly issue BWCA permits, and are happy to do so! No matter if you’ve reserved gear with us or not, we are glad to get you your permit, answer any questions, and get you on your way with the information you need for a successful trip (and we don’t charge a fee for any of this). We are open from 7am – 9pm, seven days a week. We can issue permits same day, or the day before your entry date. So if you need a permit pickup, please don’t hesitate to call the Tofte Ranger Station at 218-663-8060 and tell them to send it to Sawbill Canoe Outfitters.

If you’re new to Sawbill, we are located right on the Sawbill Lake entry point. That’s 24 miles up the Sawbill Trail which begins in Tofte. We’ve been here for 68 years through three generations of family ownership so if you’re looking for up to date information on all things BWCA related in the Tofte District, we’re your go-to spot. You only have to backtrack 5-6 miles down the Sawbill Trail to head towards all other Tofte area entry points (apart from Sawbill of course), and if you’re lucky you’ll spot a moose or lynx along that stretch of road. We love what we do here and it’s truly our privilege to help folks get into the BWCA.

-Clare

8/5/24 – We have a new face here at Sawbill! Our campground host, Suz, got to pick up her other dog, Mariah. Suz traveled to Wisconsin the other day to get Mariah from her most recent dog show. We’ve all been excitedly awaiting Mariah’s arrival! Mariah has been spending the last month or so traveling to different shows trying to earn enough points so she could take a break and enjoy the rest of the summer as one of the many Sawbill dogs. You’ll see Suz, Atticus, and now Mariah, at site 17, walking around the campground, or cruising in the golf cart. 

Sawyer

Day 1 – I finished packing the morning of my trip. Piling into my car at 10 am, I took off towards my entry point, North Fowl. North Fowl is located at the farthest east point in the BWCA. To get there I have to drive up Hwy 61 past Grand Marais to Hovland. Turning away from Lake Superior up County Road 16, I drive another 15 to 20 miles to McFarland Lake public access. I am on the water by 12:30 pm, the sun is high above me and the wind is calm. This isn’t my first solo trip, but it is the furthest away from Sawbill I’ve gone for a solo. As usual, my anxiety is rearing its ugly head. I do my best to ignore it and paddle on. My first portage is unmarked on the map. I imagine on a lower water year, the rapids are easier to pass through, but I wasn’t willing to find out if I could run it. Unfortunately, I sliced the side of my foot on this portage right at the end of it. Fortunately, it wasn’t bad. Carrying on into John Lake, I paddle for 5 minutes to the next portage. This one is 60 rods. The downside to soloing is I get to carry everything on the portages. I do my best to single portage when I can. As I walk with a canoe on my shoulders, my equipment pack on my back, and my day/food pack on my front, I fall into comfortable silence. Birds call. Slowly the pain in my shoulders grows and I remind myself that it’s just like I’m walking up and back on the portage to Alton from Sawbill. That’s all, keep walking, it’ll end soon.

Stepping out into the Royal River, I set my gear down and loaded up the canoe. It seems like this area would be great to travel in late July and early August because there are a lot of thimbleberry bushes along the portages. Royal River winds south east for a mile before opening up into Royal Lake. About 700 ft before I got into Royal Lake, a strange thing occurred. As I mentioned before, the wind was calm at this point in the day. A slight rustling of the tree leaves above but nothing more. Suddenly I heard a buzzing or whistling sound mixed with the sound of strong wind. A small, twister-like form appeared in front of me about 100 ft out. It lifted water off the surface and moved across the width of the river and up through the jack pines, red cedar,  and black spruce that lined the shore around me. From what I’ve been told, these are called water spouts when they happen on Lake Superior. As quickly as it started it ended. By this point my nerves were electrified. I wanted to turn around and leave right then. But, not wanting to let myself down, I paddled on. Royal Lake is mostly reeds. I rose up from my kneeling position to  navigate myself through the grass. To the south of me, the surface of the lake cleared up, allowing a pair of trumpeter swans to scrounge around for food.

As lake transitioned back to river, the current picked up. Luckily, the portage landing was very visible and happened to be right before a beaver dam. 90 rods of mud. Again, there were a large number of thimbleberry bushes. Thimbleberries are one of my favorite fruits. The portage ended where the river was still moving fast. I thought, at first, that the portage maybe went further along the bank, so I put my stuff down and slowly looked around in the woods beyond. Did I really have to try to paddle these rapids? Yes, I decided. Turning back, I carefully put the canoe into the water, and loaded up my pack. Slowly I sat in the canoe. Turns out, it was pretty straightforward to paddle with the current. Hopefully I won’t have to come back this way. I can’t imagine trying to paddle against the current. After the current dies down, I enter North Fowl Lake. There are a few islands ahead and to the right of me blocking most of my view. All I can see is that the lake will open up once I get around the point 100 yds ahead of me. To my surprise, as I round the bend, three small docks come into view. Up from each of the docks, there are a few small, rustic cabins nestled in the woods. Around the next small point, there are some more docks. Two of the cabins have a motor boat tied to their respective docks. I could tell that at least one of the cabins was being actively used because I could hear music coming from inside. I had expected to be alone on this trip for the most part except the occasional other group of BWCA travelers. 

The way my anxiety shows itself is by giving me a sense of foreboding. I feel as though something terrible will happen to me and I’ll die alone without being able to help myself or get help. As much as I wanted to be alone on this trip, the knowledge that there was someone else around that could potentially save me lessened my anxiety. I feel silly admitting all of this, but I know it’s out of my control. I will eventually learn how to handle these feelings. It’ll take time and practice. 

The wind was picking up a little bit by this point. It was 2:30 pm. The wind was coming out of the East/Southeast. I was able to move quickly with the waves. There were patches of aquatic grass that I paddled through. Soon, there were multiple dozens of blue damselflies flying alongside me. It was magical. The deal with North Fowl as an entry point is the only way you are considered in the wilderness area is if you either move on to Moose Lake, or camp at the northernmost site on North Fowl. I was looking for the site when I spotted a hole in the tree line that I was currently paddling quickly past. Oops, there it was! I quickly turned around and paddle hard against the wind and waves that I was now moving into. The landing to the site was sandy with smaller rocks and mud lining the shore. It was about 3:30 pm by the time I finally got all of my gear up into the campsite.

As far as campsites go, this one was average. I don’t really like rating sites, it seems to inflate people’s expectations of what campsite they can get and when all those “5 star sites” are taken they get disappointed. Nevertheless, I will say that the site on North Fowl doesn’t have much of a level spot to put a tent. Rating sites will also funnel groups to a  smaller percentage of sites, causing more concentrated areas of impact instead of spreading out more (Don’t worry though, I  too, still like to grab the best looking one when I can, just food for thought). Truthfully, the only real flat spot is the fire grate. It’s grown in a bit as well and would make for a great protected site for the fall. I spent my afternoon bouncing back and forth from trying to start a fire and swimming. I feel lucky in hindsight that it was not as warm and humid as it is now, but it certainly felt hot at the time. During one of my wades, I noticed that there was a boat launch across the lake from my site. Based on the map I had, I had no idea how people were meant to get there. As far as I knew, it was just forest over there. However after zooming in on google maps, it appears there is a dirt road that ends at the landing there. On occasion a motor boat would troll past. I found that all the boaters acted very respectful of the area and never sped past the site I was at. For dinner I had a white bean and kale soup from some freeze-dried camp food company. Had I elected to bring salt and pepper, I probably would have enjoyed it a bit more, but I was hungry and it was food, so good enough for me! 

I tried once again to get a fire going before I went to bed, but all of the wood was pretty wet, so I constantly had to feed more kindling into the flame. At a certain point it no longer is worth the time. I crawled into my tent, carefully attempting to keep the mosquitoes out. I settled down and read until the light disappeared. As I closed my eyes for the night the loons and swans started calling. Unfortunately, the swans decided the best place to talk was right outside my site. Eventually I slept. 

Day 2 – I never sleep through the night when I go on trips into the wilderness. This time was no different. As the sun rose, I found it more and more difficult to keep my eyes closed. Around 8 am, I rolled out of the tent and started packing up. Normally on solo trips, I can eventually calm myself enough to continue on. This time I was nervous from the moment I woke up. I decided to head back to the entry point. I was paddling back south by the time it was 9. Once again paddling past the surprise cabins, back up the rapids, which weren’t as terrible as I expected, back across muddy portages. I’ve never felt so disappointed in myself on a solo trip. Why couldn’t I just deal with the anxiety and push on? Maybe I should start taking my own advice to people going on their first solos. Start small. Do an overnight at a lake that is familiar. Build up your comfort and understand your limits. Push yourself when you know you can. I’m still glad I went out for a night at least; it was nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of Sawbill sometimes. Doing this trip still helps me work closer to my goal of being able to do longer solo trips in the future. It’s been a few weeks since I got back, and I no longer believe I let myself down. There are always setbacks as we try to learn a new skill. Hills to climb. I’ll just have to try again next year.   

   

7/30/24 – It has been hot and humid here at Sawbill over the past week and it is forecasted to continue. While a lot of people are coming from south of us, where it is even hotter than up here, we don’t usually see this much heat for this long during the summer and while it is really nice and makes it feel even more like summer, it can also be really exhausting. Whether you’re staying in the campground or heading out into the wilderness for a canoe trip or just coming up for a visit, there are some things that you can do to help beat the heat and avoid getting dehydrated or something like heat stroke! 

Wet landings at portages will be your friends, so it is so helpful that you need to get everything in and out of kevlar canoes while they are fully floating to avoid damaging the canoes. : ) Swimming is a great way to regulate your temperature as well, but if you don’t want to fully swim, even just wading in the water or soaking a sun shirt or buff and putting that back on can be extremely helpful. With that, make sure to drink enough water and if you are heading into the wilderness, don’t forget to bring a water filter. Too much water can also be an issue due to a lack of salt and electrolyte replenishing, so make sure that you are mindful about increasing salt and electrolyte intake as you sweat more in the heat. Also, sun exposure can be a problem, so sunscreen, a sun shirt, and a hat can make all the difference. Overall, enjoy the heat and the excuse to swim multiple times a day in all of the incredible water we have up here! -Anna