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 [...]

I spent a lot of time in the canoe this past spring, and watched as a variety of people had dry bags that failed. This happens every year. People put their faith in a dry bag to keep their stuff dry, but their stuff still gets wet. Don’t believe the dry bag hype, and don’t [...]

A few clips from our recent trip on the Bonaventure River in Quebec.

Our next series of programs is our summer term, beginning July 8th and consisting of the Summer Woodsman course and the Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester (both are full and we’re not accepting more applications). The Summer Woodsman is a weeklong introduction to all that we do here at the field school. But more than an [...]

We just returned from an epic canoe trip on Quebec’s Bonaventure River. For episode 42 of the podcast, Colin Clifford, Christopher Russell and I discussed the trip over coffee in the Guide Shack. We talked about what they got out of the trip, the impact of the hit song Party In The USA on the [...]

We’re back from a fantastic trip on the Bonaventure River on Quebec’s Gaspe Peninsula. It was a lot of work due to low water levels, but we had an amazing group of guys that were ready for any challenge the river threw at us. It was my second trip on the Bonaventure, but the first [...]

Episode 41 was recorded in the Guide Shack on June 14th, the final night of our spring, 2018 Wilderness Bushcraft Semester course, our 43rd long-term program. I was joined by Christopher Russell, as well as Tom and James who were both students on the course. We talk about our final trip, their experiences on the [...]

The gear is packed up, the shuttle is on it’s way, and we’re ready to go. We leave this morning on our final trip for the spring, 2018 Wilderness Bushcraft Semester. We’re headed to the headwaters of the Aroostook and will float back to the field school, 50+ miles, over the next week. We’ll also [...]

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

I received a piece of sad news and wanted to share it with our alumni. We were over at Scopan lake the other day working on paddling strokes and canoe rescue when two guys from the Maine Department of Conservation motored up to the launch. We talked for a few minutes about the lake and [...]

Acknowledgement of achievement by your peers and people who understand what you do feels more impactful than acknowledgement from strangers. We’ve been placed on numerous lists over the years regarding the best survival schools in America, etc., and it always feels good to be included with the industry leaders. Recently we were awarded the Wilderness [...]