There are times when macho doesn’t cut it. When you have to step back and acknowledge that things have taken a turn and the game has changed. That what got you here won’t get you there. That another year has gone by, and maybe you’re not up for the challenge anymore. That some hills are [...]

Following up on yesterday’s post, I’m currently reading a book called Discussion Based Online Teaching To Enhance Student Learning by Tisha Bender.  This year we’re adding a distance learning component to our immersion programs, and I’m educating myself as to how to do it effectively.  More on this later.  Bender relays a story on page 38 [...]

I first met Mors Kochanski in 1995 at his place in Alberta. Over the years we’ve stayed in touch and I’ve learned much from his sage advice. Recently at Woodsmoke we were chatting when someone complained about being kept up late the night before. Mors responded with several great lines I’ll never forget. I’m paraphrasing, [...]

Today is my final travel day in returning from Idaho.  I had to wait an extra day in New Hampshire for the new transmission for the truck; the old one suffered a mortal wound on the drive south.  It was a great trip, but I’ve had enough of cities, airports, and crowds for a while.  [...]

Recorded while we were driving south from Fort Kent in northern Maine, Tim, Whiskey Jack and Nick reflect on the first of two wilderness canoe trips that made up the spring bushcraft canoe expedition semester.   iTunes Link | Play, Download Or Subscribe In iTunes

After a discussion about books at Woodsmoke, several people asked me about my bibliography. While it has been available as part of our student handbook, this morning I extracted it into a standalone document as I said I would do. You can download a pdf at: jackmtn.co/PDF/JMBS_Bibliography.pdf

One of the morning sessions at Woodsmoke was focused on defining bushcraft.  There was a lively discussion as to whether it should be done at all, and if so, how to do it in a manner that would not exclusionary.  After about an hour of discussion, we shot this video to explain the ideas to [...]

I had a fantastic week at the Woodsmoke Bushcraft Symposium. It was great to be joined by a number of Jack Mountain alumni, as well as to meet several old friends and make a bunch of new ones. The location was in the shadow of the Grand Tetons and had a cold freestone stream running [...]

This week only, I’m offering a 100% discount on the downloadable versions of our books (not paper, sorry).  You can get them from our Lulu store.  The titles include: Jack Mountain Bushcraft Student Handbook First Person Ecology Bushcraft Education; Riffs And Reflections On Teaching And Learning Outdoors Simple Little Sourdough And Outdoor Baking Book On [...]

This year was something new for the Riverman course. We started the week with a morning poling and paddling on Squapan lake, then spent an hour poling at the confluence of St. Croix stream and the Aroostook river before floating back to the field school and spending two hours working on technical poling skills at [...]

The sunsets are late this time of year, and the sunrises are early. I love the colors on this picture as the sun sets in the northwest sky. The clover is thick in the field and the bees are loving it.  Nature is buzzing at the field school. We just passed the registration deadline for [...]

Over the past month of weeklong courses we got into many discussions about gear.  Longtime readers know that I have mixed feelings about it.  I like gear.  I especially like simple, traditional gear.  But I never want it to be about the gear.  I never want to see gear, or lack of a specific piece [...]

Ten days ago we got hit by lightning. It zapped the inverter to our off-grid solar power system. It’s only today that I’ve got a new inverter installed and have some stored sunlight to post with. It was near the end of the Bushman course and there were strong afternoon thunderstorms. We had retreated to [...]