11/8/15 –

We’ve had some great northern lights recently. Sawbill crew member, Tyler Campbell, got this nice shot a few days ago.
Sawbill Lake isn’t frozen yet, but there was some skim ice in last night.
We rented a canoe today to a nice couple from Cincinnati, Ohio. They saw a bull moose on Kelso Lake. They had to break a little ice just before the Kelso/Sawbill portage. They are most likely the last rental customers of the 2015 season. – Bill

10/29/15 – It’s been a busy fall, but we are finally fully closed for the season. The parking lot has been empty all week, but four cars appeared last night and this morning, so a few people are braving the late-season wilderness. I hope they are being careful because it’s windy, raining and cold – not to mention very cold water temperatures.
Earlier this fall, crew member Brian Henry made this little photo montage of fall beauty. Now, just a few weeks later, the leaves are down and it is brown and grey forest until it is transformed by snow.
We had the first dusting of snow on the ground this morning, but it melted before I could get motivated to take a picture. – Bill

Photos by Brian Henry

10/13/15 – Martin Berst sent along this beautiful sunset picture on Kawishiwi Lake from his canoe trip last summer. – Bill

Photo by Martin Berst.

10/11/15 – This is the time of year when the crew has a little more spare time for fun. – Bill

Phoebe is campaigning to go on a canoe trip.

10/5/15 – The hard working Sawbill Fall crew went out for their traditional October bowling night at the Silver Bowl bowling alley in Silver Bay.
The good folks at the Silver Bowl are nice enough to stay open late to allow us to bowl ourselves silly after the Sawbill store closes for the night. – Bill

The bowling Sawbill Fall crew of 2015.

Our friendly hosts at the Silver Bowl.

Brian shows the proper technique for the perfect gutter ball.

Buck shows that he, unlike the rest of us, actually knows how to bowl.

Bill and Cindy attempt to simultaneously pick up nearly identical spares.

9/29/15 – Dan Walch, longtime Sawbill canoeist, sent along this picture and note. – Bill

Bill,
Last Tuesday I was camping on the SW campsite on Beth waiting for the sunrise. This formation appeared and was lit up by the sun that was still below the horizon. Later while looking at the map I realized that the formation was right in-line with Sawbill Outfitters.
What has Bill been up to now?
Dan

9/28/15 – Steve and Deb Smith sent along this nice note and great photos a few weeks ago. – Bill


Last weekend we were camping at your site 15, doing day trips in kayaks around Sawbill. On Saturday morning, we were fortunate to come across a cow moose and her calf on our way to Handle Lake. She was back deep in the stream chewing on lily pads and keeping cool. She actually was blocking the path to our destination. We waited 20 minutes for her to move out of the water and disappear into the woods. Needless to say we were pretty honored and excited.
However, on the way back, in about the same location, a large bull moose was cooling himself in the stream, blocking our entrance to Sawbill Lake. This was mid afternoon. You can see his velvet dangling from his antlers and the pink coloration of his antlers left over from the shed skin. I read that moose with large antlers can hear better than moose with smaller or no antlers. The antlers actually act as a sound reflector. I bet this big boy could hear us very well. We waited for probably 10 minutes for him to leave the water and then go beat up on a pine tree probably to aid in getting rid of more velvet. It was truly amazing to witness all that. None of the moose seemed to be bothered by our presence, but we gave them a pretty wide berth to keep it that way. We got a nice bunch of photos and thought you might enjoy a few.
The Sawbill area is such a wonderful area. Your campground is first class. We’ve been there multiple times and looking forward to the next one. Steve and Deb

9/22/15 – Former Sawbill crew members and guides, Dave and Amy Freeman, are starting their “A Year In The Wilderness” tomorrow. Watch this beautiful short film to find out what they are up to! We are so proud of them. – Bill

A Year in the Wilderness – Bear Witness from Save The BWCA on Vimeo.

9/12/15 – One of country’s best photographers and good friend of Sawbill, Layne Kennedy, found the contact print below stuck to a folder when he was cleaning out his files recently. He was kind enough to scan it and send it along for our history files. – Bill

(l – r) Frank Hansen, Bill Hansen, Mary Alice Hansen, Cindy Hansen. Circa 1995?

9/9/15 – A canoeist from came in from a trip to Brule Lake and dropped off theses apples that he picked from a tree on a campsite in Cone Bay. He brought in four apples, but we ate one and it was delicious.
Brule Lake was pretty developed at one time, with several resorts and a number of cabins. There was also a lot of early logging activity on Brule Lake, especially in the 1950s and early ’60s.
Apparently someone planted an apple tree back then and it still survives. Over the years I’ve come across several apple trees that are seemingly planted in the middle of nowhere out in the woods. When I see one, I always look around and invariably find the remains of a cabin nearby.
These feral apple trees usually look terrible because the bears break them down to get at the apples. They end up looking like a low lying, gnarled bush. – Bill

Brule Lake apples.