What if you could do and learn the basic skills of bushcraft while enjoying a fun weekend with modern accommodations? We asked ourselves that a few years ago, and came up with our lodge-based introduction to bushcraft weekend. It’s designed to be a fun introduction to the skills of the forest coupled with a weekend [...]

Our spring and fall Wilderness Bushcraft Semester courses this year are both full. The fall course has been filled for while, and we just filled the last spot on the spring course this week. There are just a few spots left on the Summer Woodsman and Riverman courses, and they probably won’t last long. We’re [...]

Mud season is in full swing, so fly fishing season is right around the corner. It’s a great time to learn to tie your own flies. With this in mind, Paul Sveum and Derek Faria are hosting a fly tying workshop on Tuesday, March 28th at 6pm. Bring your own vise and tools. $10 covers [...]

By the time spring arrives I’ll have spent six weeks in remote, off-grid camps this winter. We just returned from our trip to northern Quebec, and today I’m provisioning for the first of two Boreal Snowshoe Expeditions, starting next week. Below are a few random ideas on living out in the winter that crossed my [...]

Recorded right after we got back from our trip to northern Quebec where we spent a week immersed in Cree Culture. Living in a traditional shelter on the side of a lake, we learned about hunting, trapping, snaring, fishing with gill nets as part of learning about traditional northern life ways. In the podcast we [...]

PHOTO: Self Reliance Workshop on wild foods from summer, 2016. For episode 17 I spoke with Josh Arnold, the director of Global Awareness Local Action (GALA). GALA is a local non-profit we partner with for our self reliance workshop series, among other things. We were also joined by Christopher Russell. We talked about the history [...]

PHOTO: Bush camp from a previous trip to Oujé-Bougoumou The bags are packed, the crew is ready, and in the morning we’re headed north to northern Quebec to spend a week with my friends David and Anna Bosum. We’ll snowshoe out to a bush camp and spend the week immersed in Cree culture and life [...]

Episode 16 of the Jack Mountain Bushcraft Podcast is all about the role of crafting in bushcraft and education. Making things with your hands is a big part of our educational programs. I’m joined by Christopher Russell for a discussion about crafting as an educational tool, our experience with crafting during semester courses, and some [...]

Start the new year off right with the annual wild game dinner hosted by our friends at The Woodsman School. Located in Wakefield, NH, a short drive from the seacoast. I’ll be in attendance and hope to meet some new friends there. If you’ve ever wanted to start eating wild game, this is a great [...]

We’re adding a second Boreal Snowshoe Expedition session for 2017 running February 20th to March 3rd. It’s a 12-day remote snowshoe expedition with a focus on guide training and winter bushcraft. If you want to learn how to live out on the trail in the cold, learn to lead and teach others in winter, and [...]

We’re consciously shrinking. In 2017 we’re lowering the number of participants on almost all of our programs. It’s the opposite of growth, but our focus is on the experience. After years of experimentation, these are the numbers we find work the best for our immersion programs. The new maximum course sizes are: Wilderness Bushcraft Semester: [...]

Had a busy day in the office with our office manager. We were going over enrollment for 2017 and talking about past and future students. There was a period of time when she was looking through the enrollment paperwork and asked me if I knew/remembered person X, Y, Z, etc., and for each I said, [...]

View from the summit of Copplecrown mtn. Its the big mtn in the Jack Mtn logo. NH is beautiful.  

Misty morning on the pond.  

Recently it was brought to my attention that our website has been plagiarized again. Someone took our ideas and words (verbatim), used it as their own to sell programs similar to ours, and didn’t cite where they got it. Two days ago I received an email from a friend in Canada regarding a recent plagiarism [...]

After a great weekend at the Snow Walkers Rendezvous in Vermont I decided to take the scenic route home. It’s been a few years since I’ve driven the Kancamangus highway across New Hampshire’s White Mountains, but I have a lot of history there. From swimming in the rivers as a kid to backpacking as a [...]

Life is simpler on an expedition. The people on it have a shared goal and take tangible steps toward it every day. They come from different places and have different beliefs, but work together. When you stand shoulder to shoulder with someone while working hard as a team, you appreciate them, even if you don’t [...]

In the woods today. Leaves are mostly down, cool but not cold, no bugs. Heaven must be like this.

This is a tricky rip to run as to do it well you have to do a long downstream ferry in a narrow space and keep your boat under control. The guy in the photo struggled with poling early on in the course, but ran this rip like a boss without hitting any rocks. Getting [...]

To learn new things is challenging. When you stay inside your comfort zone, not being challenged, you’re probably not learning new things. This is fine if you want to refine things you already know, but to blaze new ground demands that you be outside of where you feel 100% safe. In the photo above, participants [...]

We arrived at the campsite just as the rain began to fall. I unloaded my boat, but left her tied to the bank because the plan was to go pole up and down the rips when the rain stopped. There were a bunch of big hemlocks on this section of river, and they filtered the [...]

I loved this shot of the 20 footer, just below Little Falls under the brilliant red maple. She’s been my best and most consistent model for the past 15 years, and I never get tired of looking at her.

Bright red maples as seen from my canoe. Autumn is stunning.

Snubbing Little Falls on the St. Croix (downeast) during the fall, 2016 Wilderness Bushcraft Semester.

Paddling amongst the whitecaps with a brisk tailwind. Paddling in strong tailwinds is a seldom-used skill. As the waves increase in size they want to spin you. If you get spun it’s easy for the waves to swamp you. These guys had just come around the point into calm water. We hugged the shore for the [...]

A remnant of the log driving days, this stream was straightened and made deeper with explosives back in the day to facilitate floating logs downstream. It’s way off the beaten path of well-used canoe routes, but it and the pond above are among my favorite places in northern Maine. I’ve always loved getting out and [...]

Coffee before sunrise on a recent trip. It always seems to take longer to boil when you're standing around watching it.  

Lining into a pool, Kicking Horse Pass on the Bonaventure river, Quebec.  

Coffee And Water. Making coffee and disinfecting drinking water on the trail.  

Paddling past Maine's highest point, Mt. Katahdin, on a recent trip.  

Lining on the St. Croix river, downeast.  

Water break on the St. Croix river. Wilderness Bushcraft Semester, fall 2016.

This afternoon I'm recreating my classic roles of Ken and Justin Bieber. Playing with my daughter, good to be home.  

Gift from my friend George. The people who come through our programs always impress me. Solid people I'm fortunate to work with.  

Empty field. Long term course number 37 completed and it was a great one. Next up, family time.  

Congrats to Maine's newest registered fishing guide, professor Paul Sveum! Fish are scared tonight.

Improvised tumpline for a canoe barrel made from rope and nylon webbing. Leaving for our final WBS trip today.  

Making maps this morning using a compass. This is the glue that ties our navigation exercises together.  

Field school pond and field, guide shack on the left.  

Sunrise over the greenhouse. Hard frosts and falling leaves, autumn in the happy valley.  

New winter shelter coming together. A big cone.  

Wilderness Bushcraft Semester back from a succesful trip on the St. Croix river. Maine's boundary waters.  

Putting meat in an improvised smoker. We'll eat well on our upcoming trip.  

Congratulations to Maine's newest registered guide, Ryan Holt! Wear the patch with pride.

Free hand ash basket. Coming together after pounding out the splints.  

Morning with hatchet and push knife resulted in new pack basket mold.  

Just heard this gem on the radio: "don't take advice; 90% of advice people give you are their regrets or fears." From Alton Brown.

Two weeks stuck in camp with no truck. Daily interaction with this whiskey jack.  

Sealing a crack in a birch bowl with pitch to make it water tight. Rock boiling next. #fulltanglifestyle  

Carving a coal-burned spoon with a newly made crooked knife. #fulltanglifestyle #friluftsliv  

Moon rise in Portage Lake, Maine.  

Moose Tracks. Not just an ice cream flavor, also sometimes marks left by animals on the ground.  

Pounding ash for pack basket splints. #fulltanglifestyle  

Pounding ash for pack baskets.#fulltanglife  

Leaving on a canoe trip, putting the new paddles to use.  

First cast on the new, as yet to be named field school pond. Taking suggestions for the name.  

Friction fire clinic: hand drill, just before lunch.  

Friction fire clinic: bow drill on a Monday.  

Using a cabinet scraper to smooth a paddle grip.  

Kids on Rust Pond. Summer winding down.  

Ocean Canoeing. Morning on Passamaquoddy Bay, nearing the end of the Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester.  

The boys have made it to the ocean! The Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester has made it to the salt water. Currently in Passamaquoddy Bay along the Maine/New Brunswick border. Two more days and they take out in Eastport, Maine.  

Organizing the barn this AM: canoe mold, deer hides, traps, snowshoe molds, tools, pack basket materials, knife blanks, etc. Been a while since its been neat and tidy.  

Wild Food Walk. Big turnout for our foraging walk with GALA at Knights Pond. Beautiful night, lots of wild food!  

Does the land have moods or reflect what is inside of us? I used to know the answer, now I'm back to not knowing.  

During the Wilderness Bushcraft Semester, we want people to learn how to plan food and meals for an extended trip, starting with themselves and finishing with planning for a group. We also want them to learn how much water water they need on any given day in order to feel good and have their body [...]

I read some advice about choosing the right axe recently. I want to make a statement about choosing the wrong axe, or at least the closest axe. I’ve met young people who couldn’t afford a high-end axe and felt that their skills wouldn’t develop until they could. It’s not true. The path to axe mastery [...]

Just before they left on the Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester, I sat down with Raife Bowman, Dylan Robinson and Jeremy Yates to talk about their recent hike across Quebec and New Brunswick on the International Appalachian Trail. They used their homemade pack baskets to do the hike, and had some adventures along the way. Listen [...]

Starting the day with a swim in this beautiful water before anyone else is awake. Feel like the richest man in the world.  

Leaving camp on their way to the ocean via the Aroostook, St. john, Eel & St. Croix rivers.  

Using a scythe to cut the grass. Old school mower and weedwacker.

We’ve been working on it for a while, and now we’re finally able to accept federal financial aid through consortium agreements, opening our immersion programs up to more college students than ever before. If you know a college student who wants to immerse themselves in bushcraft and outdoor living for a semester, please pass this [...]

Chaleur Bay, Quebec. Rekindling my love for the ocean and kayaking this summer.  

Great photo by Nicolas Twine of the field school library under the Milky Way at night. Nicolas shot a bunch of great photos this past spring that I’ll be sharing.

Our giveaway of a signed copy of The Woods Cook recently came to an end. I’m happy to announce that Mark N. from Illinois is our winner! I sent out the book a few days ago, and he should be receiving it soon. This was our first foray into giveaways, and we expect to do more [...]

We don’t provide sandpaper on field school courses with which to smooth and finish wooden projects such as canoe paddles, long bows, etc. Every course, one or two people get upset about this and urge us to provide it in the future. But there is a reason why we don’t. Sandpaper is a one time [...]

At the end of week 6 of the spring semester I recorded the second podcast with Christopher Russell. We talked about the progression of the course, the instructor and guide’s dilemma, the 2 journeys (outward and inward) that everyone is on, and told a few stories along the way. You can read more about Christopher, [...]

There are a lot things referred to as survival skills these days that have nothing to do with survival. Survival is keeping your body alive. It’s pretty simple, but not easy. Over the short-term, defined by how long you can fast and go without food (longer than a month), you need to maintain your body [...]

On Wednesday, July 6th from 5-7 pm we’re offering our popular campfire cooking workshop in Wolfeboro, NH, in partnership with GALA as part of our Self Reliance Workshop Series. This time around we’re adding a special treat; we’ll be joined by instructor Derek Faria of The Woodsman School. Derek’s an old friend and Registered Maine [...]

The new breed of bushcraft and survival social media celebrities, the ones with the popular channels, large followings, etc., seem to not know what they’re doing. The old rule of ‘fake it until you make it’ is as common as ever, but it’s new iteration, taken directly from their mouths seems to be ‘pay attention [...]

Foraging for juneberries on the shore of the pond. Rose family, Amelanchier genus. Delicious!  

Sunset paddle in the kayak after a day of storms. Sublime. #friluftsliv #nh

Remote trips, especially solo, aren’t safe or even possible without solid canoe skills; poling, lining, and paddling. On the Bonaventure I poled the upper section, lined ledges, and as shown here, lined through the ’embacles’ (french for log jams). As this was just a short drop inline with the current, I didn’t bother to tie [...]

Christopher Russell is the first recipient of the Wilderness Bushcraft Semester scholarship and a student on the spring, 2016 WBS. We sat down to talk about scholarships, motivation and all things WBS on a cold day in early May. You can read more about Christopher, including an amazing series of interviews he published about the [...]

Just below a series of ledges on the Bonaventure. I should have ran this one on river right, but these are the things you learn during a first trip on a river and why I like to paddle them solo before doing them with clients.

After an overnight rain, the Bonaventure was misty. In the background is a class 2 ledge. The water level was perfect for the ledges and rapids – much lower and it would have been scratchy.

I continued on to Bonaventure, Quebec. Solo river trip, headed off the grid in the AM. Atlantic sunset.  

Dropped the boys at the International Appalachian Trail in Matapedia, Quebec. They're hiking back to Maine. #woodslife #iat  

On to the International Appalachian Trail in New Brunswick.  

Empty parking lot. 35th immersion program completed. On to the Gaspe tomorrow to canoe the Bonaventure river.  

The Bowman PackBack: 2 pack baskets on a pack frame. Bottom basket is for a sleeping bag. Will be on the IAT in New Brunswick next week.  

One last trip for the semester; running the Big Machias river. Water is way up, should be great whitewater.  

Smoking a newly-made pair of braintanned buckskin shorts at the Bob Waggetorium.  

Brown ash pack baskets: starting to weave.  

Our camp internet connection broke this past week. It was probably about time, as we run camp off a wireless wifi device and it was a few years old. It will no longer charge, leaving me wondering if I should get a new one or just a standalone battery charger. Then yesterday on my way to [...]

Pounding brown ash into strips, making pack baskets. End of week 8, 1 week to go.  

Moose bone arrowheads made as part of a final project. Wicked shaahp!  

New knife. Blade from an old file, stacked birch wood and bark handle, made outside with simple tools.  

Becoming a canoe pole. Peeled spruce ready to be fitted with copper pipe shoe to become a canoe pole.  

Stretching a hide in a frame. Racing the incoming storms. Lots of cool final projects going on.  

Been out putting up trail signs- our 3 mile field school trail system is now color coded.  

Making wooden wedges to split a tree the long way for canoe paddle blanks.  

Braintanning: scaping hides and feeding the black flies.  

Using a fir bough as a brush to varnish a canoe paddle. Use what you've got.  

Rock boiling in birch baskets by the river.  

Our 4-week canoe expedition for 2016 will run from the Jack Mountain Bushcraft Field School in Masardis, Maine, to the Atlantic Ocean at Calais Maine. Along the way we’ll paddle the Aroostook, St. John, Eel and St. Croix rivers. We’ll also be tracing the ancient Maliseet Trail. More information on the trip and the route [...]

Problem with red squirrel getting into bulk food solved.  

Rocket stove morning: reducing maple sap into syrup and creating a gumbo from scratch. Struggle to survive out here.

First day on the water, poling practice. Just one swimmer, great day.  

At dusk tonight I stood for half an hour watching and listening to four ruffed grouse feeding, talking and jumping around at the top of an aspen tree. Being silent and observing not only aids my knowledge and understanding of the natural world, but also my enjoyment of it. Empathy. Kinship. Belong to it.

Damp weather after after a long stretch of dry.

Primitive luxury.

New garden bed in anticipation of spring. 77 frost-free days a year here at the field school, USDA zone 3b.

We running our first giveaway. Win an autographed copy of The Woods Cook; Outdoor Cooking With A Professional Guide by Tim Smith. You can read more, throw your name in the hat and get the complete rules at: http://jmbnews.com/giveaways/woodscook/

Taking bearings for a trail to add to the field school trail system. South Boundary Trail: SOB.  

Using a draw knife to rough out a canoe paddle on a clear Tuesday morning.  

Monday morning friction fire, tinder bundle workshop.  

Learning the way of the axe while gathering firewood to cook with.  

Long but great first day, ready for sleep before 7pm. Glad I have my JB pillow case for a great night's sleep.  

Big pan of breakfast on a big rocket stove. First morning of the semester.  

Back to snow in the county. Semester 35 starts tomorrow.  

Years ago I found a copy of the book Cooking Without Fuel that described a common appliance of 1900 that functioned much like a modern cooler. The idea was that you cook food until it boils, then put it in an insulated container which will maintain the heat and allow it to continue to cook, [...]

Barehand fishing: no hook, no net, no spear.  

Busy morning in the woods, but this calm water caught my eye.  

Being a lifelong learner, I’m of the belief that wherever you’re at, there is always room for improvement. Leading up to our 35th long-term course this spring, I’ve been seeking out additional training in order to become a better instructor. It’s been an immensely enjoyable experience. In early March I spent a weekend at Amherst Archery [...]

Combining The Northern Forest Canoe Route, The Appalachian Trail And The International Appalachian Trail Into An Epic Journey   The Idea There is a romance and simplicity in journeys that start at your door. In The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins didn’t take a bus to a plane to another bus to a cab to start his [...]

I’m excited to announce the recipient of our Wilderness Bushcraft Semester scholarship for the spring, 2016 semester; Christopher Russell! You’re going to be hearing a lot about him over the coming months, but for now let me introduce you to his blog, PrimitiveAddictions.com,  and Facebook fan page. We have another scholarship opportunity for the fall [...]

I was just made aware that part of the term “survival situation” has been trademarked. I personally won’t miss it and am glad to see it go.   Term “Survival Situation” To Be Replaced With “LTO – Life Threatening Occurrence” Since the recent registration of the trademark “The Situation” by Michael Sorrentino, the outdoor community [...]

Since returning home from the second Boreal Snowshoe Expedition, I’ve been immersed in the tedious and delicate process of a major overhaul of our web site. This entailed a lot of backend work, as well as creating several new sites. While there is still a lot of work to be done, the major overhauls are [...]

Open water, getting that canoeing itch!  

We lost one of the greats today. RIP Steve Watts. A true gentleman.  

Ice is out on the pond. Earliest I ever remember having open water.  

Tapping trees and boiling sap into maple syrup with a bunch of kids. Bucket with lid in the foreground.  

Home. Morning coffee with kids and dog. There's no greater comfort than coming home to family.  

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. [...]