Bushwhack Jack's Tracts

On these subzero winter days reading is sometimes wiser than going outdoors. A reflection of my age, no doubt. To ward off cabin...

The compass has been around for over 2,000 years and is a simple device. If you put a sliver of magnetized metal on a small piece of wood...

Every year, ten or so NCCC veterans of the college’s 33-day fall expedition would plan and then go on a two-week winter expedition. It...

Recently, I heard from my college friend Jim Glover, a regular reader of my column and who drops me an email every once in a while. Jim...

When I woke up Sunday morning hoarse, and with a sore throat, I knew why: on Saturday Phyliss and I had gone to the Syracuse University...

I spent my early years in rural Locust Valley, Nassau County, which though only thirty miles from Manhattan, seemed like a hundred. Our...

As I cruised Facebook the other day I saw a post about Lower Saranac Lake and the efforts by environmental groups to have the lake’s...

If you were a boy growing up in the 1950s you loved at least three things: rock and roll, cars, and rock and roll songs about cars. If...

There’s a great deal of head-scratching going on regarding solitude and its role in Wilderness. It appears that if some people have their...

While the original Woodstock Music and Art Festival was revered for its aura of Peace, Love, and Music, Woodstock 99 was characterized by...

Fifty-five years ago, the greatest musical event of the Boomer generation – perhaps of all time – occurred: The Woodstock Music and Art...

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom During the downpours of the last week I thought I’d use the time to scan my Great Aunt’s...

The sixties Journalist Tom Brokaw defined the sixties as the years between 1963 to 1974. This is appropriate, as the years are...

I had a rude awakening last week: I realized I’m not as young as I used to be. It started last Thursday when I was invited by Adirondack...

Mark Twain said “An expert is an ordinary fellow from another town.” In which case my trip to Japan certainly qualifies. I’ve worked in a...

I just returned from a marathon trip to Japan where I was invited to be the keynote speaker and present a workshop at the 12th annual...

I love Alaska. I’ve been there three times, and each trip has been special. In 2005 I got to spend a week in Haines with Phyliss while...

Do you hike up Baker Mtn? Do you bike the Rail Trail? Do you aspire to be a 46er? How about climbing Denali? Do you fish, hunt or travel...

The Northville-Lake Placid Trail is an Adirondack treasure. Initiated in 1922 and completed in 1924, it starts in Northville and finishes...

My wife, without exception, is the most caring person I know. You want someone with sympathy, empathy, and charity, Phyliss is your gal....