Process Not Product is a familiar phrase at our school. We want to give people the tools to replicate what they do at the field school after they leave. If it were just about ending with a finished product, we might do things differently. But for us it’s about giving people the tools to create [...]

I know What It Takes To Get A Lot Of Views. I’m Just Not Interested In Doing It I’ve been blogging, shooting videos, podcasting, etc., for more than 15 years. In that time, I’ve learned about what makes a popular post. I think I know what it takes to go viral and get a bunch [...]

The vast majority of people who come across our blog will never attend our immersion programs. Regardless, we still want to help them achieve their goals. So here’s some curriculum from our programs that you can use at home. We have seven elements to our programs, one of which is the Self element. It isn’t [...]

Our long-term programs are mentally and emotionally challenging. We want people who attend to be aware of this, and to have the mental and emotional fortitude and maturity needed to be successful here. But this sounds like a platitude you’ve heard before, so let me explain a bit further. People attending our programs want and [...]

After a whole winter of tinkering with the design, we’re excited to announce our updated Yearlong Immersion Program. The old yearlong immersion program is now our Seasonal Immersion Program, consisting of a combination of our Wilderness Bushcraft Semester, Boreal Snowshoe Expedition and Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester. This remains the foundation of the new yearlong immersion [...]

Raymond Reitze is a Registered Master Maine Guide and a mentor of mine. This recent video from Seedlight Pictures captures his philosophy of living as part of the natural world. It’s 18:36 long. Here is a link to the video on Vimeo.

There is nothing like the Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester available elsewhere. If you want to become proficient at living and traveling by canoe in the wilderness, the best path is to undergo a month on the river working as part of a team under the tutelage of experienced guides. There is simply no other way [...]

In episode 33 of the podcast we discuss a common myth of barehand navigation, the effect of changing air pressure on fish, and gear addiction, evolution and minimum viable kit (MVK). For this episode I was joined by Ed Butler (aka Working Class Woodsman), and for those with sensitive ears we did swear a few [...]

Cree snowshoes in Ouje-Bougoumou on our 2017 trip.

Following the trend of recent years, spots in our programs are filling earlier than ever. Here’s an update on what’s still available, in chronological order. Wilderness Bushcraft Semester, spring 2018 (April-June). 3 spots open. Bonaventure Canoe Expedition, Quebec (June). Full Summer Woodsman (July). 1 spot open. Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester (July-August). 2 spots open. Wilderness [...]

There’s an article featuring Jack Mountain in the Bangor Daily News spring 2018 spring/summer special section outdoors magazine. The article, titled “The Survivor: Deep in the Maine woods, Tim Smith teaches others to survive in the wild”, gives a brief overview of what we do and has enough philosophical nuggets to make it interesting. The [...]

There’s always downtime on residential courses. Students and instructors need time to relax, work on academic homework, and process the experiences they’ve had so far. For some students, downtime is frustrating. They learn by doing and don’t want to stop. So along with improving our food systems on campus, we’ll be putting in two additions [...]

The dates are set for our March, 2019 trip with Cree hunters in northern Quebec; March 1-9. In past years we’ve gone in late January, but next year we’ve got a busy winter semester planned so we’re moving the trip to early March. Taking advantage of the longer days will be an added bonus. Those [...]

New Role: Authentic Marketing Instructor I did a phone interview a while back that the person said they were turning into an article. Then I forgot about it until yesterday, when I saw the article. I like how it turned out. The article is about authentic marketing for schools by an outfit that offers services [...]

Next weekend, March 9-11 (2018), the 26th annual Wilderness Paddlers Gathering will take place at the Hulbert Outdoor Center in Fairlee, Vermont. It is put on by Northern Wilderness Travelers Conferences, the same group that runs the Snow Walkers Rendezvous in the fall. I’ll be attending and putting on a workshop titled “The Moveable Feast [...]