Now that I’m back from the woods, I wanted to let regular readers know what I’m working on. First, I’m putting together our 2011 schedule.  I’m still waiting to hear about several non-bushcraft events I need to plan around, but as soon as I get the information on them I’ll be posting our new schedule. [...]

We’ve wrapped up our 16th wilderness bushcraft semester course and I’ve made it back from the field school in one piece.  I’m back to consistent internet access, and will be blogging and posting photos from today forward.  Although our email vacation message said that I got to town once per week to keep up with [...]

I’ve been researching the role of crafting on the learning process recently.  There is a mountain of how-to information on crafting, but most of it on how-to-do things; the questions of why and what are the impacts are aren’t as common.  Since crafting is one of the seven core elements of the Jack Mountain Bushcraft [...]

A friend recently went on a fishing trip to Manitoba’s Big Sand Lake. This monster was the second biggest trout he caught there. Notice the Jack Mountain hat.  Some people are lucky when they fish.  Others work hard for what they get.  This fish, and his large cousin caught the following day, were the result [...]

A friend sent me this photo of his wooden canoe after a tough day on the river. You’re looking at broken ribs, half-ribs and planks inside a 20′ wooden canoe. The good news is that everything on a wooden boat can be fixed. That’s one area where these old boats are far superior to their [...]

Teaching bushcraft these days is as much about helping people to eliminate the extraneous as it is showing them something new. Put another way, it’s as much carving as it is building. Much of what passes for common knowledge in bushcraft and outdoor living is fantasy, created and fed by poorly conceived books, movies and [...]

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There are several definitions of bushcraft floating around the web, none of which I agree with.  The most common is the one used on the Wikipedia page that states that bushcraft is the long-term adaptation of survival skills.  I disagree.  Bushcraft goes way beyond survival skills. Bushcraft is the active component of our interaction with [...]

I’m adding a new section to our resource page of articles and downloads; podcasts.  I’m regularly sharing podcasts on learning, the natural world, ecology, and more with our students, and now I’ll be sharing them with anyone who is interested.  This is not the Jack Mountain Bushcraft Podcast.  We’re not responsible for recording or anything [...]

Spring and early summer were super busy, but I’m back in town and will be updating the blog with tales of our experiences in the woods of northern Maine.  I realize that those of you who have been regular readers over the years probably don’t like the intermittant nature of the posts while I’m at [...]

I’m back in town after a busy spring course.  I’ll be posting about some of our experiences this spring in the next week before heading back to the field school for several June programs.  It’s good to be back and away from the bugs for a few days.

We finished the Riverman course and now are busy getting ready for a week on the St. John river.  The weather is several weeks ahead of schedule, but it looks like we’ll just make it before the water drops to it’s summertime low. We’ve been seeing a lot of wildlife, including bears, moose, deer, snowshoe [...]

It’s been a busy early spring at the field school.  The road is impassable for the last half mile, but otherwise things are in great shape.  It’s been a lot of work getting everything ready for the spring semester, and I’m excited to be here. I’ll continue to be away from the web for the [...]

I’ll be away from the web for a while as I drive across the country and look to get the field school set up with internet access.  I’ll post when I’m able to.  Have a great spring and get out there and grab life by the throat!

I added a new look to the JMB blog that makes it easier to make changes and customize.  If you don’t like the new look, it won’t last forever as I’ll be adding to it as I learn more about the software.  So far so good, but the best is yet to come.

The smooth waters of the Allagash reflecting the sky at dusk.

Allagash falls after several days of heavy rains. A shirtless figure stands alone, shaking his fists. Shot during the fall, 2004 fall semester course on day 9 of an 11-day trip with a disposable film camera. Great shot, great trip, great guy.

Paddling into the mist on Long Lake, part of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway in northern Maine. Shot on a cool September morning under a clear blue sky.

This is one of my favorite photos, taken during the fall, 2003 Wilderness Bushcraft Semester. It’s the St. Croix River, which is the border between Maine and New Brunswick. In the photo are two women poling solo in 18 foot canoes. It was a beautiful fall morning; cold and crisp, with warmer water generating the [...]

Safety and having several backup plans are key when planning a trip. We designed a form a number of years ago that students fill out as part of our guide training curriculum for each excursion. You can get a .pdf of it here. The procedure is simple: Fill out three copies. Keep one with you, [...]

Do babies understand numbers, or are they a blank slate?  Is it a given that they will grow to understand numbers like we do, or do they need to be taught?  Is how we experience numbers different from how stone age people understood them? These questions and more are examined in this Radiolab podcast from [...]

We do a lot of sourdough baking in the reflector oven when on remote trips.  It’s a great piece of low-tech, high-skill equipment that is worthless in the hands of someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing, but priceless in the hands of someone who does.  The best way to become proficient with it is [...]

Nutshimit is a word and concept from the Innu.  Previously known by the name given to them by the French, Montagnais, they inhabit a huge, sparsely populated region of Quebec and Labrador. For many Innu, life in the village is marked by idleness and a sense of loss and alienation, in strong contrast to being [...]

The question of how our bushcraft courses are applicable in the modern world comes up from time to time both in email and through discussions, so I wanted to formally address it today. When examined from a sufficient distance so as to blur the specific skills, our courses teach four things: problem solving, leadership, self-reliance [...]

I’ve been thinking for several years about putting together an expedition-style course for young men where we’d spend three or four weeks in the north woods canoeing and living outdoors.  It would be a similar, although less rigorous, curriculum that we use in our college semester programs, with a focus on academic subjects such as [...]

There are many features that make our yearlong bushcraft immersion program unique, and to read about them you should check out the yearlong page as the purpose of this post is to list a few of the perks that go along with taking the yearlong, but aren’t a part of it. Yearlong program graduates have [...]

I love to explore new places.  I’ve covered a lot of northern Maine in my canoe over the last decade, and I’ve still only scratched the surface.  Sometimes I find those special spots where no one goes, the fishing is good and there’s a beautiful place to camp.  Other times I’m hauling over beaver dams [...]

Thanks to a friendly piece of software this blog is now formatted with a mobile theme for viewing with the iPhone/iPod Touch, Google Android, Palm Pre and other touch-based smartphones.

Early spring is the season of travel on remote northern rivers. Swelled with snowmelt, a canoe is able to travel where the water is too low during the summer. This is one of my favorite spots in Maine, seldom visited, far from any logging road and a long way from town or a paved road. [...]

Something we emphasize on our courses is to know yourself and how you deal with different stresses that come into play on extended trips or even when you’re just working around camp. One of the most important deals with hydration; how much water YOU need and what happens when you don’t get enough. This is [...]

When I was a kid I knew the company I wanted to work for. I knew what my job would be and the things I’d do. But I couldn’t get hired by that company because it didn’t exist. I had to build it. Here’s a timeline of some of the highlights of that journey. 1995. [...]

I haven’t been blogging much lately, as I’ve been a busy dad as well as working on a lot of the behind the scenes aspects of our 2010 season. But I have been adding content to our various outposts on the web, and this post will tell you where they are. 1. We’ve got a [...]

With the rise of the web and people being constantly connected, I’m concerned about the future of really experiencing things. These days I see so many people constantly tweeting, shooting video, and documenting their experiences, especially outdoor experiences, that I wonder if there’s any authentic experience taking place or if the whole thing exists just [...]

The dates for the fall and spring terms of our 2010-2011 yearlong immersion program have been set. The yearlong program includes the fall, winter and spring terms. Fall Term: Wilderness Bushcraft Semester 8/22/10-10/23/10 – Immediately following the fall term is our practical exam, which lasts several days. Winter Term: Winter Bushcraft Intensive 1/9/11 – 1/22/11 [...]

TV survival shows are about hardships and risk. With background music to set the mood, the feeling of jeopardy hangs heavily over the host as s/he negotiates within an inch of his/her life. The danger makes it sexy. In the real world, bushcraft is much more about heritage and tradition rather than risk. The old [...]

We’re adding a tuition financing and payment plan for our long term programs. All the details aren’t set yet, but will be in a few weeks. It’s part of our plan to make our programs available to anyone who has a strong interest in bushcraft and living a simple, outdoor life.

Books on outdoor adventure can be read in the warm, dry, comfortable surroundings of the home. They entertain, but when finished they seldom change the reader. Actual outdoor experience and wilderness travel is characterized by bad weather, bugs, difficulty and exhaustion. Their impacts are felt throughout life, changing the person. Without the difficulty, there can [...]

Northern Maine’s St. John River is the premier wilderness trip in the US east of the Mississippi. This year we’re running it May 10-17. The natives called it Wallastook, or “Beautiful River”. It’s the largest river in Atlantic Canada, but starts from a series of small ponds deep in the woods of northern Maine, this [...]

Thinking about taking a semester off from college and spending it in the wilderness? If so, compare the different approaches of our program versus the large, corporate wilderness education companies. If you’re looking for modern, high-tech outdoor education with programs on backpacking and mountaineering, then check them out. But if you’re interested in building a [...]