The Appalachian Ninja

Conscious Survival
Volume I, Book 3

By

Spencer Bolejack

Original text, photographs and illustrations copyrighted 2017

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 Volume 1, Book 3 Table of Contents

Introduction 1

地文 Chi Mon – Geography 10

地文 Chi Mon – The Study of Plants and Stone 24

天文 Ten Mon – Meteorology 65

Conclusion and Preview for Volume II 79

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Introduction

The Appalachian Mountains are my home. Some of the oldest

mountains found on planet Earth, they roll and twist with complex beauty,
holding one of the most biologically active and diverse ecosystems on the
planet. Growing up close to the land I developed a love for the woods, creeks,
and hills that can only be understood by someone who shares such a
relationship with nature. But I’m just one pebble in a long river of stones.
These hills have been home to a population as diverse and eccentric as the
plants and animals that cover them.

Growing up my grandpa instilled a sense of pride in me for being

“southern”. This is something that outsiders have repeatedly joked and asked
me about. They would see only negative things, partially the result of media
retelling the same tired stories and partially based on actual observations.
They never understood why my grandpa smiled with reverence when he
referred to country people, or “southerners”. He truly felt this warm sense of
belonging in his heart, and it was in no way deference to a culture of

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oppression or outright rebellion. It was instead a sense of resourcefulness.
Physical toughness. The ability to be a farmer, a negotiator, a mechanic, a
hunter, expert marksman, a climber, a veterinarian, a cook, and in some cases a
doctor. Country life, while peaceful and quiet at times, brought with it
challenges that were solved by specialty occupations in the city. In the country,
the South in particular which had seen absolute economic destruction after the
War Between the States, people had to learn to “make do”. That making do
led to a mental, physical, and spiritual toughness. If you combine that with a
gratitude for family, a love of one’s country, knowledge of the land and
reverence for a Higher Power; that, my friends, is what my grandpa meant
when he said the word Southern.

The author and Papa Byron

The mountains take this same sentiment and knock it up a notch – at

times to the point of being a little crazy! For the purpose of this book I’m going
to use some terms, the diversity of which is partly to keep from saying the
same thing over and over. Hillfolk, mountain people, backwoods, and even
‘Hillbilly’, are all common references still used to this day to describe people
and families living throughout rural Appalachia. There will be nitpickers;
people who know the true historical origin of the terms. They will take
exception to every phrase just as some scholars will cringe at the other term
used throughout the book, “Ninja”. This is a fun book. I think you will find it
educational as well. In no way at any time will there be a derogatory use of
said terms to belittle or put anyone down. If anything it will open some eyes
and redefine a harshly treated people who endure abuse after abuse and keep

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their heads up with pride. This book is about survival. I encourage all readers
to step back and take a look at the bigger picture in comparing two vastly
different cultures, eras, and people. My contention is that the geographic and
economic hardship, cultural strains and the similar landscapes produced some
similar traits in people around the globe. The two groups we will examine as a
method to gain greater understanding of perseverance, survival, and life skills
are the Appalachian Mountaineers and the Japanese Ninja. We might find that
the people we thought were crazy are indeed quite crazy. Crazy like a fox.

Different historical periods saw different characters making a mark on

the Appalachian landscape. Native people, the Tsalagi or Cherokee “Principle
People”, had a harmonious and rich existence in these mountains. There were
other tribes. Part of living a primitive lifestyle, by modern standards, meant
hunting. People made tools from nature, the plants were foods and medicines,
and the forest told stories of the past and predicted the future. Tracks were a
second language, the wind spoke to ears that could hear, and human senses
were attuned as highly as could be. Physical bodies were strong and supple.
Early explorers and frontiersmen were not always at odds with tribes. Many
adopted the ways or adapted them to enable crossing of great distances. Long
Hunters, rangers, trappers and traders all made their way with a mix of social
skills, prowess, courage and wit. Wilderness Scouts were revered in military
conflicts as they are to this day for their ability to press ahead and see without
being seen. They could survive off the land and carry vital information from
one place to another. It goes without saying that they were keen with a rifle,
handy with a bow, and knew how to use a knife and a hatchet.

In later times, even as electricity spidered its way into small towns and
roads snaked through tunnels and along ridges, people kept both traditions
alive; that of the Cherokee and that of the frontier settler. Knowledge passed
down has been rekindled by a recent interest in “survival” skills, but for
mountain people it’s always been about survival and enjoying life in a piece of
Heaven stuck on Earth. For the Cherokee, who endured a roundup that some
say inspired Hitler’s treatment of Jews in the Second World War, there is a
‘knowing’ that to survive and hide means life. The Cherokee changed their
customs and practices to match their white brothers, chose peace instead of
war, and still were at the mercy of powerful political figures that used the US

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Army as a prodding stick. Political strife, indifference and strong emotions led
to incredible hostility between all people in the Appalachians from the French
and Indian war (mid 1700’s), through the Revolution (late 1700’s), past the Civil
War (1860’s) and into the 20th century. Guerilla tactics and complex social
relationships made savvy these provincial people who made up in woods
smarts what they lacked in formal education.

For a much longer period feudal farmers and peasants in Japan were
enduring unimaginable conflict as continuous civil wars ripped the country
apart time and time again. Unable to outmatch regular armies on a battlefield,
rural peasants and mountain people developed ways to defend themselves and
survive. These hardy folks drew on traditions of mountain ascetics, monks, as
well as warriors and evolved over time into a diverse, countercultural group of
men and women who became renowned for their cleverness and austere
training. These people learned that sometimes harmony was best, other times
it was simply not being where someone expected. Only as a last resort was a
violent resolution to a problem ever used since the repercussions were often
severe. While the royal elite and wealthy classes often looked down on rural
people, farmers and simple folks in Japan found a great joy in a humble
existence. Common jobs kept them strong. Being outside gave them an
understanding of nature, animals, and tools. A rich spiritual tradition granted
wisdom and insight across socio-economic barriers. The mountains were a
refuge providing shelter from invaders and hid the quiet from sight. Dark
passes and rocky outcrops were a warm home to a Samurai on the run, a
survivor from some massacre, or a monk turning his back on the ways of the
world. Trade and barter systems freed people from being slaves to a currency
and warriors could continue training when the Martial Arts and the study of
war had been outlawed. They made things with what they had and used it up
until it was worn out. They improvised, adapted, and overcame. They bore
humiliation, defeat. They were bowed, they were bent, but they were
unbroken. These are the Ninja of Japan, sometimes called shinobi, whose
name itself points to the idea of “perseverance” or “one who endures”. Their
story continues and their art lives on to this day.

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“The Shinobi will also be able to speak the language of a province. He will be
able…to make friends … and obtain things without spending much money. He
will get what he needs to eat and drink, and not become drunk…he
should…sleep in open fields without fear of wild animals in rut…or flee into the
depths of the forest using only the clarity offered by the wonderful light of the
moon.” Master Natori Masazumi i

“A country boy can survive.” - Hank Williams Jr.

_____

I grew up learning from my family and anyone I could about outdoor

things. I’m an 11th generation North Carolinian and my kids are 12th. Including
native roots, our history goes back much further. The Bolejack family was a
great mix of thinker and farmer. The organ at Old Salem was built by my great
grandpa of many generations. They could also work and live on the land. To
me there was no greater excitement than carrying a backpack with everything
necessary and venturing out to see what was “out there”. I always felt like a
character from a movie, there was a soundtrack as great as the mountains
around me propelling me onward. I smiled in the cold and swam in the rain. In
middle school I read My Side of the Mountain by Jean C. George and decided
that one day I would run off and not come back. Martial Arts entered my life
around age 14 in the form of Tang Soo Do, Korean “Karate”, and I wrestled
some in High School. After a healthy effort at college and time in the Army
Reserves as a combat engineer I moved outdoors and gave most of what I
owned away. I temporarily forfeited a full scholarship to Appalachian State
University and took up residence with Eustace Conway. I studied Living
Appalachian History; culture, skills, tools, and practices with Eustace and
maintain a close friendship with him to this day, working at Turtle Island Nature
Preserve near Boone, NC. He is a grandmaster in mountain ways! We built
cabins, maintained roads, logged, hunted, gardened, roofed, raised animals,

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blacksmithed, and survived off-grid before I had heard the term. That was the
beginning of almost three years I lived outside. I became a woods hobo. I
dumpster dove, went hungry, feasted on roadkill and almost died a few times.
I caught rides, worked out trades, let my hair grow wild and lost a great
girIfriend. I learned the importance of hygiene the hard way and just about lost
my teeth and one foot. I played guitar for tips, made wooden spoons to peddle
in town, and bathed naked all year in mountain waterfalls. It was the best,
most wonderful time you could imagine. My ceiling was stars, my porch was a
vast mountain valley, and I was living my dream each day to wake up and be
alive – just one more day in this Creation.

After enrolling in school again at the University of North Carolina at

Asheville as a History and Education major, near where I grew up, I took up
training in taijutsu – the unarmed aspect of Ninjutsu. I had been a fan of
writings for years regarding the ancient Japanese art and even traveled to meet
author Steven Hayes in Ohio where my mom’s parents lived. I ended up going
to another school that summer and learned the impressive potential of Pencak
Silat with Guru Jeff Brown. The time wasn’t right, or the teacher, or the
student! But near Asheville on a baseball diamond in Leicester (pronounced
Lester), the fellow that would become my teacher held a class outdoors all year
long. Best of all he was a healthy part Hilbilly from West Virginia. Not only was
he a ninja, he was a mountain boy who knew about deer and rivers, scrap yards

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and after school fights. He was real. And he was always smiling. I’ll bring this
to a close and just say Sean Kennedy has been one of the closest friends I could
have and he helped me get to Japan this year where I passed the Go Dan, or 5 th
degree black belt test with the grandmaster ninja, Dr. Masaaki Hatsumi. It was
time for this book to happen! With the greatest sincerity I hope it honors the
tradition from both cultures and helps us move forward to a more harmonious
and peaceful future, with each other and with the Earth.

This book is going to explore skill development, survival knowledge

and examine the 18 traditional studies of the Ninja and how Appalachian
people expressed these fundamental principles in their own way. It is
important to remember that as often as possible I refer to a “principle”.
Principles are not techniques but rather the laws governing why a technique
works. A principle can be adapted to different people, different circumstance,
time, culture, or place and manifest a technique that is appropriate. Trying to
copy a technique on the other hand may result in failure. For a simple example
imagine we are looking at a fire starting method. The available materials from
one place to another; flint, strikers, steel, cedar shavings, grass, pine sap, yucca,
birds nests, may vary but the principles of starting with small fuel and getting
larger still hold true. Also we can copy the principle that heat moves upward,
air flow is critical, and lack of efficiency produces smoke. The same is true of
hand to hand taijutsu methods or expressions of the Go Dai, the Five Elements.

A scout reads the landscape.

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地文 Chi Mon – Geography

It is natural that Geography would come after a chapter on Awareness

and be first of the 18 skills we explore. Referred to in Japanese as Chi Mon, the
study and consideration of geography is also how I start the semester when
teaching history. On a rudimentary level it is knowing where we are in the
world, what’s around us, and where others are. Geography also influences the
development of people and their systems; culture, religion, food,
transportation, tools, habits, politics and more. Chi Mon was part of the
everyday life of frontiersmen wanting to cross mountains, traders, and
homesteaders looking for a place to settle in Appalachia. The land was home
to the Cherokee and they knew everything about it and how to get around.
Farmers and mountain monks, as well as warriors in Japan made a study of the
Earth and their place in it for practical reasons.

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 The state of North Carolina, where I live, has divided geography into 5
themes, or ‘strands’, for school children. The themes are; Location, Place,
Human Environment Interaction, Movement, and Region. While somewhat
arbitrary it does force us to look deeper into the effect our Earth has on
everything, especially the study of history and of course, survival. Location
refers to where we are physically in the world. Place means physical and
human characteristics of an area. Interaction is how humans have changed the
area in question and Movement is the ways and reasons why people move
around. Finally, Region puts a local area in context with surrounding zones and
how things compare and change over time. Western North Carolina falls
directly in the middle of the Appalachian Mountain chain and has created a
culture altogether different from the rest of the state. The same thing
happened in the Iga and Koga regions of Japan; areas that gave rise to famous
Ninja clans and families. “Being completely isolated from the wandering eyes
of the Japanese military … they lived as farmers and were consulted by the
locals on medicines, herbs, weather, and agriculture.” ii When geography
makes trade and travel more difficult an area suffers economically. Poor roads
and steep trails in both America and Japan contributed to the development of
unique dialects, some specific to even a valley, and culture. Think of water
flowing in a river; a small pool off to the side of the main branch has less in and
out flow. While this causes outsiders to see mountain people as “backwards”,
it just as often causes mountain people to see outsiders as lacking the sense to
survive without the padding and safety of ‘civilization’. And many are the
mountain dwellers who traveled abroad, were classically educated, and then
returned home for the beauty and peace of backcountry life.

The self-sufficiency of rural life also imparts a classically liberal, or

libertarian sense of “Live and let live”, that is to say what I do is none of your
business and I won’t bother you either. Early North Carolina history has
colorful examples of citizens bucking the condescension and political rule of
their eastern, or more affluent neighbors. From John Culpepper storming and
seizing state government headquarters in 1677, and maintaining armed rule for
two years, to the American Revolution a streak of independence repeatedly
spilled over into violence in the Tarheel State. In 1765 the Regulator
movement was born in the form of a local group called the Sandy Creek
Association. Tensions mounted as western North Carolinians felt

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unrepresented in politics and before long the movement took on a
revolutionary feel. The regulators sought to pay taxes with farm goods,
marriage ceremony freedom, secret voting ballots and abolishment of the poll
tax. Some rightfully disagreed with taxation to fund a new palace, as
authorized by Governor Tryon in 1768. In 1770 150 Regulators stormed a
courthouse, set up a fake court to mock what they saw as unfair and corrupt
practices, whipped a judge with a switch and dragged Edmund Fanning (the
highest state official at the time) down the steps by his feet. An intercepted
communiqué that revealed the mindset, organization and commitment of the
rebel group alarmed Governor Tryon who set off into the backcountry. 2,000
Regulators approached 1,400 State Militiamen who were camped with Tryon
on Alamance Creek on 14 May 1771. After a few ‘rebel’ attempts at reaching a
peace, which were interpreted as weakness and division among his foes,
governor Tryon demanded the Regulators lay down their arms and comply.
The famous phrase, “Fire and be damned!” echoed loud and clear in reply and
a disorganized fight known as the Battle of Alamance ended the Regulators run.
When an independent group grew too powerful there were consequences.
The Regulators lost their final showdown at the Battle of Alamance.

Abuses by leadership and feudal lords caused mountaineers in what is

today known as the Mie Prefecture to form an essentially independent
Republic deep in the mountains of Japan. While their service was valuable to
friends, the families of the Iga region began to be seen as a threat and were
attacked in 1579 by 10,000 samurai under the command of Oda Nobukatsu.
Superior strategy, tactics, and knowledge of the land gave an easy victory to
the ninja. Enraged, Oda’s father Nobunaga led 40-60,000 warriors into the
mountains two years later and broke through the Iga stronghold in what is
referred to as the Tensho Iga War. The battle was so costly to the Samurai that
both sides agreed to a ceasefire lest the entire army be wiped out. The Iga
surrendered two remaining castles and retreated into the safety of the
mountains for a time.

What survived in both cases was an indomitable spirit. The British

wrongly calculated later that the Regulators or the backcountry population that
they came from would fight against Colonial governments. Instead, North
Carolina became a “hornet’s nest” for English soldiers and played a pivotal role

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in giving America her independence. North Carolina’s first flag was, in fact, a
hornet’s nest with the date 1775 boldly emblazoned underneath. The Iga Ninja
wisely aided Nobunaga’s successor, Tokugawa Iyesu, during the chaos that
followed Nobunaga’s assassination at the hand of his own general. In return
Iyesu staffed his elite units with men from Iga. These Ninja guarded the main
base of the new Shogunate, the Castle of Edo. They went on to immortalize
the name Iga and make the word Ninja synonymous with perseverance and
heart. What appeared in one moment as a failure in time became a success.
There are traits that run strong in such people that allow defeat to be turned
into opportunity, and these events only served to strengthen those traits in
their descendants.

The father of modern guerilla warfare also hails from Carolina

territories. Francis Marion, known as the Swamp Fox, used hit and run tactics
to harass British forces under Cornwallis during the Revolution. Marion’s
ability to gather intelligence through a network of spies and scouts combined
with use of the land and mastery of stealth led the hated Banastre Tarleton of
the British to say, “as to this damned old fox, the Devil himself cannot catch
him.” Marion’s leadership and tactical prowess eventually influenced the
lineage and formation of Roger’s Rangers who became the U.S. Army Rangers.
Army Rangers specialize in working with indigenous people to counter superior
hostile government forces. Marion had seen both sides of this play of power as
he had fought against the Cherokee in the earlier French and Indian war.
Perhaps this is where he learned much of what he employed later in the
Revolution.

The Cherokee Indians, as mentioned by Grandmaster

Hatsumi, were some of the greatest “ninja” in the world. As masters of their
environment they used both negotiation and humility as well as stealth and
cunning to survive. To simply live in the environment of the southern
Appalachians took a skill set the modern human has essentially lost. To
continue into the modern day and have a national boundary 40 minutes drive
from my house took perseverance and heart. The Indian Removal Act of 1830
precipitated a military roundup and resettlement of remaining natives who
lived on lands rich in gold. 17,000 Cherokee were force marched in 1838 to
new territory across the Mississippi River into Oklahoma. 4,000 died from

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exposure, starvation, and disease. Some Cherokee, however, eluded capture
or escaped the concentration camps and survived with the help of legal
Cherokee (from earlier treaties) and white settlers. William Holland Thomas, a
white Cherokee chief, purchased land in his name during the 1840’s and
1850’s. His 50,000 acres around the Oconaluftee River and Soco Creek
became what is today known as the Qualla Boundary. In 1866 the U.S.
Government gave freedom to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians who
earned distinction as a unique tribe in 1868, separate from their western
counterparts. By 1874 federal courts placed the lands in a trust for the
Cherokee people.

All of these people were able to find humor in hardship and learned to
be creative with what resources they had and also learned to use the harsh
landscape as an advantage. There are many tricks of the trade that can give
modern students of survival a superior understanding of the Earth and the land
around them.

________

The first skill of Chi Mon we will look at regards the use of maps. Even
young children can begin to develop spatial awareness by drawing their own
home and the area around it. Modern video games often demonstrate the
importance of maps by requiring characters to explore areas and acquire
knowledge to aid their quest. Learning to be aware of the Sun and prominent
features helps youth build a “horse sense”, or natural understanding of where
they are at all times. This is important in wilderness areas where consulting a
map can be tedious work and cost precious time. Backtracking to a point of
embarkation is aided by an innate sense of direction. This cannot be
overstated in its importance. The winding mountain trails and endless Rhodo
Hells along ridges and steep hillsides can confound even the most experienced
woods-person, however, and a map can be a precious resource for people
traveling the Appalachian range. Rhodo Hell, and its sister Laurel Hell, are
common features of our mountains that refer to huge mazes of thick growth
and brush that blocks vision and can trap anyone carrying gear.

I’ve undertaken long hikes with my advanced students in areas I

thought I knew only to find myself perplexed and overwhelmed deep into the

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thickets. Regular backpacks are impossible to pull through and gear gets
destroyed quickly. Sleeping bags strewn out and ripped to shreds, snagged and
stolen water bottles, hats, and scarred arms and legs with trails of blood are
common occurrences in these mountain labyrinths. Anyone who has been in
them knows exactly what I’m talking about. While cutting a tunnel through can
provide quick, safe, invisible passage to locals who hunt these ridges knowing
how to use your map is a lifesaving advantage. Be warned, the escape route
you cut last year may be gone by the next. Moths, rust, and Mother Nature do
not sleep.

A world covered in ice – mistakes in navigation can be costly in the

Appalachian Mountain range.

Orienting a Map

Use your compass to find magnetic North. Lay your map on the
ground so that North on the map corresponds with North on your compass.
This makes the map itself a model of the area around with proper relative
directions to landmarks and terrain features. Note that any metal or electrical
items can throw the compass off because it is orienting toward the Northern
magnetic pole. Magnetic North is not the same as True North, or Due North!

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Compass error can vary between 1 and 15 degrees based on your specific
location. While this doesn’t affect much in small day hikes and short leaps
from one visible peak to another, it can ruin a long trip and create deadly
delays in arriving where you are expected. 1 degree of error on a sixty mile
journey is 1 mile off course. Therefore a 10 degree error in navigation results
in being 10 miles away from where you expected to be. There are great tricks
to reduce the error, such as purposefully falling off to one side if you know
there is a river crossing or some other landmark – then you know there’s only
one way to go to reach your destination. It’s also critical to get your compass
error, called declination, correct and factor that into your planning.

Declination and Compass Error

One method to find out what your error is where you live is to look it
up. We must be prepared to get the information an older way as well. To find
your region’s declination align the N on your compass with North. Sight across
the middle of the compass to observe the setting Sun. You can hold a stick
straight up from the compass center to aid in sighting the exact location of the
Sun. Write down the angle. Next morning repeat this process as the Sun rises.
You will be looking from the other side of the compass. Be sure the compass is
exactly aligned North at zero degree both times. Take the new reading. You
now have two numbers, one from sunset and one from sunrise. Add them
together. If the total is more than 360 degree we know the error we are about
to factor is error West. If the total is less than 360 degrees the error will be
labeled East. Now calculate the difference between your two added numbers
and 360. For example if you added the two bearings and got 372, the
difference is 12. If the two numbers equaled 348 the difference is also 12.
Now divide that number by 2. The answer is the degree of error in your
compass for your location. Recall whether the added bearings were greater or
less than 360 and tack on West or East as appropriate. To review; first bearing
plus second bearing total. Take difference in the answer and 360, for our
example the difference was 12. Divide 12 in half and the error is 6 degrees. In
the case of my home it is 6 degrees West because the first total was great than
360. Now when you align your map and make long term projections on your
movement you will be accurate to Due North, actual North, not just magnetic
North. You can add this error to your compass calculations by simply adjusting

16
the readings as follows. If you sight landmarks and dial in a course on the map
heading 80 degrees, add the 6 degree West and your actual heading is 86
degrees. This is a 6 mile correction over a 60 mile trip, or 3 miles in 30, or 1 in
10 etc. Practice!

As a math fact it is B1 + B2 = 360 – (2 x error). Error = ½ (B1 + B2).

Compass course + error = true course.

If you’re travelling by foot and not that far, say less than 20 miles you
could use sunrise and sunset instead of waiting to camp for the night. If it is
dark you can use the moon or a star, but the star must be close to rising and
close to setting when the bearings are recorded.

Where are we?

Triangulation is relatively simple if you can find a landmark with eyes

that is on the map. Align the map and sight the landmark. Lightly trace the
bearing line over the landmark on the map. Repeat with another landmark.
Where the two lines intersect is where you are standing. It is nice to have a
map case with a plastic cover so lines can be drawn and erased as needed. The
cover also protects your map from moisture and the elements. Use dry coals
from the fire after erase-able markers have ceased function.

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 Other Ways to Find North

If you can find the Big Dipper in the night sky the outer two stars of
the cup itself align to point toward Polaris, the North star. All stars in the sky
revolve around this point so it’s a good point to orient off of. If you can’t find
the Big Dipper or the sky is patchy with clouds locate another star. Fix
something solid to mark the stars location such as a rifle sight propped up on
two sticks, or a stick, or anything that will be still and solid. If the star is rising
you’re facing East, falling you’re facing West. If the star moves right you’re
facing South, left West. The Moon compass is a good trick too. If it rises before
sunset the light side of the Moon is westerly, rising after midnight the light side
is easterly. If you know the constellation of Orion, Orion’s belt runs in an East
West line. If you or someone on your team is wearing a wrist watch point the
hour hand at the Sun. Half-way between the hour hand and 12 O’clock is
North. This applies to the northern hemisphere. A Sun compass can be made
on the ground without any special gear. Plant a stick in the ground and notice
where the end of the shadow is. Wait a while and observe where the shadow
moved. Connect these two points on the ground and you have an East-West
line.

Some people carry a sewing kit in their gear. I recommend it for

multiple reasons. A thin needle floats readily on a blade of grass or it can be
suspended from a thin string. The needle can be magnetized by rubbing it on a
piece of silk, sometimes wool, or with electricity, or by rubbing on a magnet.
Given free roam the needle will align itself with a North-South line when
magnetized.

Modern tools such as GPS are useful and should be learned but not
depended upon. GPS satellites are owned by the United States and could be
encrypted during times of war or even destroyed. GPS depends on battery
power and extreme solar activity or jamming equipment can disrupt the signal.

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 Once we have mastered the basics of finding North, orienting our
map, taking bearings, triangulation, and terrain reading we can set a course.
The mountains laugh at traditional navigators who want to use a compass to
shoot straight lines or work easy geometry around an obstacle. Promentories
are easier to see here than on flat land, though, and we can check in with the
mountains all around us. For the experienced scout every horizon is like a
fingerprint and distant mountains are as familiar as an old friend. Because of
this I will leave out further information on using a compass to steer around
objects and stay on course. There is a great deal of literature available on the
subject.

Modern gadgets have their place and can be helpful. Real skill, however, must
be built on a foundation of Earth knowledge.

Topography

A topographic map is a conglomeration of lines swirling around and

tracing the contours of the terrain featured. It’s as if the land was sliced up in a
deli to be served on sandwiches then laid back on top of itself. Each lines
represents a certain change in elevation. Places with tight lines, even dark and

19
bunched close together represent steep terrain or cliffs. Wide spots between
lines represent gentle rolling terrain or fields. The mountaineer can use this
knowledge to predict many things essential for survival. Charting a course for
least effort would have us going through as many open areas as possible unless
we are evading pursuit, have the gear and training, and want to cross
dangerous drop offs. Many military units have used this tactic to surprise a foe
who guarded the easy passes and assumed the cliffs provided a natural
geographic barrier to approach. Spartacus led an army of revolting slaves
through such territory using vines to repel and escaped a pinned in position.
They were able to flank their pursuers and won yet another unexpected victory
in a long rebellion that was eventually put down by the massive army of Rome
in 71 A.D.

What appear to be upside down V’s on a topographic map are creek

beds, the top of which often have fresh water springs. The opposite feature, a
V, indicates a descending ridgeline called a spur. Spurs and ridgelines are often
the most efficient means of travel through mountain areas. Low points
between two hill tops are called saddles because they resemble the shape of a
horse saddle and appear as such on a topo map, the hilltops themselves being
circles. Saddles are natural choke points that funnel wildlife and humans
through passes in steep terrain. This information aids the hunter who might
feed an entire squad with a single deer for a week. By studying topographic
features we can assess likelihood of food, water, shelter, and probable paths of
movement. Most likely lines of natural human movement are called lines of
drift. We can make a prediction about where a lost person has headed or what
path people will approach by studying the lines of drift. On the other hand an
alert scout may choose to avoid the lines of drift so as not to be seen or heard.
Natural lines of drift have led many travelers into unexpected ambushes and
other trouble. Pirates and highwaymen the world over use this knowledge to
their advantage. Factors that influence these paths are available resources,
geographic hazards, constriction points, and paths of least resistance. The
mountains have many old road beds and train tracks that were once used for
logging. I love exploring these old trails. It’s common to find piles of coal, train
track, steel cable, even stoves and glass containers.

20
 There is a saying found in the Shoninki, a treatise on classical ninjutsu
by Natori Masazumi written in the 17th century, shirana sanro no narai. It
refers to the “necessary knowledge of unknown mountain passes.” iii While the
above information could be considered part of the shirana sanro no narai, so
could something as simple as a feeling stick. Walking in deep snows which
frequent the peaks of the entire Appalachian range in Winter is dangerous.
Knowing how to curve a branch and weave some inner Pine bark to form a web
for snow shoes is helpful. The snow stick may save your life as well. Our
mountains have something I call rock rivers. The once running rivers or soft
earthed hillsides eroded and left behind boulders large and small. Add to that
unknown logs and fallen trees and beneath the snow lies dangers which can
quickly end an adventure into a snowy wood. The feeler stick is simply a
testing cane to poke through drifts and verify the ground before stepping
forward. This can prevent a broken ankle or leg. Not a few hill travelers have
met an untimely death from falling. Crossing rivers is a true skill. Dry rocks are
not always stable, submerged rocks are often slick. I go barefooted often and
redress on the other side. Anchoring a rope on both sides can give a stable
hand brace or a method of sending gear over. Severe features can be crossed
by various methods of rope traversing; laying on top and dragging, ankles
crossed, or hanging underneath and pulling our way over. We can get a read
on how far something is across, such as a river or gully using the right angle
method. By using a watch, compass or hand-made angle card pick a point on
the far side of the obstacle. Walk until that point is at 45 degrees from your
position. The distance walked is the length across to the object. This can be
used to determine tree height as well – important for making bridges,
anchoring ropes, and being safe when cutting timber.

I was out by myself one week in the rugged hills past Mount Pisgah.
Feeling restless and invigorated by the shining moon I packed up camp in the
middle of the night and began walking toward a river valley so I could bathe in
the creek at sunrise next day. I carried a large frame backpack weighted down
with food and some meager sleep gear, no tent. I was working my way down a
grassy hillside into familiar territory and was about to step out onto the sandy,
primary trail a few feet in front of me. Clouds dotted the sky and painted a
blue, black, and grey pattern over the foliage all around that was changing. It
was disorienting and beautiful. I could see the main trail which I knew was

21
close just ahead, with small blueberry bushes lining the far side. I stepped off
the grass bank when suddenly some briars sank deep into my arm tearing the
flesh and holding me fast. I gasped and sat back down hard on the pack and
felt angry at the blackberries for hindering me so. If I had carried a machete I
would have chopped them right off! Taking another breath I noticed what
looked like a wet spot or a puddle in the trail ahead and leaned forward poking
my walking stick into the trail. I didn’t want to splash down into a soggy hole.
As my stick passed through the illusion of the wet spot and my weight dangled
half forward, half back, the real picture presented itself. A bit of horror seized
me as I realized I was at the crest of a 60 foot drop off, or more and was half
committed to the step already. I hit the ground flat with feet sliding over the
edge and grabbed fistfuls of grass and briars. The thorns, appearing like an
enemy moments before were now my savior. The puddle was actually a
shadow underneath the massive trees which themselves looked like bushes,
further away than I could tell in the moonlight. My pack kept me too high off
the ground and I was slowly sliding down. I rolled to the side and jerked out of
the straps and slowly made my way, crawling backwards, back up the hill
dragging the heavy pack behind. I went around the cliff and finally made it to
the river. What a glorious sunrise it was and a wonderful swim. I have thanked
the Blackberries many times since then and still apologize for my arrogance and
quick temper to this day. I still see those cliffs from time to time and apply the
lesson to other areas in life.

22
A distant view, corresponding topographic map, and individual topographic
features are depicted in this sketch.

23
地文 Chi Mon -The Study of Plants and Stone

The Appalachian Mountains are so rich with life they are considered
one of the most biologically active and diverse regions in the world. Much like
a tropical rainforest the various things that sprout, grow, and bloom deserve
more than a lifetime of study. Western North Carolina is home to advanced
herbalism schools that teach the deepest knowledge on harvest time and
preparation, storage and use of our wild plants. The Appalachian School of
Holistic Herbalism is one example. Located in Asheville it is the area’s oldest
school and is run by my friend Ceara Foley. There are many other fine schools
as well such as the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine. The Cherokee
imparted to us a relationship mentality with our plant friends.

There is an old native story about the animals coming together to

discuss revenge on the greedy humans who were hunting and not even praying
over their kills. Some clever foxes or coyotes snuck into a human camp and
stole a bow and some arrows thinking this weapon worked for humans, why
not them? After Bear clawed and pulled he gave up on the contraption as did
other animals who tried to shoot it. In the end they agreed the best thing to do
would be carry a disease so that ungrateful humans would be poisoned with
the flesh they ate. Plants overheard this and took pity on the people. So as
each animal was given a disease to carry a specific plant carried an antidote
and counter to the problem. This was secret for a while so animals wouldn’t
feel betrayed by the plants but eventually the knowledge was revealed to the
Principle People so they could be healthy. Ever since then Cherokee and
mountain people in general have admired the gifts of our plant friends.

For this book there is no need to go into much detail on the volumes
and volumes written on plants elsewhere. I would just like to share my favorite
plants and trees and how they are crucial for the momentary survivor or
wilderness dweller. Basic categories such as tools, food, and medicine with a
few examples of each will suffice to give us a well rounded chapter that might
offer something to the expert and certainly give beginners lots to chew on!
Let’s start with tools.

Wood is abundant in the mountains. In fact I live in Haywood county,

a mountain area known for timber and farming. My life is related to wood in

24
many ways from heating to
building, repairing tools and
making crafts. I love turning
wood bowls on the lathe my
grandfather gave me and the
handles for my forged axes and
tomahawks come right off the
land. There’s nostalgia in
splitting wood, hearing the
crinkle of falling dry leaves and
catching a wisp of wood smoke from some neighbor. Apple cider is stored in
the cellar and the Fall harvest is covered up for safe keeping. Mountain and
farm life is all about efficiency. If a number of trees fall in the forest from a
wind blow, or are growing along the pasture, each one is part of the system of
life and has its place and
proper use. A Y-forked
Locust makes a shingle
break, crooked Oaks are for
the fire, Hemlocks are good
lumber, Pine bark lights up
the kitchen stove, and
leftover sawdust from the
mill goes in the urinal.
Sawdust extracts and holds
Ammonia and Nitrogen
from your pee, breaks
down fast in the weather, and boosts your garden produce like nothing else
when put in the compost pile. Soft woods are good for starting fires. Pines are
brittle and produce more ash but they light up fast and hot. Hardwoods make
good building materials, handles, and burn all night so on a snowy morning hot
coals make building the fire easy and home is comfortable. Trees like Poplar, a
soft ‘hardwood’, dry at 30% the weight of a green log and are great for cabins
and floors. Poplar cuts easy for notching with axes, and the adz can flatten a
floor surface in no time. Oak splits in a radius around from the center making
strong, rot resistant shingles. Pine can also make a shingle if placed on a steep
enough roof to let water run off fast. I helped build the largest hand-made,

25
single beam structure in the world with Eustace Conway. I must have split
shingles morning until dark for two or three months getting a roof on that
thing. My hands were black with resin for weeks and weeks. We always went
to town with a certain pride, sewn up clothes, full beards and thick calloused
hands – those were some fun times. We used Pine because that’s what was
growing there; he needed pasture, we needed shingles, and the roof was steep
enough. Almost twenty years has passed and now we can see every shortcut
we shouldn’t have taken. The pieces that were too thin or had a little bark left
on them are rotting away and in need of replacement.

The newly constructed Turtle Island Barn; hand built with Appalachian Tools.

Basswood leaves look like an asymmetrical heart and the tree base has
a ring of shoots growing out of it. The buds are nutritious in early Spring and
late Winter and taste like nuts. Basswood has two other properties that are
important; fire and rope. Basswood is one of the primary fire by friction woods
in the Appalachians. It’s not as fast as Yucca and doesn’t smell as good as
Sycamore but it works. The inner bark of Basswood can be peeled apart, rolled
up, and woven into cordage that’s possibly the strongest cordage around.

26
Yucca also makes great cordage, as does dogbane, nettle and hemp. The
twisting technique is hard to describe in words, best shown, but with a two ply
twist and counter twist a forager can make fishing line, trap lines, fishing nets,
bow strings, bags, slings, repairs and more with the long fibers of these plants
and trees. Poplar is used to teach students about cordage but isn’t strong and
doesn’t last long. Cherry, a common tree found in highland meadows, is
wonderful for bowls, spoons, and carvings.

27
 Spencer’s
good friend Eugene
Runkis shows off a 25
foot tapered fishing
line handwoven from
Yucca fibers. This
line has endured
years of fishing use.

Locust and Hickory are treasured woods. While everything else on the
Black Locust is poisonous; seeds, leaves, and bark, the flowers are delicious and
one of Spring’s delicacies. They can be eaten raw or fried. Locust wood is
dense, worth a piece of many other woods three, four, or five times its size.
Locust burns all night and in the words of some old mountain man lasts “a day
longer than a rock”, meaning it doesn’t rot and is good for posts and buildings.
I’ve competed with a tomahawk that had a locust handle split nearly in two but
it stuck together like bubble gum and took me to victory at the Pow-Wow
fairgrounds in Cherokee. The thorn riddled Honey Locust has great edible seed
pods and the thorns themselves can be fashioned into darts. Serious infection
can occur from a deep piercing and there are stories of blindness from people
hitting one in the night. Running into a thicket of the 1 to 4 inch spears on
horseback is murderous. Hickory is the go to handle wood for all tools and
weapons. It’s hard but springy so it dissipates energy without breaking. The
root ball of a hickory or locust is almost supernatural in strength! We make
mauls, or hammers, from wood by shaping the handle from the above ground
portion of the tree and rounding off the below ground part known as the root
ball. The grain of the root ball wood is twisted and gnarled and dense. Used

28
like a sledgehammer it can
split whole trees in half with
wedges, which can also be
made of wood and are called
gluts. Once the first split is
started on one end you just
leap-frog the wood gluts
down spreading the tree
apart as you go. Be sure to
chamfer the hammered end.
A chamfer is a simple edge
trim around the corner of
any surface that needs to
take a beating. This keeps
the wood from splitting in
stakes for tents, gardens,
pins, gluts, and walking
sticks. Hammered in the
back or ‘felling cut’ of a tree
a wooden wedge can direct a tree to fall where you want it and also protect
your saw if emergency cutting is required because it won’t dull the edge like
steel wedges. Log splitting is important for more than posts and buildings.
Anything made from a tree has to go through the splitting process first; runners
for a sled or drag box, yokes for animals, canes, staves, bows, and more. If the
root end was turned up and used as the top of a post it could last a generation
or more, especially if the ground end was charred before burial. The Cherokee
made war clubs from the root end of various trees and staked their lives on it
with trust that they would not fail in battle.

Charcoal, used for cooking as well as blacksmithing (an important

source of fine steel tools including knives and blades) is made from hardwood
of all kinds. By smothering the hardwood with dirt and letting it smolder for
days, even weeks or a month in some cases, a woodsman could earn a living or
produce his own coals for the smithing trade. Wood used as fastening pegs in
structures, like inch wide pins, is superior to metal nails in a few respects. They
don’t rust and they breathe with moisture along with the structural wood,

29
staying in place and keeping ceilings, floors, and walls secure. While we don’t
have the great woods such as Osage Orange and Yew in the Southern
Appalachians a fine bow can be constructed from Hickory and Locust, though
they may need re-steaming to keep shape from time to time. Back it with
bamboo or a thin layer of springy softer wood such a maple and you have a
good tool for hunting whatever game suits you. Add a rattlesnake skin and
some leather and it’s a work of art. Strong, straight arrows can be made from
cane along the river or Sourwood. Sourwood, known also as Indian toothbrush
for its bristly fibers and pleasant taste, forms natural arrows. After noticing
that a downed tree or bent over sapling produced perfect shoots the following
year reaching high for the sunlight, Cherokee craftspeople started bending
trees over on purpose. The next year dozens of arrows were sprung up ready
for harvest. Arrows from both wood and cane can be shaped by fire; heated
until soft and shiny, held into place and straightened on a stump or log, and
allowed to cool. The same cane and bamboo makes a ready water container if
large enough, plugged with a stick that fits tight.

Fat wood, lighter knots, and lighter wood all mean some kind of sap
enriched material that is dense and fragrant. Various pines produce these
flammable candlesticks which are great for lighting fires and saving fire starting
material whether they be matches or lighter fluid. Split large pieces into match
sized twigs, one light from a flame and it burns hot enough to ignite damp
kindling. By taking the inner bark of a Poplar tree and crushing it around in the
hands for a few minutes you can produce the finest material of soft fuzz. Hit
the fuzz with a spark, especially if charred already – or drop a small coal from
your fire by friction kit into it and blow steadily. Within a minute you’ll have a
bright flame ready to light your fire lay. We’ll have more on that later. The
bark of White Oak trees splits and runs off to make baskets for carrying items,
and Poplar bark in larger sheets cut at the corners also makes backpacks and
great containers. With an oilskin cover these packs can be waterproof.

A standard tool used on most farms in Appalachia in the shaving

horse. It is constructed from half a log and turned into a seat that acts as a vice
to hold things still. Pressing a foot down operates the “dumb head” which
bites a piece of wood or whatever you’re working on. This saves time in
making handles, pegs, bows, furniture legs, and more. A shaving horse is

30
superior to the cumbersome and slow C-Clamp of modern workshops. A
hollowed out log can be more than a canoe used to travel waterways. It can be
filled with water and turned into a tub. Put thin rocks on the bottom to protect
the wood and drop hot rocks on top to make a steamy bath in the middle of
the wildest, meanest, snowiest crags in the mountains. On a smaller scale
bowls can be burned out and scraped to make eating utensils without any
woodworking tools. Just set coals on the piece of wood and start blowing, or
use a hollow stick such as Sumac branch or Elderberry twig for a straw. These
straws are also handy for sucking water out of a hand dug spring hole in the
woods. My good friend Eugene Runkis makes wonderful tools from tree roots.
I’ve seen him catch a fish using a long stringy root for both pole and line and
the right root can serve as a bowstring that won’t break.

The curly little tendrils of grapevines harden into a wood like

substance each Fall. These spirals are conical and sometimes very close to the
ideal ratio of 7:1. I learned about that from Eustace. A 7:1 ratio is the natural
angle at which wood bonds together like glue without using any adhesive.
Wedges for locking axe heads on to handles, end parts of a seat leg inserted
into the seat, or the aforementioned wooden pegs for cabin building, even little
pins for knife handles, are all locked in place when a 7:1 run to rise angle piece
of wood contacts a straight surface and are squeezed or tapped in tight. The
grapevine curls will hold pieces of bone or heat hardened wood in place. You
can even wedge in bits of feather or found trash. These devices are very
effective fishing lures with ancient roots.

Oak splits on a radius as

shown here, wheras Pine
splits in halves straight
across breaking best at
center of mass.

31
32
33
34
 Trap triggers made
from Red Oak last many
months, even years,
under constant
exposure to wind, rain,
and Sun.

35
36
 Stones also make for long lasting tools. Unlike modern contraptions
that break within an hour’s use you can still find stone tools from centuries past
in old fields and bottom land once inhabited by native Americans. A rounded
out stone can grind up acorns or herbs. A slit carved in a rock can be rubbed
with a stick or bone to make a needle sharp point. Before steel came along
stones were shaped and fitted to a haft making a powerful hammer and arrow
heads from rock are still sharper than modern scalpels. A knapped stone has a
smaller molecular edge than metal and will cut clean through your thumb with
little pressure if you aren’t careful when handling it. Rounded creek stones
make suitable ammo for a sling. Soft stones like Soapstone can be hand carved
or drilled while sitting around a fire. This and Catlinite which was traded for
from areas outside Appalachia make pipes. Modern stoves are often lined with
stone to hold heat even after a fire dies down. Cold mountain nights are
improved by sleeping with a warmed rock nestled in the bedding. A small
stone hollowed out in the middle can hold a reserve of oil. Put a wick in it, like
one made from a sliver of Cracked Cap Polypore, the shelf fungus growing on
locust trees, and the oil stays hot but never too hot to touch. Small pebbles
buried in the oil heal cracked fingers and keep hands from going numb while
working outside in a bitter wind. Similarly any stone reservoir can create a nice
torch light when filled with fat, Pine sap, or some other oil and lit with a wick.
One of my favorite stone creations was a bed of large, flat stones set into a
hillside. Laying the stones on top of two walls makes a fire area underneath.
With a little practice and safety mindedness you can have a heated bed that
allows smoke to escape through a chimney in the back. With all fire heated
primitive appliances a lead time is helpful. Build the fire before use so it’s not
too hot but just right when bedtime or bath time comes. A miniature version
of this can be thrown together in seconds to make a stone stove. High enough
and wide enough for air to pass through, a stone stove can support iron skillets
or heat a flat rock as a cooking surface. Stone fried potatoes in light oil are the
envy of a forest.

37
 Rock
stoves make quick
work of cooking.
The warm stones
can be used later
for comfort on a
cold night.

Even large cast

iron cookery can
be suspended with
rocks.

The author
prepares and eats
Copperhead, a venomous
snake, while living on his
own in the Appalachian
Mountains. Snake head on
rock. Snakes are valuable
protein and can be used in
many other ways.

38
 Eustace
Conway eats
daily on cook
fires. Natural
fire cooking
has a
different feel
and is not
difficult.
Wood
knowledge is
key.

Here a jaw bone is

fractured into useful tools
including needles and fishing
gouges.

Canned Deer meat, or

Venison, can provide
during lean Winter
months. A simple fire
does the work.

39
 Bones, like stones, are useful. I use small jaw bones I find for angular,
hard edges that serve as snare triggers. A small femur has a comfortable
handle that fits well between thumb and pointer figers, sharpen the other end
at a 45 degree angle and you have a great digging tool for root harvesting or
whatever suits you. Bones, when split correctly using rocks to fracture along
natural lines make needles for sewing leather or sutures. A good fiber for
suture material is the previously mentioned Yucca fiber. Sewing is a
foundational survival skill.

Another category of natural resources we need to live in isolated

mountain areas is food. It is a common misconception that a person can
wander out and forage all they need to survive. Even the noble Cherokee faced
starvation from extended time away from their camps. Humans, especially
groups, need calories to survive and without meat as a food source we are hard
pressed to take enough nutrition in from plants to survive much longer than a
month or two. Our plant friends, however, do offer assistance when we need it
most. Even a few mouthfuls of nutrition can get a lone survivor over the next
ridge. Supplemented with other staple foods plants provide a more complete
nutritional package needed for health. Eating seasonally, what’s around us at
different times, seems to also balance the human organism by cleaning and
restoring our systems throughout the year. Here are some of my favorites.

Acorns are naturally bitter. Some are more bitter than others.
Fortunately the bitterness comes from tannic acid which is water soluble.
White Oaks are relatively sweet and can be crushed, dried, soaked or boiled to
make flour that is rich in fats and protein. Finding the round lobed White Oak
leaf also hints at the high chance of seeing Deer and Turkey, especially is
there’s good cover on the approach and nearby water. Many other nuts can be
dried and saved including the revered Hickory as well as Walnut. All nuts are
prone to bug infestation and rot and must be gathered as soon as they fall,
usually when most of the tree leaves are off. The sap from Hickory, Birch,
Sycamore and Maples is a crucial source of nutrition if harvested in quantity.
Best drawn in early Spring the water from these trees is fine for cooking,
drinking (already pure as can be), or if you have time and patience making
syrup and sugar. Tree water is rich in minerals and very healthful. Acorn flour
hardened through cooking with some sweet syrup make a fine meal that keeps

40
well for travel. To get the sap insert a spigot, or spile, into a hole ½” wide and
2-3” deep with an upward slant. Hang a sap catcher below, which could be
found trash bottles, to gather the sap. The hole can be plugged for protection
of the tree and later use. Drill no more than two holes per tree. A handful of
such catches around a forest area can provide a quantity of liquid. In keeping
with the principle of efficiency use trees in proximity to trap lines, hunting
areas or fishing spots. You can pick up your sap and see in the distance
whether the trap was sprung and not disturb the area with scent. If nothing
turns up and times are hard the soft inner bark of Spruce, Balsam Fir, and
Hemlock can be dried and ground into flour. A meal of this will convince you to
improve your trapping skills. The bark blisters on our abundant Balsam Firs is a
dense energy source and can be browsed while on the move.

41
42
 Understanding plants and trees includes a larger knowledge of where
they like to grow and what animals are likely to be around. The previous
drawing demonstrates how a person can enjoy a circuit pattern over a given
landscape to maximize resources available.

43
 Roots are also a good source of food. Solomon’s Seal is a filling potato
like tuber that needs a 20 minute boil to be tender. Young shoots of the plant
can be steamed and eaten. Find the False Solomon’s Seal nearby and smoke
the dried root to relieve anxiety about whatever predicament has put you in
this wild place. While folklore tells us the smoked root of False Solomon’s Seal
is a sedative, quiets crying babies, and cures insanity, I just think it smells good.
My friend Adam and I tried to sell dried and ground bags of this root in high
school. That didn’t turn out so well and his mom thought we had poisoned the
entire family when the dehydrator filled the house up with False Solomon’s
Seal smoke. Solomon’s Seal has blue berries underneath the draping plant and
False Seal has a cluster of red berries at the plant’s peak. Thistle roots on first
year plants, recognized by the prickly leaves and having no stalk shooting
straight up like the others, are another filling food. Keep your teeth clean after
a meal by chewing on Sweetgum sap. Sweetgum is easily recognized when you
step on the fruit; a spiny little ball with a long stem. Lamb’s Quarters and
Nettles, the latter of which will announce its presence with a fiery burn on
exposed skin that lasts a few minutes, are tasteful greens cooked down. I
gather Lamb’s Quarters throughout the late Spring and Summer for my
morning eggs or omelette. By late Summer the leaves grow tough and stringy.
Walking down to the henhouse, sipping on coffee sweetened with Maple Syrup
I talk to the girls (my chickens), pick a few plants and head back to the house.
Lamb’s Quarters is similar to Arugala and makes a plain breakfast much better.
Nettle tea is known for B vitamins, Calcium, and even protein and is considered
one of the healthiest, multivitamin foods in the woods. Modern health
enthusiasts have made Nettle a valuable commodity. Power up your
nutritional uptake by making an infusion. Infusions are a great way to get the
most out of your herbs, see the next section on medicines! No coffee? No
problem. Bake the roots of common Dandelion until they’re roasted through.
Grind them on a stone bowl and make a decent substitute for America’s
favorite drug, besides sugar.

Many plants are seasonal. Wild strawberries are early, service berries
and choke cherries happen in the middle of things, blueberries and blackberries
arrive around August, and wild grapes come late along with dark blue
Greenbriar berries. These can still be found after all the leaves have come
down and wide eyed tourists have left for their faraway homes. The

44
Greenbriar has tender tendrils early in the year that can be eaten raw along
with the young shoots of new plants. Violets, sorrel, and clover all have
valuable food properties but are peripheral for the survivor. Almost everything
is easier to digest with a steaming, but violets and sorrel can be eaten raw. The
acid in Sorrel can cause an upset stomach but my daughter eats a small handful
everyday. My wife and I are convinced this has helped her ward off colds that
were common in her early years since Sorrel is high in Vitamin C. All wild edible
plants are good for boosting our vitamin levels – being sick while surviving has
serious implications. Clover requires a lot of work for making flour and I’m
touching on things which are relatively quick and easy to prepare.

The Appalachian Mountains have some low spots, even in high

meadows, that collect water. These marshy areas are hard on footwear but
easy on the palette if you can find Cattail. Cattail is much more than a fuel
soaked torch (fuel can be any oil or tallow). When I re-read one of Tom Brown
Jr.’s books I was reminded of one very important thing regarding all these many
uses of plants. Mountain folks and natives took care when harvesting to
ensure there would be more on down the road. While modern ‘civilized’
people might not put much stock in the idea of talking to plants, there is a great
reward for looking upon them as fellow inhabitants of spaceship Earth. When I
was little I would imagine that the trees spoke to each other. If I behaved
poorly in one area of the forest the next place I visited might know me by ill
reputation. A forest that was cold to my presence was less likely to warn me of
danger and support my quest to live there and survive. I’ve continued into
adulthood with this mindset. Always gather what you need with respect.
Honor the sacrifice of all things that give up life so that we may live, and
harvest respectfully so there will be more for our children. We’d be in trouble
if the plants got together and decided that they too would carry disease along
with the animals! Back to Cattail.

Cattail shoots can be plucked from the root and eaten raw, or cooked
like Asparagus later in the year while still tender. Flower heads can be served
like Corn is gathered before maturity. In Summertime shaking the pollen off
yields a flour that does best when mixed with other flours to extend supplies.
Late Summer growths along the root look like horns; these are available all
winter and can be cooked for 10 minutes and served with butter. As the plant

45
gathers energy to last through harsh Winters it sends nutrition to the roots.
Peeled roots, crushed, and separated from fiber in water can be dried to make
a flour for storage or immediate use. Anything you find that is light and fluffy
in the woods makes insulation from the cold and can be used in shelters,
clothing, or sewn into fabric for pillows or a blanket. Often growing near Cattail
in calm water the purple flowered, flat disk leaves of Water Shield can add to a
meal with potato like tubers found under the water. Grab a big frog, catch a
fish, and it will be a good day in the hills. Mistake Wild Carrot also known as
Queen Anne’s Lace for a Water Hemlock and it will be your last day in the hills.
One handful of the hairless stemmed stalk will paralyze or kill you. Wild Carrot
has little hairs on the stalk and prefers fields. Water Hemlock, not surprisingly,
prefers wet areas.

If you find yourself driving along mountain roads you might see a
wood shack with a gravel parking lot selling homemade jellies, fruit, flowers, or
crafts. Don’t pass up a chance to support the local economy and learn
something from an old timer about the ways of the woods. If your drive
happens to be early Spring you might just come across a handful of Ramps.
Ramps and wild onions are a bit strong but match their flavor with vitality!
Remember the idea of eating what is in season. After a long Winter of stored
foods, lean meat, nuts, and less physical exertion the Spring foods of
Appalachia are ready to clean out the system and purify our toxic bodies. The
old timer might not tell you what secret spot grows Ramps but they’ll be happy
to give you recipes for Ramp burgers, Ramp stews, Ramp pancakes, Ramp
Ramps, and Ramp Potatoes.

When I was apprenticing with Eustace, Turtle Island was not as famous
as it is today. We didn’t have cooks but had to fend for ourselves before
reporting to work by 8 a.m. At one point all we had were some Winter Squash
that had been covered in deep hay in a shed to protect them from freezing.
We had sugar Winter Squash, curry Winter Squash, Winter Squash with deer,
fried, boiled, steamed, baked, and mashed Winter Squash. Sometimes it takes
creativity to make the most out of a limited food supply but if you’re really
excited to actually be alive and free from the consumer food market everything
tastes a little better.

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 While not as crucial for survival as water, food is necessary for life.
Our plant friends in Appalachia can fill a gap when times are hard or serve as a
grocery on their own in deep backcountry. While wild foods take some getting
used to I always seemed to maintain a greater health when eating far less than
I normally would living a modern American life. There is a life force radiating
from the wild plants and dense nutrition than cannot be sustained by the
modern agricultural practices that put most of our food on our plates. Even
small forays into the hills, a basket of berries, roots, leaves and nuts brings joy
to the soul and can lift our spirits. For longer term health, wellness, and
comfort our mountains provide medicines that have been used for centuries. I
have often wished that local high school curriculums included plant study if for
nothing else than increasing respect and reducing litter and destruction.

My own yard is a virtual pharmacy but that has its drawbacks. For
example, no one else can cut my grass or use a weedeater. My favorite hedge
trimmer, the Goat, is not welcome anywhere near my thickets and forest
edges. I drive on my mower like a race champion, dodging medicine and foods,
reversing, cutting corners and trying to not hit rocks. In the mountains we
specialize in growing rocks. It’s said that if you try to dig a hole for a post you
might end up with a cavern that could hide a small car after you’ve pried out
the stones. There won’t even be enough dirt leftover to fill the hole back half
way. But if we look at that another way, the soil drains well. A thousand years
of specific leaves have composted down, are hidden from Sunlight, and spend
the requisite 30 day minimum below freezing every Winter. This is the precise
and exact environment for Ginseng, an Appalachian treasure.

There are a few plants growing around these parts that fetch a pretty
coin, not all of which are legal to grow. Ginseng is regulated for interstate
commerce and land owners guard their forests carefully. You might think the
stories of getting shot in a Ginseng patch are rumors but I can verify it has
happened. When gathered ethically, after seeds have matured and without
deleting an entire supply, Ginseng is a powerful folk medicine. What you see in
gas stations and energy drinks are the leftovers from factory floors of inferior
specimens. Ginseng can’t be grown twice in the same soil making commercial
growing difficult. It needs a certain ecosystem that only occurs in Appalachia
and China, naturally, and the Chinese destroyed much of their ginseng habitat

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 over 500 years ago. I
know a few patches but
don’t sell it much,
sometimes I’ll trade a
little bit. I mostly use
Ginseng in my
homemade beverages,
teas, and to chew on.
Ginseng is more than an
aphrodisiac but that’s
what it’s best known for.
Maybe it acts this way on
the body because the greater effect is imparting a youthful vitality and
increasing circulation. Considered an ‘adaptogen’, ‘Sang as we call it balances
out the human system based on individual needs. It reduces the effect of
stress on the body and helps the metabolism adjust for weather extremes and
temperature changes. Isn’t it great that harvest time is right before Winter?
Things in nature work out that way if we are willing to listen and learn.

Near the Ginseng along damp forest valleys grow two other plants I
appreciate. They are Blue and Black Cohosh. Discussing birthing aids may
seem extraneous to a book on survival, until you realize that unless you’re
having kids survival doesn’t go on too long. Taking care of our mommas and
babies is an essential role for all community members. In the mountains
getting to medical centers can be frustrated by poor roads, inclement weather,
or even distrust of the medical system. While I’m a big fan of many modern
practices and drove like a wild man to get Melody in the hospital on time not
everyone is able or chooses to do this. Cohosh stimulates uterine activity and
can help get labor going. I had a friend who was a week late giving birth and
about to pop. She was considering a C-Section but preferred pushing the baby
out the old fashioned way. We mixed a tea up of some fresh Trillium root and
the baby was born within hours that evening. Trillium is a prized mountain
wildflower that resembles the Star of David. Sometimes you’ll hear
Appalachian people call it Beth Root which came from the earlier Birth Root.
Cherokee called it “Baby Comes Quick”. All three of these; Blue and Black
Cohosh and Trillium, are effective in regulating menstral cycles and are said to

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help with hot flashes later in life. Science confirms steroidal contents in the
roots which would alleviate some symptoms of menopause and be helpful for a
variety of women’s issues.

Again, while there are dozens or hundreds of great medicinal plants

here I want to emphasize my favorites. My favorites are qualified by being
easy to identify, numerous enough to harvest, effective at their job, storable
and accessible by both a homesteader and a wandering nomad living off the
land. No dog owner expects
to be a surgeon but when
the life of your best friend is
on the line you do what you
have to do. My Shepherd
Husky mix had a tumor that
was damaged in a scuffle
and torn open. Blood loss
was so severe that I had to
do emergency surgery,
closing the wound. I figured
I might as well cut out the
tumor at the same time.
One of the ingredients used
to successfully navigate this
situation was dried and
crushed leaf parts and
flowers from Yarrow. Tea
from Yarrow is a pleasant
drink that relieves symptoms
from colds and flu. For my dog Niko the best quality of this plant was that it
reduces or even stops bleeding. This makes it a Styptic, or coagulant. Like
today’s quick blood clotters Yarrow has been used for thousands of years in
first aid kits carried by warriors. Even the great Achilles is said to have carried
this plant and used it in battle to treat his own soldiers. This legend explains
why the Latin name for Yarrow is Achillea Millefolium L. To use it pour hot
water over the dried herb to make a tea, or increase the herb part to make an
infusion.

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 Infusions are basically
a dense tea, so thick that the
texture is thicker than a normal
water based drink. Infusions
are good ways to get the
benefits of a given herb. When
we make Nettle infusions we
grind up the dried plant in a
food processor, this can be
done with a mortar and pestle.
Then we add 1 ounce of dry
herb to a quart jar and pour
boiling water over it. After a
few hours steeping the herb is
strained out leaving a dark, thick medicine that tastes better than you’d expect.
A great candidate for infusions found in yards and fields throughout our region
is Heal All. Containing more antioxidants than Rosemary, Heal All exhibits anti-
hypotensive, anti-mutagenic, and antibiotic qualities. Used in salves to heal
bruises common in good martial arts training the tea is effective at curing sore
throats and in considered a blood purifier. Look for the purple flower tower
and square stem suggesting a mint family member.

Kudzu was introduced to North Carolina as a remedy for loose soil and
erosion, especially along road cuts. Now Kudzu threatens the landscape as a
highly invasive and aggressive species that quickly covers and kills surrounding
plants, trees, and even telephone poles, old houses, cliffs, and anything it can
cling to. If more people knew how powerful of a medicine it was we might be
able to make a dent in its progress. Kudzu has been used in China for
generations to treat headaches and expel drunkenness. My favorite use is as
follows. When I’ve been sick and my body is fighting off infection with a fever
instead of taking things to reduce the fever I let myself get hot. I’ll drink a cup
of Kudzu tea and go crawl under the blankets. At some point in the night I’ll
wake up soaking wet. It’s a terrible, uncomfortable feeling but the fever will be
broken and I will usually be back on track the next day. Kudzu knocks nastiness
right out. If you’ve got an old Uncle who can’t stop his latest drinking binge
Kudzu has compounds that reduce the desire for alcohol and are proven to

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have 100 times the antioxidant activity of Vitamin E. To store any of these
plants for later use just dry them slowly in an airy place, not direct sunlight.
The top of my barn or a drying shed is best. Beware moist late summer rains
which can spoil an herb crop.

I was wrestling two other men once in a barn. Determined to hold me

down one of them stood all his weight on my ankle. As I kicked free the skin
was torn off all the way to my ankle bone. I think I won that wrestling match,
but my foot almost fell off. The infection over the next few days became so
severe that I couldn’t walk. Every heartbeat was painful. Crawling to a row of
Pine Trees I gathered sap into a small plastic bag and heated it up in some
warm water. After soaking my foot and scrubbing off as much dead tissue as I
could stand I packed the wound with sap and wrapped it up. It would have
been wise to also make blood tonic tea to help purify things from the inside
out. Within 48 hours the pain and infection were gone. I will always have a
respect and admiration for the power of Pine Sap which can be applied even on
small scrapes and cuts and protect wounds from germs. The flexible inner bark
of Pine Trees and other evergreens in our mountains are also anti-septic and
can be tied on like rubber band aids over wounds.

Some of the more interesting plant treatments come from an oral

history passed down through members of the Cherokee tribe. Lynn Winch was
a woman I used to visit a lot as her health was declining who lived on the edge
of the Qualla boundary in western North Carolina. I first met her when I was
about 14 years old through a friend who bought her crafts and leatherwork.
She was the partner of John Henry Crow, elder and medicine man of the tribe.
Her path was controversial and was considered ‘twisted hair’ teachings,
meaning she blended the medicine practices of the Cherokee with outside
influences – something frowned upon by traditionalists. But as long as John
Crow was around no one could really give her a hard time. He passed away
and she lived a lonely life in a beautiful cabin. I’d go spend weekends with her
and help with chores around the house. We would drive along the river and
she shared history and funny family stories. Her fireplace was warm, her house
smelled of herbs and spices, and she was grateful for the company of someone
who would listen and watch old movies. She collected Indian movies,
productions that were made by native people of any descent. The native term

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for medicine was not used to describe a physical thing to take for illness, it also
meant good heart, spirit, and something positive and strong. When you act
without wanting recognition for the betterment of humankind that was good
medicine. Experiencing awe and wonder was medicine. Treating an illness was
a combination of addressing the heart and spirit as well as physical remedies. I
underwent a traditional treatment for planters warts that was anything other
than pleasant but it worked. Sometimes the Cherokee treatment with a plant
didn’t seem to be scientific or reason based but there is great wisdom in native
people, not to be discounted entirely.

For example the Rhododendron which is generally considered toxic

could be peeled and rubbed over scratched and bruised areas of the body. It
aided healing. There was a time when lots of people were trying to ingest
goldenrod as a way to quick-clean the urine for drug tests. She said that was of
no use but that it was a good tea for fevers. Jewelweed, or Spotted Touch-Me-
Not, is commonly known as a preventative or speed healer for Poison Ivy rash
but it could also be crushed and rubbed on the stomach to relieve pains and
indigestion in children. Carolina Vetch, Virginia Pine and apple juice made a
tonic that would strengthen athletes and open the chest. A puff of burned
Mullein would do the same, staving off an asthma attack. Mullein oil could be
poured into the ear and stopped with a cotton ball to work on earaches,
congestion and pain. Paracelsus wrote in the early 1500’s that plants
resembled the area or complaint which they would be effective at treating.
This became known as the Doctrine of Signatures. Some theologians have
contended that this was God’s way of helping humans understand the uses and
medicine inherent in plants. This is not considered reliable by any modern
standard and is generally disregarded. The Cherokee, however, had a similar
view. For example a sharp edged plant might be good for cuts, or something
that resembled snakeskin might be helpful with snake bites. Lynn would joke
about her failing memory, or more often mine, and said once that any plant
that sticks to you will help things stick in the memory. So a plant like Cleavers
would aid mental function.

Whether or not there is truth to these legends is not my call to make

but I wanted to mention a few of the tales to give an impression of the
relationship native and all mountain people have had with the Earth. Even

52
learning to identify a few plants opens the natural world up to kids who are less
likely to then leave garbage and chop down green things indiscriminately. It is
in no way false to claim Appalachian Mountaineers have been “tree huggers”
long before bell bottom pants and tie-dyed shirts came into fashion. Learning
to live with the plants and trees in harmony is more than a feel good ideology,
it is survival.

There are only a few mushrooms I venture to mess with. I respect and
admire the beauty of them all. Part of that respect, for me, is knowing that
they can kill. Chicken of the woods, Reishi, Oyster Mushrooms, Morels, Ink
Caps, Chantarelles, Puffballs and Jelly Fungus all find themselves on the menu
or in the medicine shelf at the Bolejack house but outside of that one needs
specific training and knowledge. Even these have minute details one must
observe for confidence. Mistakes are often made early in the life cycle when
identification is more difficult. A couple small bites of the Death Angel can lead
to irreversible and agonizing pain, coma, and possibly death from destruction
to internal organs. For those mentioned above and any other edible ‘shrooms
remember; younger taste better, a little butter and fried is the best
preparation.

There are many ways to use all of the tools, foods, and medicines
Nature offers us. By being creative and pursuing old knowledge we can
rekindle this fascinating study and pass it on to future generations. I am
grateful to have modern hospitals and doctors and have been greatly blessed
by the skill of a local surgeon and enjoyed being able to deaden the pain with
medicines my doctor prescribed. The two modalities do not cancel each other
out but can be complimentary. As ninjas we must always consider the
possibility that we may not always have the luxury of modern medicine at our
fingertips. When hardware stores are unavailable, the grocery store is closed,
and the pharmacy is empty, nature still has a wonderful storehouse for us to
harvest from with respect and thanksgiving. It is an empowering thing, too, to
break free from that umbelical cord – the idea that we are slaves to the
modern system, the infrastructure, the destructive cycles of production that
harm our environment and our bodies. So often ulterior motives and profits
cloud the vision of medicine providers.

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 If we keep our hearts open, however, and tune in to the old ‘medicine
way’, we may prevent much of what the modern world calls disease in the first
place.

A portable lock box is a great way to store harvested seeds. Seeds are valuable
trade items as well as future food, tea, medicine, and enjoyment.

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天文 Ten Mon – Meteorology

You could see white caps cresting on the waves as far out to sea as
there was water. A grey sky blew strong and an angry surf roared. I wasn’t
having any of it. We had been on a family vacation for 5 days without a breath
of wind. In another day we would pack up the 14 foot catamaran sailboat and
return to the mountains. I was considering a week at the beach without a sail
through the surf. I felt robbed and disappointed. The weather had been so
calm we wouldn’t have been able to push past the dangerous surf and out into
deeper waters.

Hobie catamarans are made for beach launching. Steadied by two

hulls and quickened by an oversized sail they are speed machines. Sailing is an
ideal way to teach knots, weather reading, navigation, courage, quick thinking
under pressure and decisive action. Today it was a way to learn humility. My
dad said, “Son, I think you should stay on shore and sit this one out.” I said,
“No way dad.” I must have been 15 years old at the time, I knew a lot about
sailing. In fact I probably knew a lot about everything, or thought I did anyway.

I studied the rhythm of the waves; big, big, small, lull. Big, big, small,
lull. A lull is a still moment between wave cycles that serves as a window to
escape the shoreline with minimal chance of a capsize. There are cycles in the
forces of nature. Things rise and build, then they fall. We can predict or at
least be aware of potential by paying attention to the way weather behaves,
and the Earth in general. Awareness of the planet’s systems is greater when
we harmonize with them. Dad and I pushed the boat over the sand into ankle
deep water where it sprang to life. Like a horse bucking to be free a sailboat
jumps forward with aggression once afloat. I struggled to run in the knee deep
water and hurled myself up onto the side rail. The boat was beginning to turn
into the direction of the wind which results in a stall and a real predicament in
boiling shallow surf – you lose control and have no steering ability.
Immediately an enormous wave washed over the boat lifting the bow high and
steep. She came down hard and almost stalled. After letting go of the sidestay
wire, which I had clutched with white knuckles, I rolled aft toward the tiller and
dropped a rudder down which would help me regain maneuverability. I pulled

65
hard and brought the bow off the wind enough to fill the sails once more – just
in time. This time the wave hit at a slight angle and washed over the deck
known as a trampoline on Hobies. It smacked me in the face and knocked my
sunglasses off. I was only wearing them to protect my eyes from spray. Falling
down the back side of the wave I picked up speed as if on a roller coaster and
became completely airborne on the next crest. This was a ride! I was filled
with excitement, shaking with adrenaline, and looking forward to getting past
the breakers and out in to the gentle rolling swells. What was I thinking that
cloudy day?

The weather speaks to us but it speaks more clearly when we have

need of its support. Motivation, or a need to know, is important for any
understanding and speed of learning. Sailors have an attunement to the wind
that seems magical. My dad could count down a gust of wind from 30 seconds
out and at zero exactly the gust would hit us like an invisible wall. He learned
to see wind shadows on the water and on land. My grandpa would shake his
head when examining distant thunder storms and proclaim in frustration, “not
today”. He was almost always right. Other times we’d rush out together and
cover up items or clear a drain pipe. He was like a kid when feeling an
incoming storm before there were any obvious signs about. What’s bad to one
person is good to another. Weather is indifferent, and yet, sometimes there
does seem to be a relationship between the heart of humanity and the
reflection nature echoes back. We’d sit on the porch watching the lightning,
feeling the thunder clap. He’d say, “Bring it down King Jesus!” with an almost
angry looking smile and satisfaction. His crops depended on the rain. When
other people ran inside and complained he prayed thanks to Heaven for the
downpours. My dad would carry me up as a kid on top of the mountain to
watch storms come in. Sometimes too late in our retreat we would be caught
in the storm and would just walk, marveling at the powerful expression of a
storm. Maybe that jaded me a little. Maybe I should have been more afraid
that cloudy day on the North Carolina coast.

The sailboat was traveling so fast that my upwind hull constantly

begged to fly out of the water. I let the sails out to bleed off wind and keep her
flat but the power kept surging through the craft, barely within my control.
Waves were still breaking and foaming over the front and sides of my small

66
boat so I strapped my feet in tight on deck under the hiking lines and hunkered
down. Each blast smashed into us, the boat and I, spraying water half way up
the sail and beyond. My eyes were tearing up and salty, not from crying, just
incessant spray and foam and water. A minute more of survival passed and the
thought that maybe conditions were beyond my ability was just barely starting
to creep into my brain. I wasn’t ready to surrender – just a few more meters
and surely I’d break through this harrowing surfline and start riding epic swells.
About then a dark mass of green water grew in front of the boat. I felt like I
was taking off from the Earth as I left the trough, or bottom of the wave and
sped up this growing face. Just as I started to think I’d get over it the lip curled
and began breaking up in the high wind. The deck of my ship was angled at 45
degrees, I leaned forward and a cave of water formed around my head and
body. For a moment I was weightless, in freefall. Slam! We hit the next wave
trough. I struggled to wipe my eyes but couldn’t let go of the tiller for even a
second and precise control of the sail was priority even over the ability to see. I
rubbed my eyes on my life vest and shoulder, blinking and looked back at what
I thought would be a white sand beach with my dad shaking his head and
waving me back. Instead of being caught in the surf and being held still, just off
shore, the reality stabbed me with fear. I had been moving fast, there was no
difference in the surf and the sea, and I was far out to sea. The shore was a
thin grey line maybe a two miles behind me and the waves were only becoming
more intense.

In that moment I knew myself and the craft were in danger and that
I’d be lucky to get back to shore. According to my dad with each rise and fall in
between waves half of the ship’s sail and mast would disappear below the
waterline, at times almost completely if heeled over sideways. I studied ahead
for a break between monsters, these crushing waves, but saw none. I dared
not turn at the wrong time for risk of a direct side-hit and capsize. Gaining
courage I pushed hard on the tiller and veered left. The power of the waves
knocked me back on a straight course to the open sea. I tried again. And again.
In calmer waters I could pivot to the right and gybe the boat, switching wind
angles from the rear. In this mess that would have certainly dumped me
headfirst into the water and flipped the boat, especially with the steep angled
wave faces I was riding up and down. I felt hopeless. I was still speeding away
from the shore and had no way to turn the boat. I couldn’t spin away from the

67
wind and the waves and chop wouldn’t allow me to turn into the wind. I
wanted to panic.

Instead I relaxed my shoulders and surrendered. I began to pray. I

realized my own inability and allowed myself to embrace complete brokenness.
I asked God to get me back to shore. Why this was a last resort instead of a
first is partly the nature of we stubborn humans, but either way, I allowed a
greater strength to flow through me by accepting my miniscule place in the
Universe. I let go of the tiller, and gently relaxed the sail. I stood up on the
front crossbar clinging for life to the mast and held the foresail, called a jib, as
far out as I could reach. The wind pushed against the jib and angled the boat
around through the eye of the wind. I was stalled now, there was no steering
ability. I rocked up and down, over each wave, moving gently backwards but
facing the wide open sea. Letting go of the jib at just the right moment I fell
back onto the craft deck and straightened the rudders. The jib slammed across
to the other side – I was through the eye of the wind. I widened the new tack
angle and opened the sails as far as they would go. Stretched out over the
transom, the boats rear portion, I pleaded for the craft to keep from pitch-
poling; an inglorious front flip that occurs when the bows sink below the water
and dive for the ocean floor. I outpaced the waves jamming dangerously deep
into the backsides ahead of me, crested each, and raced twice as fast down the
front. It was some of the best surf sailing of my life and it was completely out
of control. I couldn’t bleed any wind out of the sails, I could only hang on.
Through foam and froth I punched at breakneck speed, rooster tails spraying
up behind me leaving a wake down the front of each wave. As the boat topped
over and began a new descent it seemed to teeter as if on a balance beam, I
stretched further to the rear hanging on by my feet which were under the deck
straps. As quick as I had gotten into this mess I was out. The boat slammed
into the sand hurtling me forward and off the boat. I jumped up and braced my
hands against the side rail and hull as a wave hit me from behind. My dad and
a few onlookers took control of the boat. I fell into the sand, more thankful
than ever to feel solid ground under my knees, my hands, my face.

This story is about more than just weather. It’s about the power of
nature, which weather is. When we are taken by things far more powerful than
ourselves it is futile to fight, senseless to seek refuge in our own skills and

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knowledge and strength. Sometimes the only way out is through, and the only
way to survive ‘through’ is to be with what we fear. By letting go and
surrendering we can harmonize with things which would destroy us. We can
‘surf the wave’ rather than fight it. This is the way of the ninja, this is
perseverance! Survive where others are destroyed. Survive by being weak. It is
not always cowardice to give way, it can lead to victory. There are always
greater powers than us as well as spiritual forces that dwarf what greatness we
may think we have. We are wise to stay humble inside no matter what fun
character we may choose to wear on the surface.

The same day another man in a house next to ours took his Hobie
Catamaran sailboat out. Like me he thought it would be a thrill. He mocked
the waves and wind. I remember in slow motion, clear as a movie in my mind,
how his struggle ended. His boat dug deep into the sea, straight down. The
hulls lodged into the sand as the craft was thrown end over end. In one
moment both hulls ripped in two and were shredded along with all the
accompanying wires, sail material, cables, ropes and pulleys. It was a miracle
he made it out alive, rescued by a crew of people on the shore who had
gathered to watch the spectacle.

The experience of growing up observing powerful weather broke my

comfort zones early. When others retreated inside we went outdoors and
rejoiced. This isn’t for lack of respect, if anything, it is true respect – to know a
thing and call it by its True name. Strong weather lights something inside me, I
get wild feeling as a rain blows in, the wind calls to my deepest soul as it roars
over the mountain and I hide down in a bush. Lightning high in the hills and the
roar of thunder remind me of my small place in time and space. For the
mountaineer and the ninja there is no observation of weather as much as there
is living with it.

Weather is one of the relationships between ten chi, Heaven and

Earth. It can cost a battle or bring success. We must consider how it can aid
our quest or dissuade those against us. It is elemental, a play between Water
and Air, Earth and Fire. As everything together it is in essence ku, emptiness
awaiting creation and Void. If we learn to operate within the many types of
weather we may encounter we are at an advantage. Keeping warm enough in

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the cold, protecting ourselves in the wet, staying hydrated in the hot, and so
on, are the basics of survival that many people forget not for lack of knowledge
but for lack of respect.

Weather affects the spirit and the psyche. In Boone, where I went to
school for a time, there is prevalence among students of SAD; Seasonal
Affective Disorder. This is a mood based assessment related to days of
sunlight versus days of clouds and cold. Rain causes people to batten the
hatches so to speak and draw inward. Wind perks us up, almost like awakening
a memory of that primal need for security when sounds were masked and
hearing reduced in some forest long ago. As we will study in the chapter on
stealth we are not the only ones who use the blowing wind, enohluskuh in
Cherokee, to our advantage. Rain affects the ability to smell. It is curious how
water cleanses air; the rain falls taking with it small dust particles, reducing the
distance of traveling scents. Dampness activates the smell of objects in the
forest. While the scent may not be carried as far it is stronger at the point of
emanation. Sometimes lightly damping a piece of cloth will reveal hidden
odors still trapped in the fibers, this can work with tracking dogs as well. Heat
slows things down, animals and humans. It’s vital to not let the superficial
desire of comfort rob us of the experience weather events give us. Rainy
mountains are beautiful and without so many tourists. Cold weather has few
snakes, no spiders. Dry weather makes listening easier. We can redefine
comfort.

Being able to forecast the weather is a little like seeing the future.
There are signs, however, within nature from animals and insects to trees and
clouds that foretell certain meteorological events. Like my Dad and my
grandpa anyone who simply lives in it begins to hear the language. A great way
to begin this skill is to correlate what you can find in modern technology and
media with what you feel and observe outside. Don’t listen to the weather
person interpreting the data, read the data itself and then pay attention.
When a weather station or news channel shows high pressure systems, low
pressure systems, fronts and stalls, guess what will happen next. Try noticing
which way weather events tend to move and figure out why. Think of high and
low pressure systems as a topographic map. Water runs downhill in the same
way that moisture and storms follow the path of least resistance from high

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pressure to low, and the lower the pressure goes the more force they draw
elements into themselves with. A hurricane is an example of an extreme low,
sucking in clouds and wind from hundreds of miles away. Using our topo map
as a comparison that would be a deep basin or valley. High pressure systems
repel storms and feel like a bubble when they are over you. The difference in
pressure between two areas is directly related to the velocity of the wind as it
is pushed or sucked from one place to another. Steep hills have waterfalls.
Steep pressure changes have aggressive winds, downdrafts, and can spin off
tornadoes. As air cools it wants to lose moisture. Warm air rises, cool air falls.
Heat energy is stored and released in storms. Often times a mountain range
will elevate air, cooling it, and cause rain to fall. A potential storm will gain
intensity as the afternoon Sun pounds down or if it crosses over warm water.
Approaching warm fronts tend to lead with a storm and clear off quickly,
followed by fog and mist. Cold fronts tend to increase steadily the severity of
precipitation, even producing hail, but pass begrudgingly leaving clearer skies
behind. Seeing things ahead of time a sailor might have to reduce sail area to
keep from being overpowered by a wind. Mountain people have things that
need covering, tightened down. The wilderness traveler must secure gear and
ensure a tarp is ready and anchored well. Quickly assembled water traps such
as a tarp, split bamboo or broad leaves funneled into a bottle will replenish
supplies in seconds. I’ve been caught on the wrong side of a creek that turned
into a dangerous swirl of boulders, trees and mud after a storm. This
knowledge can separate you from unwanted company if you see it in the
‘heavens’ and make course accordingly.

Pine cones and other seed bearing pods in the woods will often close
up tight as high pressure approaches, saving their moisture in dry weather.
They will open before wet weather and be ready to receive water. Bats fly late
when the evening will remain clear. Bees don’t fly as far and many insects will
stay close to their base when rain is on the way. Rain diminishes the ability to
see or fly, so any creature affected will change behavior in preparation.
Backwoods folks recognize an abrupt silence as an indicator of imminent wet
weather. For some animals such as deer, who do not see well anyway, it cuts
general awareness down in addition to suppressing scent. Rain, especially a
light drizzle, is excellent for woods movement as it enhances overall stealth.
It’s an old saying that cows lying down means rain. While that saying is too

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simplistic and not always accurate it might have something to do with sore
joints bearing weight. Older people or those who have arthritis can feel
pressure changes in their bones, often predicting incoming weather by the
amount of pain they experience. Among a given population you will find
individuals with unusual talents. Some people get hot ears before bad
weather, or they have some other indicator that no one else shares. My
eyeballs feel different as pressure changes. I can look hard to one side or
another and feel subtle changes in the atmosphere. If a storm is going to be
prolonged animals and insects will be busier just before it hits, gathering food
for the long wait. Short spells of inclement weather will cause the critters to
seek refuge right away. Birds often sing at the close of a storm signaling clear
weather within minutes. After a long storm animals are hungry and hasty in
their movements searching for food and lost company. This is a good time to
hunt from a still position.

A new, heavy snow will make animals more sedentary since it is hard
to walk in. After a few days they give in to hunger and venture out. Tracking is
easy in snow unless it’s still coming down, in which case don’t expect to trail or
be trailed. Use this to your own advantage or be followed without chance of
escape. I’ve never known a Wooly Worm (common name for a fuzzy caterpillar
in the Appalachians) to accurately predict Winter weather based on color, as
folklore suggests. I have, however, raced a Wooly Worm at the festival bearing
its name in Banner Elk, NC and recommend it for mountain visitors. Not sure if
the temperature is rising or falling? There are many long term indicators such
as acorn numbers, hair thickness on animals, shapes of seeds and so on but I
caution against jumping to conclusions. Here’s an old saying I like - Research
and test, that is best! Some folk methods are very accurate and helpful, others
are misleading. Crickets are always willing to tell more than something is
passing close by in the dark with their silence; they also tell the temperature in
song. Count the number of chirps a cricket makes in 14 seconds, add 40 and
you’ll have the current temperature in degrees Fahrenheit. For Celsius count
the number of chirps in 25 seconds, divide by 3 and add 4.

By listening to the living forest a wanderer can take appropriate action

such as sheltering for a moment under thick brush. Many times in the
Appalachians there is no need to even don rain gear, just wait a few minutes

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under natural shelter. A leaning tree is enough. If one knows the terrain and
can get to an overhang or cave it may save hours of drying out gear. Beware,
lightning can travel through ground and a shallow overhang is hazardous. Even
a 4” layer of improvised flooring such as grass and leaves or a rubber ground
pad can be a lifesaving insulator against electricity in thunderstorms. Keep
your shoes on. Thunder sounds travel at a speed of 5 seconds per mile, NOT
the common misconception of 1 second per mile. This means danger is closer
than you think. Start counting when lightning flashes and repeat to see if the
storm is approaching, passing, or moving away. One lightning bolt can be 5
miles long. If you’re on a boat cannot escape the water you should consider
grounding the craft by connecting a metal chain or wire conductor to the mast
or highest point and throwing it overboard into the water. Otherwise get out
of the water, even a puddle, and if possible lay parallel to invisible Electric
Equipotential lines which run along the surface and get denser over tall points
and objects. Stay low.

“Hearing” incoming weather allows for gear reduction, important for

quick traveling scouts who blend with nature to stay safe. Knowing ahead of
time helps us choose the correct gear for a mission. Learn how to make
snowshoes by bending flexible woods and weaving cross straps from natural
materials. Ropes are pivotal in descending an ice coated landscape of even
moderate difficulty. Trying to walk, slide, and scoot down a valley will get your
gloves destroyed and you beaten and bruised. This isn’t a rare occurrence –
bad ice. It can happen as a snow thaws and refreezes creating a hard slippery
layer on top or it can happen as rain freezes or fog coats the mountains in
Winter. Wrap the rope around a tree, use the double line to move down safe.
Pull one end to retrieve it and repeat. If you’re moving with a friend one can
belay as the other moves, this is a little safer since there’s no chance of
grabbing only one line and losing control. Axes and knives are poor substitutes
and can result in fall related injuries. Drop it and you may spend an hour trying
to get it back. I’ve watched with dismay as my gear slid and crashed into trees
down a steep hill and out of sight.

In addition to all the living things speaking in the Biosphere the Earth
herself whispers weather wisdom for the alert person to hear and know. One
can begin this type of weather study by learning different clouds. Various cloud

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types form at different altitudes and pressure and can point toward certain
weather activity. Cumulus clouds are white and puffy, forming low to the
ground at 1,000-3,000 meters, sometimes less. Stratocumulus reach higher
and carry rain showers with them. As they merge and grow in intensity they
form Cumulonimbus which are great spectacles to watch. These thunderheads,
as some call them, rise upward with visible speed as an incoming cold front
pushes the hot air skyward. Sometimes the cloud reaches so high, over 7-8,000
meters, that the top layers turn to ice and flatten off – even cut by a quick
passing upper level air stream. This is known as the anvil since it resembles the
blacksmiths tool in shape. A quick advance throws heat higher faster and
results in heavy but short lasting storms. A slow advancing front displaces
warm air slower so the storms may not be as intense but will last longer.

Cirrus clouds are high and wispy frozen particles moving over 100 mph
in speed. Cirrocumulus are similar but rounder, scaly, and not quite as high.
Cirrostratus are lower still, 5 or 6,000 meters, and remind me of shredded and
spread cotton balls stretched over the sky. These clouds often form a dull glow
or ring around heavenly bodies. Some people call these rings halos. These
clouds are an excellent forecasting tool and often warn of an approaching
warm front. As warm air rises up over cooler air it creates a wedge of influence
that can lead as far as 600 miles, giving the observant person ample time to
plan. A ring around the moon suggests incoming precipitation with a lead time
relative to the size of the ring. The larger rings, 3-4 times in radius the width of
the moon, or more, mean rain is likely after noon the following day. A dull haze
through the whole night sky means rain in the morning. If stars seem to be
disappearing get covered up. A thin halo around the moon surrounded by a
clearer night sky means rain will come but it could be 48 hours or more. All of
these systems are likely to be followed by cooler temperatures. Sun dogs, or
mini-rainbows in the sky are similar to night halos. Their distance from the Sun
hints at the long range forecast giving notice of rain up to three days ahead of
time. The longer our advance warning the longer a system will stay in place.
The quicker it surprises us the faster it leaves us alone. Keep in mind that
clouds insulate the Earth. A clear sky is colder and results in a harder frost
whereas foggy evenings act like a blanket over the mountains holding in
warmth. Observing counter rotating layers of clouds, or a surface wind that
differs from that in the sky means unstable conditions that can change quickly.

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 Paying attention to the wind is important. Folks say that the silver
side of leaves means rain. That’s just another way of saying wind means rain
since it’s the wind pushing the leaves over. Wind has much more importance
to the invisible warrior. Wind affects bullet travel and is much harder to
calculate then bullet drop which is consistent with gravity. Long range shooters
must carry or memorize a wind calculation table for their specific bullet and
load. Wind also gives away position to animals. Simple ways to determine
wind direction abound. A wet finger is colder facing the breeze. Fire ash
placed in a cloth and shaken will reveal the faintest undetectable breeze. Some
people pinch dust or drop a feather. The ash technique is more consistent.

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Wind changes based on relative temperatures that happen at different times of
day. A secure position downwind may not be so come daybreak. During the
day air rises out of the valleys pushing wind upward toward the ridges. At night
this reverses and cold air sinks low. This knowledge can help you sleep better
in more ways than one. Not only does camping near a creek reduce hearing
and conceal the approach of humans and animals, it’s also much much colder!
Deer will nestle down with their back to the wind, smelling what they cannot
see, seeing where they cannot smell. A similar change happens near water.
Wind blows on to land during the day toward the vacuum created by rising hot
air. At night it switches since the land cools quickly and the water holds heat
energy, so wind gradually moves around blowing out to sea or over a lake large
enough to influence local weather.

I had a watch once that read barometric pressure. As such it could

also give an idea of altitude. The closer we get to sea level the heavier the air
pressure is around us, 14 pounds per square inch pressing in on our body. As
we go higher pressure decreases. Modern gadgets can be helpful, especially
the trifecta combination of a Barometer, Thermometer, and Hygrometer
measuring pressure, temperature, and humidity. Making a barometer is fairly
easy and can help in forecasting weather events. Fill a jar half way up with
water. Then fill a bottle half way as well. Quickly turn the bottle upside down
submerging the open top in the water held by the jar. Toothpicks can secure
the bottle in the mouth of the jar and ensure air flow. Mark the water level on
the bottle. If pressure increases the water level will rise. If pressure decreases
it will fall. Remember a dropping pressure means worsening weather
conditions or an approaching storm. For the mountain ninja this could be a
great time to move about unseen and unheard.

Certain dangers related to weather in the Appalachian mountains

deserve highlighting. I have mentioned a few of them but since they are so
important I feel the need to express them again. Flooding is one of our
greatest natural disasters in the mountains. Even small creeks can become
death traps in minutes, and rivers downstream have claimed many lives. The
power of Water is immense and carries away Earth including bridge supports,
houses, even roads. In a period of crisis repair times may be extended
indefinitely, meaning many mountain roads will fail with the absence of regular

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maintenance. Consider this as you prepare your home and travel plans for the
future. Mudslides and soil collapse is also a problem and campers often wake
up to find they have set up in a wash or basin. Look for sand in low lying areas
as an indicator of water. Pine needles, leaves, and other detritus can also warn
us that our site is too low and holds water. Being high and dry is not always
safe. The forest is full of dead and dying trees, dead branches and heavy limbs.
A wind shear can tear a healthy tree from its roots but dead wood can fall for
no apparent reason and will fall in storms, wind and snow. These “widow
makers” can penetrate tents and primitive shelters and a falling Hemlock trunk
can flatten a car. Always examine the fall range and potential dead branches
above and around the camp site. I had a friend named Ryan, a wood carver
who made me beautiful Locust hanbos. He was a ranger in Yellowstone. He
was also an experienced woodsman and had lived in and along the wilderness
for years. He died one night when a branched speared him in his sleep, pinning
him to the ground.

Another danger that escapes notice is fog. There is wreckage of an old

plane crash on Cold Mountain where I live. Anyone caught in higher elevations
knows that no headlight can assist driving when the fog sets in. Folks have
gone over the edge into steep ravines or hit other drivers when dense fog
reduced visibility. Fog can aid movement if you do not want to be seen but the
modern operator must always be aware of the possibility of instruments that
can see through fog and smoke. Heavy smoke can linger when forests burn
nearby. In 2016 massive wildfires raged in the southern Appalachians for
months. While the fire itself is an immediate danger to lives and property the
smoke is harmful to the lungs and can cause complications for the old and the
very young as well as slow healing from sickness or flu. Dry weather for
extended periods raises the likelihood of fire and lowers water levels in wells
and springs. Rocky riverbeds hinder local navigation and crops suffer from
drought as well.

Applying Ten Mon to various activities we may engage in gives us a

greater chance of success and allows for adequate preparation against an
adversary. I listed various such endeavors throughout the chapter to illustrate
certain points and help make the information relevant. For hunting, weather
affects behavior and sensory awareness. For observation wind masks sound

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and a bright moon illuminates the landscape. High winds are difficult to climb
in, kick dust into the eyes and push hard against the body. Hiding, not moving,
can be aided by the deep shadows afforded by moonlight but escape is easier
under cover of total darkness. Weather can support us like wind against a sail
or smash us like ants under foot. All of the training in the world can be made
meaningless by poor decisions not taking the knowledge of nature and the
Earth into account. By listening to creation we begin to hear the Creator and
our spirits grow, watered by the awe and awesomeness of the natural world.
We do not paint the weather as bad or good, it is what it is. A master of the
forest, nothing more than a wisp of smoke on the wind, observes the great
beauty around them and dissolves comfort barriers that limit other people.
Operating only within the confines of the requirements to stay alive he or she
can merge with the elements, resisting or surrendering as is effective, blending,
foretelling, and riding the waves to accomplish whatever goal is set before
them.

With this basic understanding we can become weather forecasters

and learn to feel things coming before they arrive. We can look at human
behavior and society in a similar way and see “weather” in social dynamics.
Conflict, like a storm, has a period of forewarning. In an individual fight or a
massive war pressures, fronts, and signs of foretelling can give us a glimpse into
the future. Mountain people often see things well before they happen. This
gives a ninja the ability to provide safety for others or fight more efficiently if
necessary. Preparation is key and time is golden. Learning to submit to the
powers of nature and flow in harmony with the Earth bonds us to forces
greater than ourselves alone and can keep us alive, flexible, unbroken. The
study of Meteorology, or Ten Mon, helps keep us one step ahead.

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Conclusion

I hope you have learned something new about this ‘art’ and the
practices many people invest their lives learning and sharing. This is not the
book’s end. There is much more! I realized, while writing, the book was
getting long and should be divided into volumes. I then came to see even
volume one, at 250 pages, was heavy. It’s now presented as four books. You
have finished volume 1, book 3. Books 1, 2, and 4 cover awareness, espionage
(cho ho), strategy and leadership (bo ryaku), tracking, hiding and escape
(Inton), stealth (shinobi iri), clothing as a tool, repurposing and home
engineering, water training (sui ren) and horse skills (ba jutsu).

Volume 2 will pick up with Henso Jutsu, disguise and impersonation,

and move on to more technical studies including Kayaku Jutsu, things related to
fire. This will include using fire as a tool, many ways to create fire, and some
pyrotechnics including knowledge related to firearms. Kusari Gama will be
touched on lightly as a chain and sickle, but will go deeply into the use of
flexible weapons as a whole; knots, ties, defense, restraints and hojojutsu.
Various weapons will receive detailed attention especially Shuriken Jutsu, the
art of blade throwing. We will explore various environmental devices as well as
how to construct your own effective blades. Taijutsu, or unarmed whole-body
self defense will receive some treatment as will the unique expressions of
spiritual refinement or Seishin Teki Kyoyo compared between the two cultures
under study. Special note will be made between some of the obscure practices
among mountain Christian lineages, our native ancestors, and the shrouded
practices of Japanese seekers in the mountains. An amazing overlap does exist
in some ways.

Volume 2 will close with a look at both traditional innovations, tools of

the ninja, as well as essential tools of the complete modern backwoods person
and how to use them; torches, grinders, welders, cutters, sewing, packs, boots,
bags, armor, tricks of the trade and more. Lastly, ideas on training including all
the tidbits that didn’t fit well anywhere else will conclude the complete work.

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Information on Learning More

At the time of this writing Spencer continues to teach through his

program Land of the Sky Wilderness School (LOTSWild) and various locations in
Western North Carolina. A significant portion of his time is devoted to
speaking and teaching. If you are interested in hosting Spencer for your event,
school, family, business, program, or other venue contact his representative
through the many available social media outlets or his website;
www.lotswild.com

For a behind the scenes look at writing, video, knife making, travel,
survival, martial arts and fitness, gadgets, stories, music online classes and
more consider becoming a Patron to support upcoming works. A monthly
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Thank you again. Ganbatte!

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