I love to see sign of the animals on the land, like this beaver-chewed ash tree along the river. Such signs tell me the ecosystem is healthy. But is health an objective thing, or culturally defined? In our modern, western world, health is often associated with the body. It is the worship of the appearance [...]

Out for a walk on the land today, enjoying some solo time and the luxury of wandering with a camera. We’re supposed to get a storm over the next few days, and something tells me the snow will stick until April or May, so this was my last fall day to enjoy the weather and [...]

I originally posted this in 2016. A lot of people have lost loved ones recently. I don’t have any sage words to say about how to deal with the loss. Do the best you can, and if it isn’t enough talk to someone. ————————————– During our courses I talk a lot about the time I [...]

“No matter what anyone says, men in the cities spend their lives and win their bread fighting other men. In primitive places they fight nature and are drawn to other men by the common battle. The difference in character and viewpoints between a hunter and a salesman is as fundamental and irreconcilable as though they [...]

If you eat a great meal at a restaurant, is the type of spatula the cook used responsible for the taste of the food? If you see a beautiful house, how important is the type of hammer the builder used to the final structure? If someone has a beautiful website, do you ask them what [...]

One of the more philosophical individuals who’s taken our semester program over the years posed a very good question to me a few years ago, and since then I tend to pose it to others who engage in long-term bushcraft and survival practice. It was a year after he had taken the course, during which [...]

I was recently a guest on the Nature Reliance Media Podcast with Craig Caudill. We had a great conversation about a wide variety of outdoor-related topics including my time in Alaska, the North Maine Woods, how expeditions are where stupid ideas go to die, and more. Here’s the link to the podcast: Nature Reliance Media [...]

Coaching from shore while students navigate the rips.

After having to cancel our trip last year, We’re heading back to Oujé-Bougoumou in northern Quebec in March 2022, where we’ll spend a week in the bush experiencing Cree culture with our guides David and Anna Bosum in their ancestral homeland, Eeyou Istchee. This will be our 9th trip north, and as always we’re looking [...]