The weather finally cleared and we had a picture perfect day for our travels over to Little Sagnaga. There is a very significant gain in elevation from Knife Lake to Little Sag.

We experienced the results of not only the blowdown, but also the Ham Lake fire. It was particularly interesting to see what didn't get burned as the Ham Lake fire did its damage. One question we wondered about was the change in the ecology of the burned over areas. Our camp on Little Sag (which was in the burned area but had almost all of the trees on the actual campsite area spared from the fire) was a perfect example of the changeover from forest to grass, wildflowers and other sun/dryer condition loving vegitation. In those areas now fully exposed to the sun, we wondered would the consequently more arid conditions make it more difficult for the predominant trees species to return. Would some of those areas become more prarie like? When fire was a more natural feature, was there acutually less forest?

We spent a beautiful afternoon relaxing on our Little Sag camp. I even went for a swim. We had only a couple of parties move through our part of Little Sag. All in all it was a perfect BWCAW day.