8/8/15 – One of the highlights of working at Sawbill is hearing all the stories customers tell when they get back from their trips. Even better is when those stories are accompanied by pictures. Here are a few we received in the last two weeks.

Jim Behm took this picture of a young bull moose swimming across Brule Lake

Jim also snagged this great shot of a toad
– Elena

8/4/15 – As some of you may remember, earlier this summer we found ourselves short one crew member. We are excited to introduce our newest crew members – apologies to them for taking so long to do so!

Phil Lindgren was with us earlier this summer, working only a few days each week. We are thrilled to have him with us full time now!

Megan Price, sister to crew member Lindsey Price, studies at UW-Stevens Point (where Lindsey also goes). Megan has caught on amazingly fast and is an invaluable asset to our crew.
So, with the arrival of Brian (known around this neck of the woods as “Mongo”), who worked here last summer, our crew is complete!

So happy to have our whole Sawbill Family here!

Crew plus a few close friends/former crew members.
In addition to our paid crew members, we are lucky to have our intern Alex with us this week. Alex is Sawbill’s youngest unofficial crew member (9 years old!), but one of the most helpful. He is always willing to help, eager to pad his resume for when he can officially apply for a job.

One of Alex’s favorite jobs is using the pressure washer to clean life vests or crazy creek chairs.

In a couple of years, Alex may be able to graduate to using the big pressure washer for canoes! – Elena

7/30/15 – Working at Sawbill provides myriad opportunities for adventures. Crew members definitely take advantage of living in such a beautiful place by exploring their summer home in different ways.
One popular way to use time off is to go on trips – it seems that despite being around together almost every minute of every day, we still like each other enough to want to spend time together in the wilderness.
Three crew members, who have christened themselves the Basement Babes due to their living arrangement, recently went on a three day trip and came back with many pictures to show and stories to tell.

The Basement Babes (L to R: Claire, Olive, Elena) before the start of their adventure.
The three women put in at Kawishiwi Lake and headed up through the burn area to Malberg where they camped for their first night. The next day they traveled along the Louse River, honing their map-reading skills, and made camp on Dent Lake. The next day, they enjoyed a floating lunch on Mesaba lake and then made their way back home through Kelso and Alton.

Sawbill crew members know how to pack light!

Some of the wildlife spotted during the trip
Another fun crew excursion is making the drive to Tofte to watch the sun rise over Lake Superior. Because the sun comes up so early these days, crew members have to get an even earlier start – leaving before 5 am!

Olive by the water
On Wednesday morning, four crew members woke up at 4:30, packed a picnic breakfast (coffee being the main course) and headed down the Sawbill trail.

Sunrise just beginning to peek over the hills.

The waves were crashing hard even before 6 am, forecasting a windy day ahead.

The spectacular view made the early wake-up worth it!

A selfie to celebrate a successful Superior sunrise! (Crew members L to R: Ana, Emma, Elena, and Olive)
What fun we have together! – Elena

7/27/15 – Christmas comes but once a year… except at Sawbill!
Each summer, in either June or July, Sawbill crew members don Santa hats, crank up holiday tunes an spend hours baking and decorating cookies for our second Christmas. On the 24th, a festive dinner is held after everyone is off work, and we exchange presents and listen to a mixed CD put together by the crew members.

This amazing Christmas tree cookie was made by Kevin, and was later devoured by some Boy Scouts.

Crew members pose with their gifts

Olive received a jar of olives, and a kiwi likeness of herself, a nod to her semester spent in New Zealand.

Cindy Lou reacts to opening her present

Even Uno got dressed up for the occasion – Logan asked him to bring good fishing.
Festivities lasted long into the night, and leftovers are still being enjoyed. Happy Holidays, however you celebrate them! – Elena

7/19/15 – Just this month Sawbill took on its youngest “intern” – Alex Lundgren, age 9.
Alex has been coming to Sawbill since he was a baby, and has wanted to work for here for just about as long. He was promised a job just as soon a he turned nine, which he did earlier this year. Alex came up for a week, and was nice enough to let his parents tag along while he “worked.”
This summer, Alex received training in working the store desk and washing life jackets. When he and his parents come later this summer, he may graduate to washing tents!

Alex learns to play cribbage during a quiet night in the store – all Sawbill crew members are required to know how to play cribbage, and Alex is determined to have a strong application when he is able to apply for a real job – only nine more years!
We loved having Alex with us (as did the customers) and are eagerly anticipating his return. – Elena

7/16/15 – Sawbill crewmembers have a pretty sweet deal when it comes to vacation days. Instead of taking regularly scheduled days off each week, we can allow those days to accumulate and take longer periods of time off. Some use those days off to go home and visit family and friends, but the majority of Sawbillians prefer to use their vacation days for another purpose – crew trips!
So far this year, we have had two all-crew trip as well as a few crew-plus-friends/family trips. These trips not only give crewmembers time to relax and have fun, but also helps crewmembers to turn first-hand experience into good advice when customers ask for recommendations.

The first crew trip was made up of crewmembers Claire, Logan, Kevin, and Olivia
Both groups this year put in at Brule Lake, and visited several lakes including Winchill, Long Island, Frost, Ogema, Hub, and Cherokee.

Full moon over Frost Lake. Photo by Emma Nelson.

The second group, who dubbed themselves ELLA due to their collective first initials (Emma, Lindsey, Laura, and Ana) pose with dinner from their first night

Beautiful sunsets were enjoyed by all – Elena

7/14/15 – Fantastic news: Bode, the dog who was lost on Burnt Lake on June 29th has been found! A family camping near Nine Mile Lake came across Bode and he very willingly went with them – he had a long adventure in the woods and was ready to go home. The family took him back to their home in Grand Rapids, where his owners will be going to pick him up.
Thank you to everyone who helped in the search for Bode, and especially to the wonderful family who took him in. Bode’s owners are incredibly grateful for all the effort people put into finding their dog and the moral support their received as well. They got their happy ending after all. – Elena

7/12/15 – Outdoor writer, Tom Cherveny, wrote this nice piece about the BWCA Wilderness this week. Although he doesn’t mention Sawbill, the pictures feature Sawbill canoes. – Bill
Here are links to the last two months of the Cook County West End News from WTIP, North Shore Community Radio:
West End News, July 9th
West End News, July 2nd
West End News, June 25th
West End News, June 18th
West End News, June 11th
West End News, June 4th
West End News, May 28th
West End News, May 21st

7/9/15 – The Fourth of July is traditionally celebrated with fireworks and cookouts, but here at Sawbill, we do things a little differently. Each year, we hold the Fourth of July Dragon Boat Races. These take place on Sawbill lake, where teams of four pile into Minnesota IIs and race the half-mile from the Sawbill dock to the Forest Service dock.

Dragon boat racing is a non-contact sport, but accidents happen.
This year’s winner was team “Uncle Kevin’s Cousins.” Team members included Ana, Logan, Lindsey, and, of course, Uncle Kevin himself.

The race starts at 9:15, after closing the store, so teams race the sunset as well as each other.

All teams, except Team AARP, completed the race in under four minutes!
We have received some emails lately inquiring about our continued attempts to catch Bode, the dog who was lost on Smoke Lake earlier this summer. After our first sighting of Bode on the Sawbill Trail, his owners were able to make the long drive up from the cities to try and find him. Unfortunately, Bode is still very scared of people, and was not found during their time up here. Just yesterday, Bode was sighted again on the trail, but took off into the woods when approached. We, and Bode’s owners, appreciate all your good thoughts and messages during this understandably trying experience. We are still hopeful that Bode will be brought in and this story will have a happy ending. – Elena

7/8/15 – Steve and Dee Hedman were Sawbill crew members in the late ’50s and early ’60s. They developed a Sawbill romance that has lasted for more than 50 years.
49 years ago, they were married, and of course took a BWCA Wilderness canoe trip for their honeymoon. We decorated a canoe with “Just Married” signs and some tin cans tied to the stern.
Last week, Steve and Dee returned to Sawbill on their 49th wedding anniversary. – Bill

Dee and Steve Hedman on their honeymoon in 1966.

Standing in the exact same spot, 49 years later.

Another canoe decoration project, 49 years later.