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L.O.S.T. Tracks Blog
Here are articles and videos on wilderness survival training, bush craft, useful plants, animal tracking, and nature awareness. Also writings on the joys and challenges of living life to the fullest within the embrace of nature. If you feel the wildness within and want to discover more. I hope you will read on as we explore life in the wonder and magic that is nature.
~Mark Wienert - Lifesong Wilderness Adventures
Wilderness Survival Training
I Slid Off The Road
I've slid off the road. Now what? If you’ve never driven a car in treacherous winter weather, this post is for you! Expect to encounter ice, black ice, frigid air, fierce winds, snow bombs, artic blasts, whiteouts, and windchill. In these types of extreme conditions, the best advice I can share with you is don’t... Continue reading→
How to Collect Stinging Nettle Stalks
Let's learn how to collect stinging nettle stalks for string making and cordage. The best time of year when the days get shorter, and the leaves begin to turn autumns colors. Is when the Nettle plants are no longer in flower and the plants energy retreats back to its roots for a winters sleep. This... Continue reading→
The Amazing Blue Elderberry
I am a pushover for the edible blue elderberry. Sambucus cerulea and S. racemosa, an amazing shrub that offers the knowledgeable forager a tremendous bounty of uses. Parts of the blue elderberry are used for making friction fire, musical instruments, hunting weapons, and traps. late summer and early fall are the best time to harvest... Continue reading→
Rite of Passage for Teens
A teens rite of passage. A wilderness journey to adulthood. Last year I ran across some research that discussed the history of rite of passage into manhood for boys. Recalling my experience of growing up in the 70's and 80's, I felt an "aha" while reading about the history of male maturing. -by Henry Poole... Continue reading→
Harvesting Ripe Elderberries
In this How to article. You will learn how to harvest ripe elderberries with tips and tricks to make your harvesting elderberry simpler. Continue reading→
The Best Bow Drill Woods
Using the best woods for the bow drill fire starter will create a hot coal faster. Imagine you’re shipwrecked like Tom Hanks in Castaway. Lost in central Texas or stranded on a Pacific island with no matches or lighter. You can't boil your drinking water or cook the mouse you trapped for your survival stew... Continue reading→
Cold Water Immersion Therapy
Dang! That water is cold! As a sometime cold-water immersion therapy enthusiast. I enjoy water immersion to temporarily reduce muscle soreness and joint pain after a long hike or workout. According to studies on the effects of cold-water therapy on humans. Submerging one’s body at temperatures of 59F or colder offer the best results for... Continue reading→
Extreme Survival Camp Reviews
Survival adventure reviews from our EDGE students. I have been running this adventure survival course since 2006. And true to its nature it has been a great program. The term extreme adventure camp refers to what the training prepares you for. It's not about risking your life in fact the camp prepares you for survival... Continue reading→
Accidental Sourdough Starter
I looked skeptically into the jar I was holding. A whiff of fermentation greeted me. Small bubbles gave the surface of the sourdough starter a foamy look. I gave the soured batter another whiff. Yes, without a doubt. I had created an Accidental Sourdough Starter. This accident of good fortune would be my main food... Continue reading→
Visual Man Tracking
Visual Man Tracking in action. Applying the skills of a Visual Man Tracker. A Search and Rescue Tracker scans the area for clues that show spoor of a lost person's trail. What is Visual Man Tracking? Visual man tracking is an ancient hunting technique still in use today for locating and trailing wildlife. But in... Continue reading→
Lemon Balm: herbal tea for stress
Melissa officinalis or Lemon Balm in common speak. Is a member of the mint family (Lamiaceae). A medicinal, square stemmed herb originating from southern Europe. Lemon Balm is now a naturalized medicinal plant in the US and Canada. Sometimes called Bee Balm as honeybees favor this herbaceous plant. Mildly antiviral, the hairy leaves made into... Continue reading→
We Train Here
We train here. A metaphor. learning to survive in the shadow of a mountain. Where the sky is great and open. Like our mind curious and open. We train here in forest and meadow where the deer feed and rest. Under a star canopy so clear and bright it takes your breath away. We train... Continue reading→
Staying Alive in the Wild
Staying alive in the wild you must learn emergency shelter building. The Debris Hut is an example of a survival shelter that can be built without saw or ax. All that is needed is an abundance of debris at your shelter location. Make sure the spot you choose for your debris hut is plentiful in... Continue reading→
Mountain Lion Facts for Search and Rescue
The mountain lion, Felis concolor, or cat of one color, is also known as cougar, panther, ghost cat, catamount, and puma. The mountain lion is the largest feline carnivore of North America. Adults are tawny to chocolate-brown with black tips on their ears and their long tails. Mountain Lion Facts On average, females measure 7 feet from nose to... Continue reading→
Wilderness Teen Camp: a Wonderful Eye Opening Experience
Wilderness Teen Camp A Testimonial. Last summer I had the good fortune to be a guest at Mark Wienert's, Lifesong Wilderness Adventures Teen Camp during the month of July. What a great adventure for all involved! The students were a diverse group. One from Holland, another from Chicago and several from the San Francisco Bay... Continue reading→
Chickweed Power
Chickweed is a common wild edible plant that is packed with vitamins and minerals. It grows in shady, damp, habitats. What does a hardcore macho, worm eating, outdoor, fungi, survival teaching professional eat for breakfast? Chickweed of course. Stellaria media, with its juicy, tender, slightly sweet leaves, and stalks. For a quick go to food... Continue reading→
Make Drinking Water Safe
Learn how to make water safe to drink during an emergency. Water must be potable, drinkable, filtered, or boiled, to be safe to drink. Otherwise, you could become debilitated with Giardia or other waterborne disease. Water, you need it to survive. If you are in an emergency right now. You will need safe drinking water... Continue reading→
What should I take for a Wilderness Survival Weekend
This is the recommended gear list for our overnight Survival Skills Weekend and First Circle Survival Camp. All items on the checklist below are important for an enjoyable and comfortable wilderness survival weekend experience. Gear List Tent, ground tarp, and sleeping pad. Rent a tent/pad, and a carving knife for camp Sleeping bag, pillow Cook... Continue reading→
Sign language – reading natures clues with Mark Wienert
Sign language - reading natures clues with expert tracker Mark Wienert BY GARRET JAROS For The Register-Guard Appeared in print: Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011, page D2 Tracking as a doorway to nature “Tracking is a doorway to nature,” he says, studying an array of tracks that merge and overlap with the bear tracks. “It’s a... Continue reading→
Cobra Lily
One fascinating plant species, Darlingtonia californica, or Cobra Lily. Grows in boggy habitats in the western US. This includes southern Oregon and northern California. The Cobra Lily is carnivorous. It lures its prey with a foul-smelling stench, traps it. Then digests insect prey for food. Cobra Lily Although the distribution of the Cobra Lily aka Darlingtonia, is... Continue reading→
Wing of bat, eye of newt….
Wing of bat eye of newt so the incantation may go. What is safe to eat and what is not. A good thing to know in any situation, and vital when you are trying to survive. The Oregon Coast has much to offer on both counts. Take the Rough Skinned Newt for instance. I have... Continue reading→
Predators Fang
Roosevelt Elk in Oregon clear-cut Predators fang. In general, hunters take animals in the prime of life, while predators disproportionately take out the older, younger, or less fit individuals. As poet Robinson Jeffers has noted, it is the fang that has created the fleet foot of the antelope." By George Wurthner Predators Fang "Beyond the... Continue reading→
Wild Plants Coastal Oregon
Plants Coastal Oregon. Blooming large leaf plant Oregon coast called Skunk Cabbage. Western skunk cabbage is an ancient prehistoric plant with giant green leaves when mature. One of many large plants that grow along the Oregon Coast. Coastal plants have a long history of use by Indigenous Peoples who utilized many native plants for foods,... Continue reading→
Best Survival Knife
Another technique I use with this knife for is splitting wood and making spindle blanks for the bow drill. I take a wooden mallet (usually a heavy piece of wood, throwing stick, or whatever I can find) to pound on top of the blade to control my splitting. The technique works very well with this blade, as long as I'm careful and stay away from large knots. Continue reading→
Sharpening the Tracker Knife
Sharpening the Tracker Knife looks complicated, and it is at first sight. But read-on for some simple tips on knife sharpening. The UKW Survivor pictured here is not the Tracker Knife. But the similarities are virtually the same when it comes to sharpening either The Tracker or UKW Survivor. I'm using Russon's version as I... Continue reading→
Debris Hut Survival
A debris hut is a survival shelter that houses one or two people maximum. This is a survival shelter that can be built with no tools except your hands. The debris hut when built effectively use the body's radiant heat to maintain the body's internal core temperature between 96F (37°C) and 100°F (37.8°C). It... Continue reading→
Summertime Berries
Summertime Berries is fruit picking time in the Pacific northwest. Fresh juicy ripe edible berries! Yum, yum, yum! We recently enjoyed a big pan of blackberry cobbler from these ripe berries we picked. And you can too. Foraging for wild edible berries is great fun. A rewarding outdoor activity for friends and family. Listed in... Continue reading→
Survival Bush Craft
Survival Bush Craft has a long history in north America where people of the northlands relied on bush skills to survive the brutal north country winters. Survival Bush Craft What is bushcraft? The definition is - "skill in anything pertaining to bush country." These survival skills that came about from wilderness living in the Boreal... Continue reading→
How to Brain Tan a Squirrel
How to brain tan a squirrel that you just scraped off the pavement. Or harvested during squirrel hunting season. Our goal here is to turn the squirrel hide into a soft and beautiful pelt. A tanned hide that will not only honor the animal but will bring you enjoyment for years to come. As the... Continue reading→
