I’m drawn inexorably to the woods and wild places. I always have been. Since I’m retired now I have plenty of time to get out and explore more often than I used to. So what does an old fart like me do with all this time ? I roam around the woods. The night before I head out, I look at my old USGS topographical maps and see if I can spot anomalies. Mostly old overgrown logging roads or seemingly dead trails seldom used. Today was such a day. I loaded up my Russian URAL motorc

It’s no secret that I spend more time in the woods lately than I used to. Why not ? I’m retired now, so why not make the best of it instead of sitting around the house and staring at the walls ? I’m into eating better food these days and I can’t afford restaurant prices — so I cook my own. Today’s recipe is an experiment. I don’t have an actual recipe for this, so I decided to just “wing it.” The prep time for this dish is about 30 minutes, and about 20 minutes on the grill.

Me and my service dog went for a long ride yesterday. Today was a serious picnic ride to a local park a few towns over. I’m no chef, but I can cook decent food. Today’s menu was Pad Thai — or at least my version of it. I did all the prep work at home before we packed up for the trip. I pre sliced the bell peppers…red, yellow, and green. I used shredded carrots and long slices of vidalia onions too. I added minced garlic — about a full tablespoon. I don’t care much for kale an

I got up early this morning and packed up my springer Harley. I put the dog in her new box, then made a stop to gas up the Harley. Today we’re doing a “Mountains to the Sea” ride in Maine. We rolled from Sabattus to Rangley, to just north of Camden, then back to Sabattus. According to Map Quest this is a brief description…. “This 260-mile loop across central and western Maine takes you from the rolling lakes region to the western mountains and out to the midcoast. The entire

Here’s a little something that I had to learn about being in Maine these last 20+ years. Rugosa Roses. These plants are generally not found in North Carolina where I grew up, but they sure are all over coastal Maine. Believe it or not, these roses are considered an invasive species. They came to North America from Japan about 1845 or so. The Rugosa rose grows in dense bushes about 4 - 6 feet tall and are very dense. They were first used to control soil erosion along the sandy

A strange natural phenomenon occurs in summer when it’s hot out in the backwoods. Trees like oak and popular trees release a gas naturally called isoprene. This gas combines with humidity in the air and oxidizes. This forms a natural barrier to heat and sunlight to produce a type of ozone at the ground level to protect the plants from excessive sunlight that might interfere with photosynthesis. Maine is mostly comprised of coniferous trees and is generally cooler, so we don’t

Summer is here, along with warmer nights. One of the things to learn about woods lore is that you can actually tell the temperature in the backwoods by paying attention to the insects and a couple of amphibians that live out there. The first to pay attention to is the cicada. These insects live underground as a lymph, but emerge to become adults about every 13 to 17 years. These insects “sing” at daytime temperatures starting at 72 - 75*F. They drop off at 95*F and above.

Every since I retired earlier this year from the gun shop, I have been really getting into making my own bushcrafting and outdoors gear. Late last Fall I attended my first basket weaving class. I wanted to learn how to make a pack basket to use with my pack frame I made from red oak. I was pretty happy to find that Miss Jessica Steele (of Wood Thrush Wilderness LLC) was offering yet another class that I could attend. This one would be harvesting an ash tree and peeling the ba

It’s been a pretty long winter here in Maine so far. It’s late February and the weather guesser is saying that we’re in for another snowstorm by this weekend. Now the big deal here in Maine are “Bean Boots” made and sold by LL Bean. They’re nice… with leather uppers and rubberized lower parts of the boot. They’re great for the cold slushy muck of northern winter. But they are kind of pricey. And part of the problem with rubberized boots is that they trap moisture against your

Sometimes an adventure in the backwoods doesn’t always go as planned.

Perhaps one of the best new innovations in outdoors gear in a while. The Valtcan 1.8 liter pressure cooker.

The Bemco oven is IT ! A must have for motorcycle adventures.

Weaving an Algonquin style back pack to carry my gear in the backwoods.

How to process a large animal into meat for the table.

Make a pair of tongs in the backwoods to help you with camping chores around the fire pit.

There’s nothing quite like baking a pizza in the middle of nowhere.

With deer season coming up soon, take a look my load out for a week spent in the hunting woods.

Part 1 of the gear that you would see in the Possibles Bag of a mountain man or eastern long hunter to keep his flintlock rifle running in the field.

What goes in a haversack for the 21st century mountain man ? the possibilites are endless.

The Kephart style knife is a simple must have item for bushcrafting in the backwoods.