Sometimes you get to a campsite on a remote river and the firewood has been picked over. Especially if it has been used for a while. But there is almost always firewood on the other side of the river. In this (grainy) photo, I’m transporting a canoe full of firewood for the night’s cook fire [...]

From the spring. We went up to our local lake for some paddling and Maine IFW was stocking remote trout ponds by float plane. They would load the young trout from a stock truck into the floats of the plane, then it would fly off and dump them in the ponds. Since I was a [...]

My wood canvas canoe, rigged up and ready for the carry around Allagash Falls. Notice this canoe has a center thwart, not a carved yoke. Notice how the paddles are tied to the thwarts so that when it is carried, the weight of the boat is distributed by the paddle blades onto the shoulders as [...]

A young moose by the pond at the field school. #FullTangLifestyle #Maine #AroostookCounty

Canoes on the beach on the Allagash, high and dry and ready for night. #FullTangLifestyle

A misty morning on a northern Maine lake poling canoes. #FullTangLifestyle

Using a compass to take a bearing in the field. #FullTangLifestyle

A brief respite from the rain and bugs in the form of a navigation exercise with map and compass in the Guide Shack on the summer, 2023 Wilderness Bushcraft Semester. #FullTangLifestyle

Tessa was meditating on the edge of the forest, holding her knife and spoon she was carving tight to her hands with her magical powers. Someone walked up and snapped a photo while she was deep in meditation. #FullTangLifestyle

This photo is 10 years old and was taken on a -20 F day with a stiff breeze while we were out on the Boreal Snowshoe Expedition. It was a great group of people and a few of the guys got it in mind to take a “tasteful nude” photo with the toboggans. So they [...]

On a fall, 2023 trip, paddling a 20-footer while kneeling. #FullTangLifestyle

It has been a cold and wet start to June in northern Maine. To keep things in perspective I will occasionally look at this picture from a few winters ago when the thermometer in my truck registered negative forty degrees below zero. This is the spot where the F (freedom) and C (Canadian) scales cross.

Huddling by the cook fire to keep warm on the Boreal Snowshoe Expedition.

Looking down from the bluff at a beautiful Maine river.

This might have been the one moment, early in the morning, where the wind wasn’t howling for the entire month of May 2023.

Maine lake reflecting the sky.

The sun sinking into the horizon.

We’re back at the field school after our latest trip. All that remains of the 2023 Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester is testing, our field-based practical exams for those seeking the Engagé certification.

This photo was shot on a cold morning in May of 2023, so I was wearing the wool toque under my big hat. Beautiful spot, beautiful lake, beautiful Maine. #FullTangLifestyle

The pond at the field school, photo taken from above.

Beautiful lichen with red top.

The iconic Moose Vegas sign, deep in the woods of Aroostook County, Maine.

Tussilago farfara, coltsfoot. The first flower we get in the spring. This plant flowers before the leaves come out. This ground was covered in snow six days ago.

First mushroom of the year, Gyromitra esculenta or false morel. Don’t eat this one. Growing on ground that was covered with snow six days ago.

The Guide Shack, my off-grid cabin home for 12 years, with the solar-powered lights shining into the darkness. A warm and dry retreat in the cold Aroostook winter. So many great memories, and so many more to come. Shot on January 25, 2023.

Coaching from shore while students navigate the rips.

Coaching canoe poling from shore at the starch factory rips. It was a super fun day, as you can tell by my smile.

Coal burning bowls and spoons in preparation for a primitive living experience at the end of the semester.

The calm water of the river is reflecting the clouds and colors in the sky.

From a recent canoe outing on a perfect fall day. These are the types of photos you look at over winter to get excited about open water.

Saw this little guy hiding under a bunch of coltsfoot leaves. They sit so still and won’t move so they are easy to not see.

Class photo, Introduction To Fly Fishing, May 2021.

When people aren’t around, wildlife has the run of the field school. This moose is a local resident, and helps to keep the cattails from taking over the shallow edge of the pond. Photo credit to Christopher. #fulltanglifestyle

Casting practice during the Introduction To Fly Fishing Weekend.

Roasting coffee beans in a frying pan over an open fire.

Several pots, shiny and new, going over the fire for the first time.

Staying warm and dry in a shelter while the snow falls outside.

It’s been ten years since I took this photo. The kid is now in middle school. The basket has been retired and sits in a corner of the guide shack holding fishing gear. Of all the photos I’ve ever taken, it remains in my top ten. And a reminder that life happens fast.

Shot this on a northern Maine lake at the end of the fall semester. It’s a campsite on a big lake that we revere for epic sunrises. It took a while for the sun to burn through the fog, giving us the mist effect.

It’s still August but the nights are getting cool. When the night air is cooler than the river water we get dramatic morning mists. I shot this on the morning of August 23, 2019, as the sun was just peeking over Squapan Ridge and the river valley was full of mist. I stood there for [...]

When made well, a grass mattress is portable luxury. Unlike thin sleeping pads, grass mattresses can easily be made to rival a modern mattress in thickness and comfort. They can also easily be transported, unlike bough beds. And they can be made from a variety of materials including grass, weeds, cattails, reeds, and more. They [...]

Smudge pots are a way of life at the field school in June and July. Take a metal coffee can, punch a few holes in it, attach a piece of chain to the rim and keep a small, smoky fire going. The smoke keeps the bugs at bay. It’s getting harder to find a metal [...]

I’m not a habitual smoker, but on expeditions I do enjoy the occasional pipe. There’s a great heritage involved, a kinship with the voyageurs, not to mention the smoke keeps the bugs away from your face. In this photo we were on the Gaspe peninsula in Quebec, an arm of land that juts out into [...]

I’ve looked all over for black morel mushrooms without a lot of luck. What a treat that this is growing in an old garden space.

When I see water droplets on lupine leaves, I think of tiny jewels that are there only for me to appreciate. I love how the drop of water stops and spends time at the center of the plant where the leaves go together after a rain. And then the sun comes out and shines on [...]

The principles of tanning hides in the bitter cold are the same as tanning in warm weather. The details, however, are significantly different.

From our recent trip to northern Quebec. A great group of people. Here we were out checking hare snares and looking for marten tracks. We had a tip that someone had seen Bucksaw Jenkins tracks somewhere between Chibougoumou and Chapais, as he was wintering in the James Bay lowlands, and we were concerned that he [...]

This guy hung around our place a while back. In the photo he was sitting chest-high in a hemlock sapling, 9-feet from our door. Working on updating the Yearlong Immersion Program for 2019-2020, should be done by the end of the weekend.

One of my favorite spots in the North Maine Woods. One of these years I’m going to spend a week there, living with the timeless rhythms of the forest and river.

One of my favorite places in the world at a beautiful time of day. Miles from the bustle of the modern world, deep in the North Maine Woods, with no signs of people as far as the eye can see.

Looking into the wood stove in one of our Jack Mountain Expedition Tents. The orange and red colors inside the stove are incredibly dramatic when compared to a grey winter day. Did you know that we designed our own tent a few years ago? Get more information here.

Photo from a past trip out on the land with David and Anna Bosum. Only a few spot remain for our March, 2019 trip. If you want one of them, register soon.

Deep in the North Maine Woods, it’s big country with big views. I’ve been roaming around this region for several decades and there’s still so much country to explore.

Two landlocked salmon in a 16″ dutch oven over a fire. On canoe trips where we do a lot of fishing I often bring my 16″ dutch oven because the fish just taste better when cooked in it.

We were coming down a fast, narrow stream in early spring. On a bend in the stream was a full-width strainer; an obstruction spanning from shore to shore. After a short debate, we opted to cut it rather than unload and carry around it. So we poled a boat out into the current and held [...]

Cooking after dark over an open fire.

Forest Trees Of Maine is a fantastic guide to the trees of Maine and surrounding areas. If you’re at all interested you should get a copy. Get a free pdf copy through the Maine Forest Service. Order a print copy through the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. Order a print copy through Amazon. [...]

Hot coffee and doughnuts are a great combination, even better when made outside over an open fire. When I was a teenager, two of my friends made up a little song about this amazing combination after getting some of both early one morning at a diner on the way to go ice fishing. All I [...]

Scene this morning on Rust Pond at the Jack Mountain Bushcraft Folk School on the day before Thanksgiving, 2018. After yesterday’s snow, the white pines have their winter look. It’s beautiful here every day, but mornings like today remind me that this is no ordinary place.

Replacing the broken culvert on the Moose Vegas Road at the field school. It’s been a long time coming, and will fix drainage as well as transportation issues.

On a remote river shuttling firewood across the river. Because at any established campsite the good wood is picked over, but just across the river there’s usually a lot of it. This is the boat that was recently damaged in a wind storm, in action on the Bonaventure river in Quebec last June (2018).

Putting a mattress of green fir boughs on a raised bed in a long-term cold weather shelter. It’s easy to make these more comfortable; add more mattress. Like everything else we do, you can learn something about this type of shelter and bed by building it, but to really know it you have to live [...]

Finishing pack baskets with dogwood rims. Snow flurries here this morning and cold and windy today, so we’re in the guide shack with the stove roaring. Last project on the last day of the fall Wilderness Bushcraft Semester.

Back from the trip, finishing projects on the last few days of the semester. A few people wanted to make pack baskets, so we’re making them. It will be a push to finish them, but that’s what we do.

Teaching poling and watching everyone come through a rip. Poling is a traditional canoe skill that we use daily. It’s a great way to descend a rapid with complete control, stop in the middle of whitewater and travel upstream against a strong current. And to do it well, you stand in the canoe.

Cool today, lit the first fire of the season in the Guide Shack. Enjoying the heat and looking out the window at the yellow aspen and birch foliage. Two weeks left in the semester, our last weekend in camp. Off-grid and loving it.

Canoeing season is almost finished for the year here in northern Maine, with night temperatures below freezing. But we still have one trip left on the fall Wilderness Bushcraft Semester. I’m excited to get out one in the boats for a few days one last time in 2018. If you’re interested in learning the way [...]

Someone spent a bunch of time building this cairn on the Allagash. I didn’t get a great picture of it because I couldn’t move the sun to where I wanted it. Whoever built this did so for the sake of building it, not for compensation or recognition. Everyone on our trip appreciated it’s beauty.

Grave Of The Unknown River Driver, Baxter State Park. Along the park tote road about 20 miles from the south entrance. Near Nesowadnehunk Stream, presumed drowned on a log drive. More at Downeast Magazine.

We met this guy on a trip this past summer, sunning himself on the river.

Congratulations to our own Colin Clifford, Maine’s newest Registered Guide. Colin is an alumnus working with us on this fall’s semester course. He traveled to Augusta today where he passed the test to become a Registered Maine Guide. He will be traveling back to the field school on the shoulders of stallions. Well done, sir.

Some knife sheath bling – made from birchbark and roots. Whatever your edged tool, it should always have a sheath, both to protect you and to protect your tool’s edge.

Hard at work carving paddles. Finishing them today, heading out on the trail next week to put them to use.

This morning we started carving canoe paddles. It’s a chance to learn about wood and wood grain, as well as traditional hand tools. Our preference is for a draw knife and spoke shave, with a farrier’s rasp near the end. There are lots of tool combinations that work.

Lucky The Wonder Dog, river safety officer. When someone goes for a swim, she jumps in the water and swims around them. #fulltangcaninelifestyle

Today is our first day of poling canoes during the fall semester. It’s hot and sunny, a nice bonus for enduring the cold water of the pond. We worked through the first five poling exercises, and also covered lifts, carries and canoe rescue. Tomorrow we’ll be poling on the river.

Plants Of Baxter State Park. The plant book I’ve been waiting for years to find. Amazing resource. Full post with link coming soon.

Paddling big lakes with big tailwinds is a skill that I haven’t seen discussed in the books, but it takes a certain knack to not get spun by the waves. Once you get spun, it’s easy for the waves to come over the gunwhales and fill your boat with water. In most cases it’s really [...]

Paddling the East Branch of the Penobscot is a lot of work. There are 4 big carries around waterfalls in the first ten miles of the trip, and there are also some rapids that require solid paddling skills. But the views are amazing, such as this photo of a few canoes paddling downriver with the [...]

I spent some time over the 4th diving in Lake Winnipesaukee with my son and one of my oldest friends. We took a few underwater photos while swimming down below the thermocline into the cool water, and it felt glorious.

As we roll into July, School Of The Forest programs are off to a great start.  Yesterday was the first day of our program at The Libby Museum in the lakes region of New Hampshire. This program is run in partnership with GALA, a local non-profit that focuses on building more self-reliant local communities. This [...]

I took this photo at our last campsite on the Bonaventure, on the lower river a few miles upstream from the ocean. When I first saw pictures of this river, the clarity of the water drew me in and I knew I had to paddle it. After several trips it continues to hold a spell [...]

Fleshing a deer hide on the scraping beam. Getting the meat, fat and connective tissue off of the hide makes it shelf stable and it can then be stored by drying. It’s also the first step in the braintanning process. This hide is from a deer harvested last fall by this course participant. He’s eaten [...]

Beautiful stretch of weather here in the county. A couple of the guys decided to loose a few arrows in the field. #fulltanglifestyle

Practical exam on map and compass navigation for the Journeyman Certification Program this morning. Students have had weeks of instruction, now it is time to prove they can do it. #fulltanglifestyle

Instructors Ben and Christopher taking a break from poling on a recent canoe trip. #fulltanglifestyle

We had a cold front pass over us this morning and Adam Lougee snapped this photo of the clouds over the Guide Shack. I love looking at and studying the clouds. So much beauty right over head every day.

Walking across arctic Norway, axe in hand. Shot this photo when in Norway filming a tv show in 2014. I wanted to be able to prove to my kids I was actually there! #fulltanglifestyle

We had quite a bit of traffic, slowing the travel down a bit. #fulltanglifestyle

What a difference a week makes! The photo is Christopher taking the first paddle around the pond (aka Grand Lac Samsquanch) of 2018, 1 week ago. Today was sunny and 70 degrees, and we had a bunch of boats on the pond working through our introduction to canoe poling curriculum. It was a late spring, [...]

It’s a Guide Shack Saturday night. From the photo: radio, guide canteen, knife, hat, wood stove in the northwest corner (thankfully not needed for the first Saturday of 2018). Listening to A Prairie Home Companion on the radio. Dutch oven cooking outside. My 16’x20′ off-grid, off-pipe home at our field school in northern Maine. Content. [...]

Snow is finally melting. Still too much of it on the road to drive in, but the fields are just about snow-free. See you in a few months, snow. Now bring on the bugs!

Snowshoeing out to the road this morning to do some errands in town. With so much snow left on the ground it’s tough to believe the lupines will be blooming in two months. Spring still seems like a long way off, although it’s coming quickly.

Aroostook river is still locked up in ice and we’re still on snowshoes waiting for spring to arrive. Day 2 of the spring ‘18 Wilderness Bushcraft Semester. #fulltanglifestyle

Spring semester starts today. 4 feet of snow on the road. Time for plan B.

Osprey bringing food back to the nest. As the ice recedes on Rust Pond, the birds are showing back up. I watched some mergansers this morning, and saw a bald eagle yesterday.

Watching the sun set over some open water tonight. Beautiful. The ice isn’t gone, but it is going.

Interesting article from the CBC on graduate students mapping the traditional canoe routes. Here’s the link. Photo above is a map of traditional canoe routes of New Brunswick. Our field school on the Aroostook is on it. From the article: The Wabanaki are made up of the Maliseet, Mi’kmaq, Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, and Abenaki nations stretching [...]

Public Service Message: Remember to pull those rabbit snares tonight! You don’t want the kids catching you with a rabbit in your snare on Easter morning. You’ll never hear the end of it.

Cree snowshoes in Ouje-Bougoumou on our 2017 trip.

During one of the thaws on the Boreal Snowshoe Expedition. Photo by Dragan Uzelic.

Sunset at the waterhole, sublime. One week to go in our winter wonderland. The group is fuctioning as a team, everyone is contributing, and there’s nowhere I’d rather be than tucked in the woods alongside a frozen lake in Aroostook county, Maine. #fulltanglifestyle

When it gets warm we don’t travel, we make things. Dragan and Blake made mokatagens. Low-tech knife making in the field. Getting cold tonight.#fulltanglifestyle

Cooking supper on the Boreal Snowshoe Expedition. Having a great time so far. #fulltanglifestyle

View at the road: toboggans, sleds, snowshoes, snowmobile. Winter. #fulltanglifestyle

Guide Shack breakfast on the woodstove. Simple off-grid lifestyle on the Winter Woodsman course. #fulltanglifestyle

Back to the Guide Shack after a day tracking in the woods. The woods life in winter means living on snowshoes. Love this shot of the field school.

Snowshoes are lashed to the toboggans and we’re having a leisurely stroll down the lake. Enjoy days like these because they don’t happen often.

Snowshoeing across the crown of Maine on a cloudless morning. Not all expedition mornings are perfect. This one was.

18 years old and still getting the job done. Our 2 Egyptian cotton Ungava tents made by our friends at Tentsmiths. They have introduced many people to the sublime beauty of the winter trail.

Cold here this week, but not snowshoe expedition cold where you hug the cook fire.

From a past Boreal Snowshoe Expedition, the morning sun shining through the Balsam Fir trees. The warming effect of the sun is dramatic in the morning.

A well-used tent stove can keep you cozy and warm, a little home in the frozen forest.

Traffic jam on the Aroostook river.

First spring trip with newly carved paddles. Making the gear you use results in a whole different level of connection.

Spinning bowdrills during a firemaking exercise on the Boreal Snowshoe Expedition. Context is everything. This exercise is significantly more challenging in the field than in a warm, dry, indoor location. Add the snow and cold and it becomes even more so. But that’s when it’s real.

Membership has its priviledges.

Morning coffee on the beach. Cool and cold mornings are the norm during the end of the fall Wilderness Bushcraft Semester. The cooler temperatures make the hot coffee taste that much better.

Drying snowshoe bindings while cooking dinner on the Boreal Snowshoe Expedition.

Two JMBS instructors by the river at the field school. It’s a long road getting your skills to the level where you’re ready to teach with us.

Our semester isn’t all misty morning canoeing; there’s a lot of academic work as well. Studying plants in the field here.

One of a long line of amazing campsites in northern Maine. If this looks like heaven you should think about paddling with us.

Feet up while people cook their dinner over the group fire. Not in a rush. The foreground is in focus, while the background is not – exactly how I feel after a long day teaching and guiding.

Misty morning on a remote lake. The canoe was small black spot that appeared to be floating in the mist.

Next up, a private axemanship course for a group of engineers and tool designers, teaching how to wield this simple tool safely and powerfully. From the left: Snow & Neally, John King, Spiller. Maybe an awesome new American axe in a year. #fulltanglifestyle 

Wood canvas canoe on a recent river trip. This boat has run a lot of whitewater. #fulltanglifestyle 

Leftover ends from paddle blanks, 1 new board and some screws: new shave horse. Boxed ends makes it rugged. #fulltanglifestyle 

Fleshing moose hides, braintanning step 1. Wilderness Bushcraft Semester week 7. #fulltanglifestyle 

Starting WBS week 6 carving netting needles. Will be making nets/hammocks on the river. 

A little knowledge and the right tools equals great eating with minimal inputs.

Surging toward the finish line with the canoe paddle project. Remote paddling trip next week.

Cold cracking. Epoxied three of our royalex boats over the weekend that cracked last winter. Fleet back at 100%. #fulltanglifestyle 

Oiling a canvas pack, DIY waxed canvas. Equal parts boiled linseed oil and wax, heat until the wax melts, brush it on. Dry it for a few weeks. #fulltanglifestyle 

A brisk 42 degrees at the field school this morning. Wearing my orange tuque for the first time this season. #fulltanglifestyle 

Morning meeting during week 1 of the fall 2017 Wilderness Bushcraft Semester, our 41st long-term immersion program.

The ocean was like glass as we paddled toward Rum Key on the Maine coast.

Great trip paddling near Acadia National Park. Love spending time on the ocean, and the weather was perfect.

Living on the trail for 4 weeks out of a canoe teaches you a lot about gear: what you need, what you don’t, and how to pack efficiently.

Paddling across Grand Lake Mattagammon during the Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester. Four weeks of professional training and experience for wilderness guides and expedition leaders. College accredited, GI Bill approved. Next WCES begins in July, 2018.

No Filter. Drinking it raw and untreated.

Seasoning new carbon steel skillets by rendering pork fat in them. They’re light, inexpensive and perfect for a traveling cook kit. Treat them like cast iron (no soap, keep them oiled) and they’ll last forever. From Agri-Supply.

Loading canoes in the morning on the St. Croix river.

Being able to stop and hold your position in a rapid is a critical skill for a river guide. A pole gives you this ability.

One of my favorite spots in Maine; a remote lake with no road access. During the log driving days, they used dynamite to create a sluiceway, redirecting and enlarging the natural outlet for floating logs downriver to a sawmill. It’s just wide enough to float a canoe these days.

Professor Paul Sveum carrying his boat up for another run through the rips.

The fire is the central point of a remote campsite, such as this one on the Maine/New Brunswick border on the St. Croix river. We’re in Maine, but the far side of the river, visible in the background, is Canada.

Afternoon spent practicing heel hook self-rescue in the kayak. Will be testing for a sea kayak guide license this fall. 

Pails hung over the fire on a spring trip. During the Wilderness Bushcraft Semester everyone learns to manage the fire and cook for themselves.

We are a species of countless wants, but very few needs. In this photo is my kit for canoeing remote rivers; when I have it my needs are met. An old canvas pack, an axe and my big hat. Seen here at Kicking Horse Pass on the Bonaventure river, Gaspe Peninsula, Quebec, in the morning [...]

Professor Paul Sveum with is wood canvas canoe at the field school. The area behind him is now part of Grand Lac Samsquanch. Found this one when going through some old photos.

Field school riverside teaching area, where the blue and white trails meet. We’ve got over 3 miles of trails at the field school.

20′ wood canvas canoe under a maple on the Maine and New Brunswick border.

The Bonaventure River has long stretches of whitewater and quickwater. You start in the mountains and end at the ocean. In between is a long, sometimes steep, downhill run.

Canoeing in the mist on the Bonaventure river in Quebec. One of the most stunningly beautiful places I’ve ever been. Clear fast water, Acadian forest and mountains.

Map of our local canoe routes in northern Maine. Not many blank spots on the map left to explore after 19 years.

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

Misty morning on the pond.  

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 [...]

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 [...]

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.