Has anyone ever seen or heard of any lob pines that still exist in the bwca, Q, or anywhere else in the north woods that still remain from the voyager days? A Lob pine is a pine tree that the voyagers would climb and lob off branches in the middle of the tree so it would stand out from a distance marking the way of travel.

I have seen what looked to be lob pines but in all honesty, can't really say if it was that or lightning strikes or wind sheer.

Yes..on Cecil Lake in the Q there is a authentic lob tree.

Where is it on Cecil? I don't think I noticed it when we went through in 2005.

For a troll, you sure are polite!

To answer your question...I don't know.

this photo is a scan of the lob pine on cecil lake, photo used without permission, from the book lob trees in the wilderness, by clifford and isabel ahlgren, u of minnesota press, copywrite 1984. this is an excellent book on the forest ecology of the north woods. i have no personal info regarding this tree. also note that scanned photo is prior to 1984.

quote jwartman59: "


this photo is a scan of the lob pine on cecil lake, photo used without permission, from the book lob pines in the wilderness, by clifford and isabel ahlgren, u of minnesota press, copywrite 1984. this is an excellent book on the forest ecology of the north woods. i have no personal info regarding this tree. also note that scanned photo is prior to 1984."

Cool photo!!!!

Troll! you should join us!

I remember one on Crooked Lake back in the 1970s, but it was gone in the mid-80s. And I seem to recall one on either Mountain or Pine Lake back about then, but it also is long gone. I wish I had documented them.

There is one on Meadows (between Sunday and Agnes in the Q). And it appears there is one on the south end of Fourtown. If the one on Fourtown is not a true lob tree, it certainly functions as one- perfect for taking a bearing on when shooting for the bay that holds the portages to Mudro.

quote jwartman59: "


this photo is a scan of the lob pine on cecil lake, photo used without permission, from the book lob pines in the wilderness, by clifford and isabel ahlgren, u of minnesota press, copywrite 1984. this is an excellent book on the forest ecology of the north woods. i have no personal info regarding this tree. also note that scanned photo is prior to 1984."

I have this book and I agree that it is a good book. Not sure if you can still find it or in print.

There is a book on Amazon.com entitled "Lob Trees in the Wilderness" by the Ahlgrens. $16.95 brand new in paperback, June, 2001. Looks like a great book. All about the BW.

The Ahlgrens' book is great. I read it, but I did not remember they showed a lob tree on Cecil. Anyway, the book has a bit of an agenda (wilderness needs management would be my paraphrase), best to keep that in mind as you read, and with that in mind, it is totally fascinating and informative.

Very interesting thread. Thanks for the heads up about the book.

Just an observation here. Lob as I understand it is to throw. Lop is to cut off or remove. Just an observation...

They were made by voyageurs as a marker. Somewhere I read (maybe in Ahlgren's book) that the "newbie" voyageur would shimmy up the pine to cut off the branches, and hence create a Lob Pine. They were the traffic signs of old.

Great photo, I'd love to see one.

Thank You Nojobro! That is the second compliment I have received here in the last week.

And thank you to every one else that replied!

SevenofNine, I agree with your observation, however every time I have read about this in a book or historical documentation they refer to it as Lob. Maybe those voyagers just had too much snuff in the mouth to pronounce it correctly.

Thank you, the Polite Troll

They tell me them voyageur fellas spoke a foreign language. Just what I heard...;-)

I saw a very obvious one several years ago. However, it wasn't in the BW or Q. It was on a "Primative Canoe Route" in Wasburn County near Birchwood WI and was either the Loyhead or Sawmill Canoe route. I did both during the same visit but don't recall which it was.

It was funny because I had recently read the Lob Tree book and there one was.

Birchwood Canoe Trails