We’ve got a lot of talent coming to the Brushfire Rendezvous next weekend. I’ve put together a tentative schedule, but everything can change depending on peoples’ interests and the skills people bring to share. There are still a few spots available, so if you haven’t registered, there’s still time. We’re finishing week 9 of our […]
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In a world that values comfort, embracing challenge and doing hard things is rare. In this episode of the podcast we discuss the challenges inherent in the spring, 2020 Wilderness Guide Training Semester. We also discuss current events and upcoming programs. PHOTO: Loading canoes at a remote camp on the fall, 2019 semester. Kid-Friendly? There […]
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The new Jack Mountain Bushcraft School online course platform and networking site is now live. Visit us at BushcraftSchool.com to meet like-minded people, learn a new skill, get a feel for how we do things or reconnect with people from your course […]
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It’s still August but the nights are getting cool. When the night air is cooler than the river water we get dramatic morning mists. I shot this on the morning of August 23, 2019, as the sun was just peeking over Squapan Ridge and the river valley was full of mist. I stood there for […] Continue Reading...
When made well, a grass mattress is portable luxury. Unlike thin sleeping pads, grass mattresses can easily be made to rival a modern mattress in thickness and comfort. They can also easily be transported, unlike bough beds. And they can be made from a variety of materials including grass, weeds, cattails, reeds, and more. They […] Continue Reading...
Smudge pots are a way of life at the field school in June and July. Take a metal coffee can, punch a few holes in it, attach a piece of chain to the rim and keep a small, smoky fire going. The smoke keeps the bugs at bay. It’s getting harder to find a metal […] Continue Reading...
I’m not a habitual smoker, but on expeditions I do enjoy the occasional pipe. There’s a great heritage involved, a kinship with the voyageurs, not to mention the smoke keeps the bugs away from your face. In this photo we were on the Gaspe peninsula in Quebec, an arm of land that juts out into […] Continue Reading...
We’ve got a lot of talent coming to the Brushfire Rendezvous next weekend. I’ve put together a tentative schedule, but everything can change depending on peoples’ interests and the skills people bring to share. There are still a few spots available, so if you haven’t registered, there’s still time. We’re finishing week 9 of our […] Continue Reading...
This post was originally posted on the JMB Blog on October 14, 2009. It has been edited and updated, and is more true now than it was then. By the time you graduate from high school you’ve spent twelve years being indoctrinated into the ways of our culture. You know a bit of trivia about […] Continue Reading...
It’s week three of the semester, and students have started their first big project; making canoe paddles. This project is usually the first big test of patience for students during the semester. Up till now, they’ve built up a sense of working wood with small projects like netting needles, carving bowdrill sets, etc. Those are […] Continue Reading...
We’ve been back in camp for a little over a week now for the fall semester. Since I’ve been here, and gotten settled in I’ve watched the wildlife on the property settle right in with us. Living with the land isn’t just about what we take and use from it, it’s also about getting to […] Continue Reading...
During the Wilderness Bushcraft Semester students document their journey into the world of learning to live close to the land. There are a variety of workbooks they create, as well as a daily logbook of the experience. All of this is kept in a google docs folder, and their progress is marked by a checklist. […] Continue Reading...
It’s that time of year in northern Maine where the bushes are loaded with ripe fruit. Wherever you look there are cherries, berries and apples weighing down the branches on which they grow. For the next six weeks, the season of bounty in the county, we’ll be feasting on wild foods, learning about them as […] Continue Reading...
I’ve worked hard for and waited a long time to be about to say this. We’re all set up with the University of Maine at Presque Isle. Credits for courses, financial aid & more. Read more on the UMPI website or on the Jack Mountain website. Continue Reading...
On a recent overnight on trail for the 2019 “Riverman” program, I got to thinking about how great food always tastes in the bush, and mentally waxing philosophical about why that is. There are obvious factors, like working physically hard all day and building up and appetite, or that it’s just a pavlovian effect […] Continue Reading...
In a world that values comfort, embracing challenge and doing hard things is rare. In this episode of the podcast we discuss the challenges inherent in the spring, 2020 Wilderness Guide Training Semester. We also discuss current events and upcoming programs. PHOTO: Loading canoes at a remote camp on the fall, 2019 semester. Kid-Friendly? There […] Continue Reading...
It’s week 3 of the fall Wilderness Bushcraft Semester, and for episode 77 of the podcast we spoke with students on the course. We learned about their first impressions of life in the woods, discussed the trapping class we took as a group and the role that trapping plays in studying mammals, and checked in […] Continue Reading...
Tracking mammals is the topic for episode 76 of the JMB Podcast. We discuss how we approach teaching tracking, the three types of tracking (clear print, pattern, sign), the three tasks of the tracker (locate, identify, interpret), and why jumping to conclusions is bad, but jumping to exclusions is good. Also covered is why bother […] Continue Reading...
Episode 75 starts with a government conspiracy (to us, anyway) regarding whether the whoopie pie is the official state dessert or just the state treat of Maine, then we discuss how a hornet’s nest has stopped us from being able to print anything at the field school for a few days. Next we discuss the […] Continue Reading...
There are three jobs that go with running a school: presenting information, having students do something useful with that information, and assessing the student to see where they are on the continuum of experience. However, most outdoor schools are simply venues for information to be presented. Information is not the same as education. In fact, […] Continue Reading...
The new Jack Mountain Bushcraft School online course platform and networking site is now live. Visit us at BushcraftSchool.com to meet like-minded people, learn a new skill, get a feel for how we do things or reconnect with people from your course. Continue Reading...
Episode 111 of the Jack Mountain Bushcraft Vlog joins the spring, 2019 Wilderness Bushcraft Semester course for the first day we’re out poling on the Aroostook river at the field school. You can check out our waterfront area that we call Canoe Beach and see the initial attempts at poling in fast, deep water. Continue Reading...
Episode 110 of the JMB Vlog joins the spring, 2019 Wilderness Bushcraft Semester course as they carve canoe paddles with simple hand tools. We also work through the blame cascade exercise which is an important part of life on the WBS. Continue Reading...
Episode 109 of the JMB Vlog joins the spring, 2019 Wilderness Bushcraft Semester course on the first day of canoe poling practice. There was still snow on the edge of the field, but the air was warm even if the water was just a few degrees above freezing. Continue Reading...
Episode 108 of the JMB Vlog is a series of scenes shot on our recent trip to northern Quebec. Chiseling holes in the ice to set a fish net, splitting wood, lashing a moose hide into a frame and cooking geese by the wood stove. It was a great trip, with lots of learning and […] Continue Reading...
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We’re a bushcraft, guide training and wilderness expedition school founded in 1999. We help people become more self-reliant and connected to the natural world using traditional skills and a few simple tools. This is our media hub, consisting of our blog, podcasts and videos.
