Arctic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson wrote that “adventure is a sign of incompetence.”  But if it isn’t for adventure, why do people do the things they do?  I’m with Stefansson on adventure.  It implies that you’re not prepared for what you face, which, in the case of living a life outdoors, should never be the case.  [...]

If you’re interested in keeping up with all the updates we put on the web, check out our FriendFeed page at: friendfeed.com/jmbushcraft It lists all the updates we make on the web, including this blog, photos, videos, Facebook updates, etc.  I’m going to put it on our site soon, but for the time being check [...]

We’re wrapping up week 1 of the Earth Skills Winter Program, and I’m getting all the gear assembled for our snowshoe trip next week.  We’ve had the coldest temperatures of the year so far, but it’s been a fun week anyway and we’ve covered a lot of ground.  Today I’m busy prepping and packing what [...]

The number of primitive skills and survival schools has swelled in the last few years, and while all schools are not created equal there are many opportunities to learn wilderness skills these days.  It’s important to be clear about what we do because it’s different than what’s available elsewhere.  Yes, we teach skills.  We’re among [...]

I got an email from Tim MacWelch of the Earth Connection School of Wilderness Survival And Ancient Skills in Virginia today.  They’re running a weekend primitive skills gathering this month, January 16-18.  From his email: Wolf Moon Camp – Primitive Skills Gathering – January 16-18 Earth Connection School of Wilderness Survival and Ancient Skills is [...]

We’re introducing a new format for the fall, 2009 Earth Skills Semester Program.  We’re breaking the course up into two blocks of four weeks each, with a week off in the middle.  And instead of working five days a week, we’ll be working six days a week.  With the practical exam at the end of [...]

We went out on a family tracking walk yesterday.  The snow was perfect and there were all sorts of tracks for my son to investigate.  It’s fun being outside with him and seeing the landscape through his eyes.  One of the neat things we can learn from children is the idea of vu-ja-de.  It’s the [...]

There’s a lot of information about bushcraft on the web, but much of it is focused around equipment and celebrities, not knowledge and experience.  If you’re just getting started, here are seven things to keep in mind. 1.  It’s not about the gear.  We did alright for 99% of human history without all the latest [...]

My friend David Cronenwett is the co-owner of the Wilderness Arts Institute in Montana, an experienced bushcraft instructor and a professional naturalist.  He sent me this essay he wrote about a winter survival exercise that became a wilderness survival episode last winter in Montana’s Bob Marshall Wilderness.  It’s a good read and there are lessons [...]

In preparing for our programs I always tell people to bring enough sleeping bag.  If you know you can get 8 or ten hours of warm, comfortable sleep at night most situations are tolerable.  My good friend and semester course alumnus, Sean Fagan, recently sent me a note about his experience with us in northern [...]

Our 2009 calendar is complete and you can view it here.  I’m putting it all on Google Calendar, and have it embedded at the bottom of the page.  We’ve got a bunch of new programs, including a week of making pack baskets, bows and canoe paddles along with staying in a nearby resort.  We’ve also [...]

I just finished reading Tom Jamrog’s blog post reviewing the Snow Walkers Rendezvous in November.  He’s got several videos in the post, including the tour of the tents and part one of Allan Brown’s torching of a canvas tent.  It’s definitely worth the read.  If it’s difficult for you to get to Vermont in November, [...]

I’ve got the updated details on the 2009 yearlong (7 months to be specific) immersion program online. The price has come way down and there is a discount for bringing your own canoe.  We’re accepting applications until April 1st and will only take ten people.  Full details are available at jackmtn.com/esyear.html.

We put up a blog for the participants of our semester programs last spring, and a big part of a spring logbook was recently posted. So if you want to find out more of what goes on in our programs, you can check it out at The Bushcraft Experience.

Below is the 21-point curriculum for our spring, 2009 Bushcraft Canoe Expedition Semester. Wilderness Survival – Basic, intermediate and advanced survival. Fire – Fire making with and without modern tools. Shelter Construction – Building for survival, short-term and long-term stays. Water – Acquisition And Purification. Navigation – Barehand (using no modern tools), map and compass. [...]

We’re redesigning our spring semester for 2009. The new format will be a 6-week program with most of the time spent traveling through the bush of northern Maine. There are 5 phases to the program, each of which can be taken as an individual course. Phase 1: Weeklong bushcraft and guide training immersion course. Phase [...]

We use steel axes and knives on a daily basis in our programs, and I’ve been asked several times how this meshes with the primitive skills movement.  My answer has two parts.  First, I believe that in order to progress to the skill level where a tool such as an axe or knife is no [...]

The major updates to our site are done, and everything seems to be working.  If you come across a problem, please let us know.

Many of our web pages are out of date.  Our menus are out of date.  Our calendar is in need of an upgrade.  All of this is coming in the next two weeks.  I’ve been working with new menu software and am almost ready to go live.  So if you’ve been frustrated by our website [...]

December 16-20 is the annual Maine Wilderness Guides Organization winter guide training course, and I’ll be working with Kevin Slater of Mahoosuc Guide Service again this year to put it on. It’s a great opportunity for those who are new to winter living and guiding to get some experience in the bush and learn about [...]

We’re got two new programs for ESSP alumni coming in 2009. The first is a practicum, where people gather at our Bushcraft And Sustainability Field School for a week (or two) to get back in touch with the bush life. It’s an opportunity to spend some unstructured time working on subjects of interest, prepare for [...]

I love to research and travel on the old canoe routes that were the highways before the vast northern forests of Maine had a single logging road.  A few years ago I picked up a copy of a book called “The Indian Canoe Routes Of Maine” by David S. Cook, which described many of these [...]

We’re adding a new member to our team – The University Of Maine at Presque Isle.  We’ll be actively collaborating with UMPI beginning in 2009 and are excited about the opportunities this presents.  It’s a great opportunity for college students seeking to include buscraft as part of their studies.  More at the UMPI Recreation and [...]

I had a great time at the Snow Walkers’ Rendezvous in Vermont, both meeting up with old friends and making some new ones. My workshop on using an axe and lighting wet-weather fires was well attended, and the food was outstanding as it always is at the Hulbert Outdoor Center. I also attended an informative [...]

A question I get asked on a regular basis, and one I wish would just go away, is what I think about the TV survival shows.  Usually, the person asking likes one show and doesn’t like another, and is willing to support their hero to no end.  Having spent the last few years with no [...]

Tomorrow I’m headed to Fairlee, Vermont for the Snow Walkers’ Rendezvous at the Hulbert Outdoor Center.  The focus of the event is on traditional winter travel skills of the north.  I’ll be running workshops on axemanship and fire building, but as is the case with all rendezvous or gathering-type events where I run workshops, I’d [...]

Jack Mountain was featured in an article titled Extreme Survival Schools by Scott Bowen that hit the web on October 15. From the article; “The instructors at Jack Mountain Bushcraft can teach you everything from how to live happily in the woods with nothing but a knife, to proper snow-shoeing techniques, to the art of [...]

We wrapped up our 12 semester program over the weekend, and I’m back in NH for a short while.  It was the first semester run entirely at our 41-acre Bushcraft And Sustainability Field School in Masardis, Maine, and the new location added immensely to the experience.  The beautiful, clear waters of the Aroostook River, the [...]

This photo is looking upstream on the Aroostook river.  Our Bushcraft & Sustainability Field School is on the right.  I loved this photo because of the light on the basket and canoe.

When the tail end of hurricane Kyle swung through Aroostook County and dumped several inches of rain it brought all the rivers up to their spring flood stage in two days.  We took advantage of this and went exploring on some of the nearby rivers. With each passing week I learn more about the area [...]

Friend and Maine Guide Shawn McNutt has been posting his journal and photos of a fall, 2006 canoe guide training course we ran on the Allagash on his blog Guide Spot.  It’s great to read his perspectives on the trip, and his photos really bring out the natural beauty of the waterway. You can read [...]

We’re putting together a busy schedule of short courses for this fall, winter and spring, and we’ve got a great new venue where they’ll be offered; the Ossipee Mountain Grange.  As part of our ongoing partnership with sustainability organization GALA, they’ll be hosting our workshop series in their new building.  The first scheduled workshop is [...]

Week 5 of the 10-week Earth Skills Semester Program is finished.  It’s been a great semester, and our new ground ere in Aroostook County has been flat-out amazing.  Last week I saw a lynx sneaking around camp, and I’ve been enjoying all the other wildlife we’ve seen.  In addition to the bald eagles, osprey, kestrels, [...]

We spent the week on a remote, northern Maine lake learning the arts of canoe paddling and poling.  Cooking every meal over the open fire, watching the bald eagles fly over the lake and land in the white pines, listening to the songs of the loons who would sit in the water off the point [...]

Week one of the fall semester is completed, and next week we’ll be in the bush camping on some remote lakes.  It will be an introduction to the traditional skills of canoeing and the grace of living in the bush. This past week we identified and used numerous wild food plants, as well as a [...]

In the morning I’m off to begin the 10-week fall Earth Skills Semester Program. It looks like there will be no internet access at our place after all, so I’ll be away from the blog and email for a while. If you want to get in touch with me, the best way is by phone [...]

I spent the last two weeks in Masardis with a friend putting up our new cabin.  The day before we started working on it I found a few large moose tracks under what became the center of the building, so I’ve been referring to it as the Moose Track Lodge.  It’s the next stage in [...]

From an interview with Wade Davis in the April, 2008 issue of Discover magazine. True or not, it’s a great story. During the 1950s the Canadian government forced the Inuit into settlements. A family from Arctic Bay told me this fantastic story of their grandfather who refused to go. The family, fearful for his life, [...]

We’re organizing a yearly trip for alumni of our bushcraft semester courses.  Our goal is to create avenues for continuing education and group learning.  The 2009 trip is still in the planning stages, but will likely take place on the Penobscot and Allagash rivers and be 2-3 weeks long. More of a practicum than a [...]