Bushwhack Jack's Tracts

Anyone who knows me well knows I’m competitive. Board games, cards, checkers, it doesn’t matter. I believe if you don’t play to win, then why play at all. It’s something in my genes. How competitive am I? It depends, but there was the time my best friend from college, Scott Smith and I went out into his yard to play catch with a frisbee. We took turns. One of us stood between two trees as goalie while the other tried to throw the frisbee past him. We were outside for nea

About a decade ago I received a package from a student who I hadn’t heard from in over thirty years. Our paths first crossed early in 1981 when Terry, as a Saranac Lake High School senior, reached out to me about attending our field-based Summer Practicum. (Terry’s not his real name. When I contacted him about writing this story, he was amenable to the idea but asked that I not use his name. He’s not the type to draw attention to himself.) The course was demanding both p

I feel sorry for those that don’t enjoy reading for they’re missing out on humanity's greatest invention…the book. The joy of reading is something my mother instilled in me at an early age. I remember going to the Locust Valley Public Library before I could read. My mother would pick out books for me, and we’d bring them home, where she’d read them to me and I would study the pictures. Dr. Suess was a favorite. When I was twelve my family moved to the Finger Lakes and I

I was a decent high school athlete. But that was all…decent. I never attempted to play an organized sport until eighth grade, when I went out for junior high basketball. I didn’t make the team. Instead, I became a wrestler, and along with football had, you guessed it, a decent high school career. My Dad during his hockey years My dad, on the other hand, was an outstanding hockey player. Ice skating was a big part of his family's life. His sister was a national calib

As ice starts to form on the lake, the days get shorter, and the ski season is upon us, I’m reminded of the winter of 1978-79. Lake Placid was abuzz with preparations for the 1980 Winter Olympics and I was still working on establishing a career in the outdoors. I‘d spent two seasons leading adjudicated youth on wilderness adventures, a couple of winters on the ski patrol at the Lake Placid Club’s Mount Whitney, a winter working at Joe Pete Wilson’s ski shop, and started

If you’ve read this column frequently enough you know that my parents raised Newfoundland dogs. My mother got her first Newfoundland when she was 12, and a Newfie survived the car accident that took her life sixty years later. Many dog stories were generated during that time period, but one stands out. Drury family Christmas card 1960 In the summer of 1965, two months after I had gotten my driver’s license, I was working for my parents’ diecasting business thirty-five mi

I got a relatively late start to big game hunting. In 1972 I graduated from college, moved to Saranac Lake, and Tom Cantwell, family patriarch, suggested (no, more like demanded) I get my hunting license. Dutifully, I went to the Fish & Game Club, got my hunter safety certificate, sighted in my dad’s ancient Winchester Model 1894, and before I knew it, I was hunting. I knew nothing about hunting and probably spent more time wondering where I was than knowing where I was.

Everyone plays a leadership role at one time or another. Don’t think you don’t. We do it in numerous ways. If you’re a parent, a boss, a teacher, a coach, or do anything to help a group get something accomplished, you are a leader. However, you have a better chance of being a successful leader if you realize it and try to be the best leader you can. But you can only learn so much about leadership in the classroom. You need to get out and work with a team of people to really l

I had three wonderful uncles. There was my Uncle Rad who was a de facto father when I visited my cousins, which I did nearly every summer...

About a year and a half ago I got a text along with a photo from former student and friend Mark Simon. I didn’t recognize the person in...

There’s plenty to be worried about with modern technology. Social media harassment, deep fakes, and artificial intelligence robots who...

Have you ever pondered how you ended up on the path that you took? Robert Frost in his classic poem, The Road Not Taken highlights the...

My good friends and colleagues Joe Dadey and Tim Keyes recently spent a weekend hiking in the High Peaks Wilderness Complex and couldn’t...

In the early part of the 20th century every red-blooded American knew who Pancho Villa was. Many thought of him as a brutal villain, yet...

Be prepared. It’s the Boy Scout motto and the first principle of Leave No Trace, and when ignored, is the most frequent cause of...

In December 1960, at the age of eleven, I moved from Long Island to Phelps, in the northern Finger Lakes. There were a number of things...

I came to Saranac Lake in the summer of 1966 to visit my great aunt and enjoy the Adirondacks.  I dreamt it was going to be a great...

Last week I received a text with a photo from an unknown number. At first, I had no idea who it was from, but after seeing the photo...

When it comes to paddling long distances, one person stands out above all others – the short, barrel chested, full white bearded Verlen...

Anyone who knows me or regularly reads this column knows I have special reverence for Wilderness. Wilderness with a capital W is...