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.

A small light weight handmade aluminum cook stove.

I hammered out a tiny wok for making stir fry out in the backwoods while camping.

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

I decided to experiment some more with my long term storage foods that I keep on hand for camping and for emergencies. I live in a fairly remote part of Maine, (by choice) and sometimes in winter the power gets knocked out when snow tips the trees over onto power lines. Not to mention that I often haul my camping gear out into the backwoods for up to a week or more at a time during warmer months. So today I broke out some of my baggies of freeze dried stuff. Freeze dried bee

I’m pretty much an experimenter as far as food can go. Hey — I have a dog, so if it doesn’t turn out OK, I got an automatic “garbage disposal” of sorts. All except for ingredients that dogs can’t eat without getting sick. Today’s kitchen experiment was using just a few ingredients to make this dish. I have a box of ditalini pasta, and some freeze dried components, so let’s experiment ! I started off with about 2/3 cup of freeze dried beef crumbles. I add a cup of ditalin

Long term storage bread solutions.

This is a tasty lasagna made with a pasta substitute. It’s especially good for those of us who are raging diabetics, and need to find a way of keeping our blood sugar levels lower.

A lightweight easy to pack stew that adds good calories to your meals out in the backwoods.

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

Tonight was the first significant snowfall of the season. I was going to test out my new Bushcrafting tarp by pitching it tent style. Unfortunately we had about 2 inches of snow and it immediately turned to rain. Cold driving rain that just soaked everything, including me, to chill to the bone. My gear is drenched and frozen. Once the ice started falling out of the clouds I decided I’d had enough. Common sense being the better part of valor — I decided that I’m going to wait

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

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

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.

A way to bake a quick bread in field conditions.

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

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