Boreal Access

3/12/10 - What a difference a week can make at this time of year. A week ago, we were skiing through soft snow on the lake and there was 18" of white snow on the ground. After a week of unusually warm weather and rain, the lake snow has turned to 6" of slush and the official snow depth in the woods now stands at 4". It looks like the middle of April around here with a lot of bare ground showing amid piles of degraded snow. - Bill

Scott Harrison, Rick Burns and Nancy Burns enjoying a wilderness ski outing on Kelso Lake just a week ago. Scott and Nancy own and operate historic Lutsen Resort. Rick is Nancy's brother visiting from Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

On the same trip we encountered this cozy winter camp. The canvas tent and wood stove were rented from The Canoeist in Two Harbors.

Contrast the scenes above to this shot of Sawbill Lake today. Wet, wet, wet.

You can see how soft the lake surface has become, but there is more than 2 feet of solid ice under my boot.

Large patches of bare ground are now exposed, but history tells us that more snow is very likely to fall before spring really arrives.

This snowman is just a few days old, but isn't long for this world.

3/4/10 - Greg Fangel and Liz Wagner, Tofte and Twin Cities residents and avid cross country skiers, spent a couple of days camping in the wilderness starting here at Sawbill. They enjoyed gorgeous weather - warm temperatures, calm winds, brilliant sunshine and a night sky thick with stars. They were kind enough to share some pictures with us.

Greg show good skiing form even with a toboggan holding him back.

Multi-tasking breakfast and boot warming.

Home, sweet home.

The frozen waves of Alton Lake.

A bobcat track.

Exploring Kelso Lake.

Greg and Liz are aficionados of classic wooden winter transportation. Visit his fabulous website WoodenSkis.com.

Liz peers comfortably from her down sleeping bag.

3/2/10 - We received this kind and useful email this morning from long-time Sawbill customer Scott Oeth:

I am a volunteer with the Northern Star Council (Minneapolis-St. Paul area) Boy Scout Council and serve as the chairman of the council's Eagle Scout Scholarship committee. I'm also a big fan of Sawbill, and have made many trips with my good friend Mike Branham to stay at the campground. I always appreciate Bill’s friendly conversation and being able to buy coffee, showers and souvenirs at your store! Our committee is working with Cliff Jacobson on organizing a wilderness canoeing school which he will be conducting the weekend of March 27th, with all the proceeds going to fund scout scholarships. The program is open to the public, but is designed for the outdoors enthusiast, in particular trip leaders. Cliff is also a big fan of and recommends many trips heading out of Sawbill!

I'm wondering if you could help us out on the promotion side. I've attached a detailed agenda and registration form and a link with information on the council site is below. If you could please pass this on to those you know who may be interested, it would really help our scholarship fund and to help develop canoe country enthusiast.

http://www.northernstarbsa.org/News.aspx?articleID=560

Please let me know if you have any questions. I'll see you this fall if not before!

Thanks,

Scott Oeth