End of the trip, back to the world. Farewell winter! #bushcraft #woodslife #guidetraining  

Old man winter on the ice. Last full day of 4 weeks in the woods this winter, coldest day yet.  

Bitter cold and windy, need the chisel to open the water hole. #guidetraining #woodslife #bushcraft  

Sleet is over, now getting ready for the deep freeze and cooking supper. #woodslife #guidetraining #bushcraft  

Tentbound. This is our view as we listen to the sleet and rain fall. Glad to have a big pile of firewood.  

Setting up a hot-tent camp alongside of a lonely, frozen lake. #guidetraining #bushcraft  

On the trail hand-hauling toboggans on a beautiful Boreal Snowshoe Expedition day. #guidetraining #bushcraft  

Tracking a fisher on the Boreal Snowshoe Expedition. Size, toes and C-shaped palm pad are keys.  

Breakfast of oats and coffee in the woods. #winter #guidetraining #bushcraft  

Loading sleds and jumping off on the Boreal Snowshoe Expedition, session 2.  

Next to an open lead on the Aroostook River, checking the ice with a chisel.  

Making improvised snowshoes at a remote camp.  

Assembling a toboggan for next week's trip with Derek Faria and Paul Sveum. Great company in the workshop!  

Up early to surprise my family with a loaf of dutch oven sourdough bread. Out of the oven while kids were waking up.  

60 degree F temperature swing in 30 hours. -15 yesterday morning, 45 and rainy now. Glad I'm not on the trail today.  

Group shelter built last week. A warm home in the frozen forest.  

Frozen 48 over, celebrating with dutch oven doughnuts. They're as good as they look!  

Checking the pipe on a permanent wall tent.  

Three-strake toboggan in its native habitat.  

Snow all day, rain tonight, but we're warm and dry. Challenging conditions for travel, so we'll base camp until the weather changes.

Cozy camp next to a frozen lake. Great trip so far. Smiles all around.  

Part of our fleet of homemade toboggans and sleds. Loading up and hitting the trail.  

The modern world we live in is a thin veneer stretched over the raw circumstance of our human condition. Countless interconnected pieces give us things like central heating, the internet, smartphones, tax forms, and countless other modern realities. Despite its many benefits, the veneer insulates us from the experience of life our forefathers knew. While [...]

Pre-contact routes of travel in New Brunswick and northern Maine. Our field school is near the "A" in the word "Maliseets". This map, combined with the map in the book "Indian Canoe Routes Of Maine" gives a rough idea of the many canoe/snowshoe routes through the region. More on the old trails of New Brunswick [...]

Old photo of my youngest and another use for a pack basket. The kid is six years older now and that basket has been retired.  

Lucky dog posing in front of the Jack Mountain Expedition Tent. The more I use this tent, the more I like it.  

Honing a knife on a ceramic coffee cup. Coffee + sharpening on a Sunday morning.  

A roaring fire chasing away the chill.  

Enjoying the warmth of the expedition tent and stove at the end of a long day.  

Everybody who’s been active in the outdoors for any length of time knows that as a knife ages, it stops being functional. This is true for both individual knives as well as knife designs. Only NEW knives and knife designs are useful, and only they can save your life in the inevitable “survival situations” we [...]

I laced up my skates for the first time in five years today and hit the ice with my youngest’s first grade class. It felt great to be at the rink and brought back a lot of powerful memories. Even if I never stepped into a hockey rink again, it will always be a big [...]

Delicious 'shore lunch' cooked by Derek Faria today. Open fire food just tastes better.  

The second of 2 videos about gear for the Boreal Snowshoe Expedition. If you’re going on the trip, pay attention.

Doughnuts draining on a bed of fir boughs.  

Here’s the first in a series of videos shot specifically for those joining us on the Boreal Snowshoe Expedition this winter. You can get links to the gear mentioned at: http://www.jackmtn.com/gear.html#footwear Do not bring boots without removable liners!

Walking at sunset, spied the clouds reflecting on the ice.  

Shave horse workshop a big success. Six finished horses and a few cheap laughs.  

There’s something about me you may not know that might change how you perceive me. I’m not a flusher. I poop in a bucket, and when I’m done I cover it with sawdust. When the bucket gets full I dump it on a compost pile along with other organic inputs (kitchen, yard, etc.), then cover [...]

A goal I’ve set for myself this year is to be mindful and grateful for what I’ve done and what I’ve got. My plan for doing so is to avoid hedonic adaptation. I first heard of this term in the book A Guide To The Good Life: The Ancient Art Of Stoic Joy (great read, [...]

“I’d rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.” I’ve heard this idea communicated in many ways over the years, am tired of hearing it, and am weary of it being used as an excuse to bring too much stuff on the trail. Countless times over my 17 year career [...]

I was talking to a person from the west coast over the holidays. When they found out our field school was in Maine, they said we were “back east.” I was forced to correct them and said; “no, we’re not back east. We’re down east. In Maine.” Then, after deciding to have a bit of [...]

This blog has never been about getting more readers or trying to be popular. It’s not about knives, gear reviews, how-to articles, survival tv shows or lists of “essential gear”. I don’t jump on board with the trends in the outdoor industry; I’m about the traditions. But there’s nothing wrong with people trying to grow [...]

Healthy Homemade Snack For Life In Bitter Cold Winter has just started to arrive here in northern New England, but it will be in full force soon. I have the good fortune of a busy winter schedule including spending four weeks guiding snowshoe expeditions (2 x 2-week trips) from late January through early March. That’s a [...]

I sat down with Derek Faria from The Woodsman School for one of his videos and we had a discussion about the self component of outdoor living and learning. We touched on the importance of getting out and doing it. During the talk I mention our educational philosophy and the seven elements of our programs, [...]

I took a ride across town and sat down with Derek Faria at The Woodsman School in his new tent to talk about educational philosophy and the importance of getting out and doing it. During the talk I mention our educational philosophy and the seven elements of our programs, with a focus on the Self [...]

Grave of a Revolutionary War soldier, deep in the woods and a mile from any road, and every veterans day someone puts a flag on it. #respect  

1/6/16: Build Your Own Shave Horse Short courses, useful skills. For a small investment in time and money, become more self-reliant.   For the first Self-Reliance Workshop of 2016, taking place January 6th, we’ll be offering a build-your-own shave horse class. Also known as a draw shave, it’s a bench vise where pressure from your feet [...]

I’ve never had trouble making big dutch oven meals. At the field school I routinely cook for 10-20 people, and after years of doing so I’m usually pretty pleased with how things turn out. Scaling things down, to the point where I’m dutch oven cooking for 1 or 2 adults, is something I haven’t done [...]

Review of our campfire cooking class by Anne from Mom Can You Make, a NH food blog: GALA Campfire Cooking Workshop | On November 4th, my good friend Rosalie and I went to a campfire cooking workshop put on by GALA. Have any of my NH friends heard of GALA? Well they are just an [...]

Aroostook twilight at the field school.  

Plotting a course on the map with a Sher-Wood straight edge.  

Best part about going away is coming home to family. Mine makes me feel like the richest man in the world.  

What if you don't have an ice chisel? Cutting a water hole in the ice with an axe.  

Checking the ice with a chisel. The water here is only 2 feet deep, but ice safety is no joke.  

Building a runnered sled for around camp, old skis for runners.  

Successful night in front of a fire with no sleeping bag.  

Simple snowshoe binding. Walked 2000+ miles with these.  

Shelter/sauna with raised bough beds on the Winter Woodsman course.  

Hauling firewood on the money sled.  

Coffee and doughnuts on the fire this morning, winter woodsman course.  

Hiking the trails at the field school.  

Aroostook river at the field school.  

I’m at the field school for the next week running the Winter Woodsman course. One of the things that we cover during the week is making a few different deadfall traps. I’ve searched for forty years for that perfectly rectangular rock that’s depicted in deadfall line drawings in survival books. I’m convinced it doesn’t exist. [...]

I just returned from performing in my son’s puppet show. He’s involved with a group that has a talent show every December. We go every year, and it’s always fantastic. I’m amazed at the maturity level of the kids involved. And the courage. There was a little girl who was going to sing a song. [...]

January 21-24, 2016 : 2 Spots Available (4 total) Part of our new lodge-based workshop series, spend a long weekend learning traditional northern forest skills while staying on-site in our modern, comfortable lodge.  The course content draws on the curriculum for our Winter Woodsman course. Topics include snowshoes and snowshoeing, fire lighting, axe use, knife use, knots, ice safety, ice fishing, animal tracking [...]

This past weekend our group fleshed and scraped a lot of deer hides. We also brained a bunch, and started pulling them, but were overtaken by dark before we got any soft. Brain tanning courses are all about time management. We’re trying to squeeze a bunch of stuff into a short period of time. We [...]

Braintan workshop day 2: 6 hides scraped and dressed, 3 fleshed and salted, pulling all afternoon, 3 tired guys.  

I’m interested in homemade, wood fired ovens, as well as community baking. I’ve read a few books on these topics, and one that I always wanted to get a copy of was called The Bread Ovens Of Quebec. I’ve looked for a reasonably-priced copy for years with no luck. But I just learned that the [...]

Braintanning this AM: fleshing a deer hide in the rain.  

After a recent post announcing upcoming lodge-based courses, a few of our readers contacted me wanting more information. Before I could provide it, I had to publish the new site about our camp for rent in New Hampshire where the courses will be based. I got it online today. More information on the lodge-based courses is coming [...]

Boys, dog and I hiked to the bridge and had hot chocolate to celebrate black Friday.  

Dutch oven turkey on the bottom, apple cake on top, and lot's to be thankful for.  

I just got an interesting call from a guy that has me scratching my head. I’m posting the gist of it, but obviously will mention no names (so don’t ask). On our website we have a popular recommended gear page that I probably haven’t changed in more than 12 years. The caller had followed one [...]

Saw my friend who butchers deer today, left with 9 hides. Braintan class this weekend, plus a few for me.  

Video about the new Jack Mountain Winter Expedition Tent. I left three things out of the video. First, the height of the center pole is right around 8 feet, making the dimensions 8’6″ wide by 11’6″ long by 8′ tall at the peak. Second, the material is 10.10 oz cotton. Third, if you’re interested you [...]

Gloomy day, stunning sunset over Rust Pond.  

December 6-12 we’re running our Winter Woodsman course, followed immediately by the Frozen 48 Winter Survival Challenge. The Winter Woodsman is our introduction to winter. We cover the particulars of living out in the winter, from clothing and tools to fire and shelter, as well as cover the traditional gear and techniques that make living [...]

Next weekend we’re running a course on braintanning, where we’ll take raw (ie. bloody, and stinky) deer hides, and through a process that’s older than civilization, turn them into beautiful, chamois-like braintan buckskin. If you want to learn it, there are still open spots. I want to share how we keep people safe from Lyme [...]

Beginning in January, we’re offering something new at our folk school in New Hampshire; lodge-based programs. They combine our popular bushcraft and outdoor skills programs with housing in our modern, comfortable lodge. These programs are limited in size and allow people to participate in our bushcraft programs without having to live outdoors. We’re still offering [...]

First look at the new Jack Mountain Expedition tent made by Tentsmiths. Details coming soon.  

White pine burl at The Woodsman School. Stopped into see Derek Faria and spent a rainy afternoon in front of a fire.  

Saturday, 11/21 from 9:30AM-4PM On our expeditions fire is a necessity; it warms us and cooks our food. We’re often faced with extremely difficult firelighting challenges. These must be overcome for the success of the expedition. What participants of the this one-day workshop will take away are the skills and confidence that they can get [...]

This weekend I’ll be venturing west of the Connecticut River to attend the Snow Walkers Rendezvous in Vermont. It’s a fantastic event, and one that should be on your calendar if you’re in the northeast and interested in winter camping and expeditions. Here are seven reasons why you should attend:   The Gear. Traditional canvas [...]

Mist on lake Winni this morning, water like glass.  

Rust Pond, named after Henry Rust. Here's the cellar hole of his house built in 1773.  

Most of the people who participate in our semester program are not from Maine, and the way of life near the field school is rural and often significantly different than where they’re from. This past fall, during week two of the course, some of the guys were talking about how religious the area was. I [...]

Son and I taking advantage of warm fall weather. This view became the Jack Mountain logo.  

We’ve had a lot of content plagiarized from our website over the years. As a result we created a “name and shame” plagiarism policy, where we publicly call-out the people who do it. And this morning I learned that it had been done by someone I know. Not cool. Compare our course assessment page with [...]

Calm before the storm; cooked for 22 people tonight at the campfire cooking workshop. Good times and good food.  

After a lengthy hiatus the JMB podcast is back. In this episode I talk with Derek Faria and Shawn Donnely from The Woodsman School. We’re friends and neighbors and discuss what they’ve been up to, their new website, becoming a Registered Maine Guide, and have a few cheap laughs. a Links from this episode: The [...]

Sublime twilight on Rust Pond. Still water reflects blue sky, makes me reflective too.  

Tomorrow night’s campfire cooking class is full, but if you’re in the area and want to come we could probably squeeze in one more.  We’ll be covering a variety of topics applicable to the woods cook, including: Building a tripod Gear – wannigans, pots, frying pans Grilling meat in a raquette Dutch oven cooking with [...]

Long-term bushcraft program number 32 successfully completed. Home with family in NH.  

Full house on the cook stove. Cook shack is a luxury during cold weather.  

Brown ash basketry in camp today. Some pack baskets, some smaller baskets. #poundedash  

1st aid/CPR in camp this AM. It's a requirement to become a registered Maine guide.  

Pounding brown ash for basket splints. Lots of 'pounding ash' jokes flying around camp right now.  

Splitting a brown ash log with wooden wedges, to be pounded into pack basket splints.  

Felling a large brown ash for pack basket splints.  

Putting wood in the stove. Cook shack at the JMB field school.  

Atlatl practice. The original big game hunting tool.  

Jack Mountain Bushcraft School instructor and Maine Guide Paul Sveum poling his 18' EM White wood canvas boat on a lower West Branch of the Penobscot deadwater at twilight.  

From our recent trip to Baxter and Debsconeag. Later afternoon sun with Mount Katahdin in the background. And the work horse of our canoe fleet, the 18' Prospector from Nova Craft Canoe. After beating up on them for 14 years, I can say with some authority it's simply an awesome boat.  

Moose season. Scraping moose hides in the rain at 7AM.  

Softening braintanned deer hides in camp today.  

After a week on the trail we're starting the braintanning process today. End of week 5 of the WBS, time is flying by.  

Spring water bubbling up under a big spruce tree. Cold and pure.  

Put this under the heading “gear I’ve wanted for years.” After reading my friend Oblio13’s post in 2008, I’ve wanted a large Thermette boiler that would handle a few gallons at a time. I’ve had a 2 quart model for 15 years, but it just isn’t enough water for camp chores. If you’ve never heard [...]

Crystal clear waters of Rust Pond. I never want to live where the water isn't amazing. Spoiled.  

“We are now reveling in the indescribable freshness of the Antarctic that seems to permeate one’s being, and which must be responsible for that longing to go again which assails each returned explorer…”  Ernest Shackleton on his Nimrod expedition to Antarctica This year the Jack Mountain Alumni Winter Expedition, assailed by the memories of the [...]

Congratulations to the newest Registered Maine Guide, Benjamin Spencer!

Firing up the smoker this afternoon. Big fancy dinner tonight.  

Custom made Guide Canteen for Fil Salonek's Allagash-AT expedition. Alumni services, trail support.  

Hand drill fire lighting. Old School.  

9-11. Listenened to The radio news this AM. They were reading names, they read 5, including the guy I knew who was on the plane on 9/11/01.

Took a ride to check out a new course location. Quoddy Head lighthouse, easternmost point in the USA.  

We’re creating a scholarship for college outdoor education students to make our immersion programs more affordable.  Beginning with the spring, 2016 Wilderness Bushcraft Semester, we’re offering a $5100 scholarship. There are some rules and a specific application process, all of which you can read about at: Bushcraft Leadership Scholarship

Solos are over. Welcoming everyone back to camp with a dutch oven triple stack. 17", 16" and 14" deep.  

Low-tech gravity fed solar water heater. Elevated barrel and coil of black pipe. Used for washing dishes and people.  

Shaving a canoe paddle blade down with a draw knife. Finishing paddles today, headed out paddling tomorrow.  

We’ve updated the requirements for our Journeyman Guide And Bushcraft Instructor certification for the current semester. Some of the additions include an expanded section on knots and their applications, formal trip planning, and a 4-day water fast. You can get more information on the Journeyman certification on our site (link). You can also download the requirements [...]

Primitive rope making with hand spinners this morning. Low-tech and it just works.  

My new book, The Woods Cook: Outdoor Cooking With A Professional Guide, is now available from Amazon in paperback and on Kindle. As a guide I’ve been leading trips and cooking over an open fire professionally since the late 1990’s. This book details the approach, methods and recipes that have helped me be be successful [...]

Bushcraft Tool Kit.  

Newly made crooked knife starting work on a canoe paddle.  

We’re adding a second Boreal Snowshoe Expedition session in 2016.  It’s our winter bushcraft immersion; a twelve day traditional northern winter wilderness living and travel expedition.  We’re on the trail living on snowshoes, hauling our gear on toboggans, staying in woodstove-outfitted canvas tents and learning to be at home and comfortable in the bitter cold. [...]

Flatwater poling today. Traditional skills and gear make you more resilient on the water.  

Bending crooked knife blades in camp today. Photo by Paul Sveum.  

New addition to the field school: weight lifting/pull-up station. Made from lumber.  

Dutch oven lunch, then canoe poling class on a perfect August day.

Week 1, Wilderness Bushcraft Semester, everyone makes their own rope.  

Paul harvesting overhead cherries using a Blickey Stick. There's a mountain of ripe wild food around here right now.  

Using axes in the woods. Wilderness Bushcraft Semester, fall 2015, day 2.  

Maine Wilderness Guides Organization life member certificate finally arrived. Its official.  

Talking axes on day 1 of our 32nd long term program. Great start to the course. Photo by Paul Sveum.  

Paddling in the North Maine Woods. This is what freedom looks like.  

Moose and calf on the Allagash. Summer is just about over. Our 32nd immersion course starts this weekend.  

Lining Long Lake dam wearing really short shorts.  

Best view in NH? On Rattlesnake Island on lake Winnepesaukee with an old friend. Perfect evening.  

Watching and listening to a thunderstorm approach. A grand spectacle. Thunder rumbling from horizon to horizon.  

Paddling at the headwaters of the Aroostook. From this spring.  

Little Allagash Falls. Allagash stream below the falls has a few rapids and several ledge drops, and we ran them all.  

After the Ice Caves, enjoying the current in the pools above the larger drop at Little Allagash Falls. This is roughly halfway between Allagash Lake and Chamberlain Lake.  

Exploring the Ice Caves at Allagash Lake on our recent trip. A few of the guys got 100 yards in. These are pretty remote, no roads anywhere near them, but one one of the old canoe routes.  

Just upstream of Stair Falls on the upper East Branch of the Penobscot. Over the three miles downstream from here the river drops over four named falls and a series of rapids. The mountain scenery on this trip is the best in Maine.  

Gravel Beach on Chamberlain Lake, Allagash Wilderness Waterway. We spent a day windbound here on our recent trip.  

Allagash Falls – boyband album cover, 2 of 2. Displaying their more playful side.  

Allagash Falls – boyband album cover photo. This is 1 of 2 and shows their sensitive side.  

Congratulatins to Maine's newest registered guide, Thomas Letchworth!  

Chamberlain Lake Cairns. Someone had built these two cairns on the shore of Chamberlain lake, and I got in touch with my inner artist at sundown for this shot. I thought it looked interesting.  

Just before sunrise on Webster Lake on our second trip of the Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester. A stunning corner of Baxter State Park.  

Hardest part of any long-term program is saying goodbye at the end. You become family. It's the worst for me. #team

Back from the river. EPIC trip. Hate whats coming next. Allready miss these guys.  

Going off the grid and on the river. Be back in four weeks.  

My friend Charlie's motorcycle with moose antlers mounted. Welcome to Ashland, Maine.  

Meal and trip planning for 4 week canoe expedition tonight. Packing tomorrow, put in on Tuesday. Great group, going to be an awesome trip.

Lakeside foraging on ripe juneberries (Amelanchier genus). It doesn't get much better than this.  

Stunning pack basket I was given on Sunday. Thanks to Derek Faria of The Woodsman School. You're a true class act.  

Motorcycle with axe and pack basket lashed on, headed south from the field school.  

Spending the day with family in the Ossipee mountains. Great views of the NH lakes region. At Castle In The Clouds  

Great fly fishing class tonight. Thanks to Sumner Brook Fish Farm for hosting. Tight loops!  

New wannigan. Instead of just varnish, this one is first getting fiberglass cloth and West System epoxy. Super strong  

This afternoon's fly fishing workshop is full. If the lightning is bad, we'll reschedule. If its just rain, its on.  

Just watched this guy swim across the pond. Don't know the species, but a great swimmer!  

Rainy day, but first one in ten weeks I'm not running a course. Getting excited about the canoe expedition.  

Finishing a pack basket. One of many projects being completed this afternoon, the last one on the Woodsman course.  

Making a burn bowl by the campfire. Super-productive week on the Woodsman course.  

Fire by friction with a bow drill. One of the technologies that got us where we are as a species.  

15 minutes later, some dirt and a piece of angle iron cut in half, and the new rocket stove is cooking lunch.  

Making a new rocket stove for our outdoor kitchen. Metal can, stove pipe, hammer and cold chisel.  

Making rope with hand spinners. Back to the basics.  

Building saw frames and getting ready for the rain, JMBS Woodsman Course.  

Woodsman course, tents in the field. Off to a busy start with the four axe majors and carving bow drills.  

Primitive tool kit as final project. Stick a fork in our 30th long-term immersion program, it's done.  

Crossbow as a final project. Wilderness Bushcraft Semester # 30, nine weeks almost over.  

Two epic days canoeing the Big Machias river and Pratt Stream. Big water & tons of wildlife.  

Pulling braintan buckskin on a cable. This is where the magic transformation happens: from slimy hide to buckskin.  

Beginning the braintanning process today: fleshing and scraping deer hides. Will eventually become mukluks.  

Full rain buckets, 2nd day of rain. Always amazed at the human response to weather. Can quickly crush group morale.  

Pouring rain and 49 degrees. June in northern Maine.  

Out enjoying the 2.3 miles of new trails at the field school. Aroostook river on the left.  

Finishing a pack basket. Wilderness Bushcraft Semester week 7 is full of big craft projects  

Shave horse, spoke shave, wood becoming a canoe paddle. Hand tools and going slow.  

First-time paddle maker, turned out beautiful.  

Wilderness Bushcraft Semester week 7: nets, hammocks, paddles and pack baskets.  

5 large ice creams. i saw it live. True story.  

Only the chosen one can wield The Spoon Of Destiny!  

There's a new sherriff in town. Iron Spoon challenge met. This is large ice cream number 5.  

Making a spoon from rebar in order to take on the Iron Spoon Challenge: 4 large ice creams from the Quik Stop 2.  

May 23, snowing hard and fast in Masardis. Glad I waited on putting in the garden.  

Making grass mattresses. Good sleeps on the grass-o-pedic.  

And a whole bunch of live moose, bald eagles and a whole family of otters.

Saw two more dead moose on our trip. One was in the river.

Back, a week on the river. Awesome time. 60 miles from the headwaters to the field school. Photo from a woods road.  

Paddle making: using draw knives to shape the blanks. Hand tools, process not product.  

Beginning the canoe paddle-making process: tracing a blade onto a paddle blank.  

Life Returns. Every year when green returns after a long winter I'm completely amazed.  

After a long build up, my son and I are sitting down to watch the movie Troll 2, the worst movie (supposedly) ever made.