Navigation is becoming a lost art. I don’t mean that people can’t find their way around – but the art and science of doing it without a cell phone and gps or map app is becoming a rarity. Rarer still is the ability to navigate from sun, the stars, and those things in the natural [...]
Jerusalem Artichokes (aka sunchokes, aka Passamaquoddy potatoes) are a perennial sunflower with a starchy, tuberous root. We spent some time today digging up a bunch to eat and replant in other spots. Part of knowing your neighborhood is knowing where the available resources are and what time of year they are available. With the Jerusalem [...]
The Changing Of The Seasons We’ve had some challenging weather lately but this past weekend feels like we turned the corner into spring. Today looks to be another sunny, warm day in Aroostook county, and I’m grateful for it. Today begins week four of the spring, 2026 Wilderness Bushcraft Semester. This morning we’ll start on [...]
We got that weather change we’ve been waiting for and the warmth is pretty glorious. We’ve also got our first flower of the year – coltsfoot. It’s a decent spring edible, not because it’s great but because it’s often the first fresh thing on the land that we can eat. #FullTangLifestyle
Wrapping up week 3 of the Wilderness Bushcraft Semester with a morning out on the trails and short exercise where students were tasked with lighting a quick fire to warm up a client who fell in the river. Mother nature provided the snow flurries to add to the authenticity. #FullTangLifestyle
It’s been a while. This short episode is an announcement that we’re rebooting our podcast. #FullTangLifestyle Photo: Boots. As this is our reboot episode. Show Notes: JMB Podcast Episode 136 Kid-Friendly? There is no profanity in this episode. Links: BushcraftSchool.com Jack Mountain Bushcraft School Calendar Play, download or subscribe on the following services, as [...]
Wednesday, week 3 of the spring 2026 WBS and we’re into the grind of the paddle making process. During the course we make paddles the hard way on purpose; using only hand tools and improvised ways to hold the blank while we’re working it so as to mimic conditions we’d face in the field if [...]
We’re in the middle of week 3 of the spring, 2026 Wilderness Bushcraft Semester and I’m always amazed at the relativity of how we experience time. We’ve all engaged in things that didn’t excite us, during which time seemed to crawl by. I can recall being a kid in school, watching the second and minute [...]
We started week 3 with a late season cold snap and dusting of snow. We spent the morning working on bow drills and shetlers, and I saw a beaver making a dam along the road to Moose Vegas. This can be problematic as it can wash out the road. I plan to keep an eye [...]
Melting snow and day after day of rain make for challenging fire lighting conditions, and that’s what we’re in the middle of now in Aroostook county, Maine. Everything is soaked. If you can light a one-match fire under these conditions, you know how to do something useful and valueable. Today we’re working on just that; [...]
We make our own ropes on every long course because, as an old book I have states, “The world of primitive man was tied together with bits of string.” To make things, especially things made from wood, if you eliminate metal fasteners from the picture, lashing and tying things together is the field-expedient option. These [...]
Winter is hanging on in the county, which makes getting around a little more difficult (melting snow is hard to walk on) but it sure is pretty. #FullTangLifestyle
A quick check-in on day 1 of the spring, 2026 Wilderness Bushcraft Semester. The woods are still blanketed with deep snow and the weather is more winter than spring. It feels good to be getting after it, but we’ve got a long way to go. #FullTangLifestyle
Last week we kicked off our 27th year with the start of long term program number 68; the spring 2026 Wilderness Bushcraft Semester at the field school. We’re approaching spring this week, but early April is still winter in Aroostook county, Maine. For week one we had torrential downpours, snow flurries, several nights with temperatures [...]
March 31, 2026. We opened up the road into the field school today with the bulldozer in the video. Join me on my first walk around camp this year. I had a head cold when I recorded this and my nose was plugged up, which is why it sounds like I was breathing really hard. [...]
Featured In:
Maine Wilderness Guides Organization Quality Endorsement Award
