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.

Human physiology doesn’t change in order to make a story better. But sensationalized stories of survival will always draw eyeballs, with the result being foolish and untrue beliefs being formed. I’m not a fan of how the media portrays survival episodes. They are looking for sensational stories, not to tell the truth. The result is [...]

Members of the fall Wilderness Bushcraft Semester cooling off in the lake on a recent trip. Underwater basket weaving is something that people who know nothing about basketry or working with your hands often joke about, mistakenly thinking they’re being clever. The reality is that basket making is hard work, and a worthwhile craft to [...]

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

Check out our new 18-foot yurt-dome; the Jack Vegas Casino & Ballroom located at fabulous Moose Vegas. We’ll be outfitting it with a woodstove and lots of casino-style games in the near future.

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.

In episode 50 of the Jack Mountain Bushcraft Podcast we discuss listener comments, the role of alcohol on the trail, and how important food and eating well is on expeditions. PHOTO: Newly-carved paddles being used for the first time. Links: The Woods Cook: Outdoor Cooking With A Professional Guide by Tim Smith iTunes Link | [...]

We had an amazing week on the water last week, as the Wilderness Bushcraft Semester students used the paddles they recently carved to cross a remote lake and camp for the week. They learned a bunch of named paddle strokes, where hand and body position at the beginning and end of the stroke, as well [...]

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.

After a long, hot summer (the warmest on record in the Caribou, Maine area), we’ve now had two mornings in a row with temperatures in the high 20’s. It will warm up again and we’ll be swimming comfortably for a few more weeks, but the colder weather is coming. A few years ago in the [...]

Episode 49 of the Jack Mountain Bushcraft Podcast is all about expedition behavior and leadership. Expedition behavior is outdoor education-speak for working as a team. On a chilly Saturday morning in the Guide Shack Tim, Christopher and Colin were joined by Blake Towsley for a discussion on good and bad leadership and how leadership skills [...]

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

David Callison hiked the Appalachian Trail from north to south , finishing in March of 2018. He’s also a participant on our fall, 2018 Wilderness Bushcraft Semester. We discuss hiking the trail, why you should plant to hike from north to south to have a better experience, and learn about his most and least favorite [...]

An old video of our received a comment that stated there was no such thing as bushcraft in North America because we didn’t have any bush, only woods, and as such it had to be woodcraft. Let me take this moment to say I don’t care what anyone thinks about the appropriate name for bushcraft, [...]

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.

There are two components of incorporating wild plants into your life. First is making a positive identification in the field. Second is harvesting and processing the plant and knowing what to use it for. There are a lot of great books on using wild plants for food and medicine once you make that positive field [...]

Episode 47 is about women and gender in bushcraft. Christopher and I were joined by Allison Figueroa and Regina Beach, both of whom are participants on the fall semester. They share their insight into the role that gender plays on women getting into the outdoor industry, gear, and the “pink tax” women often pay for [...]