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“He may be just a tramp, a guy that likes to roam about this great country without any special aim, just to thank the Lord for these beautiful mountains.”
-B. Traven, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

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“. . .here, where there are still the silences and the loneliness of the earth before man, . . .”

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Recently Read
- Rocky Peak Park, Santa Susana Mountains
- A Treasure Hunt For Chumash Pictographs and the Vicious Protector
- Eating Poison Oak
- The Sisquoc Falls: A Little Known Region in California Explored (1884)
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- Camping Out in California: Pine Mountain Narrative (1887)
- The Mood Altering Stream Orchid
- Pine Mountain and Zaca Lake Forest Reserve (1898)
- The Day Hell Hit Santa Barbara; Third Hottest Temperature Ever Recorded on Earth
- Ancient Artifact: Eccentric Chipped Stone Crescent
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Latest Dispatches
- Bald Eagle, Manzana Creek, San Rafael Wilderness
- When Rains Fall, Will USFS Close Our Forest? The Coming El Nino
- Language of Forest Closure; Assault on an Ancient Right
- March of the Mustard; The Spread of Noxious Weeds
- Mark of Conquest II: Benchmark and Mortar
- Save Old Mission Sycamore … __ __ __ …
- Raking the Forest: Anderson, Trump, Kuyper
- Initials of J.D. Reyes (1907)
- Last California Grizzlies Seen In Santa Barbara National Forest? (1926)
- Eccentric Artifact, San Marcos Foothills Preserve
- Fog Drip Morels
- Naming Santa Barbara’s Modoc Road
- Mark of Conquest: Benchmark and Mortar
- Hat Tip to the Selfless Samaritans In Service to Others
- The Intelligence of Coyote Tobacco (Nicotiana attenuata)
Lunar Phase

Author Archives: Jack Elliott
Condor Cave Reference On Redwood Log, Disney California Adventure Park
Chumash pictograph, Santa Barbara County “Native people drew spiral pictographs—sets of concentric rings radiating out from a center—on cave walls and rock shelters in locations where they are illuminated by the rising sun on the winter solstice. Solstice ceremonies, such … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Adventure, Archaeology, backcountry, Chumash, Hiking, History, Indians, Native Americans, Nature, Pictographs, Travel
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4 Comments
Parks Management Company’s Red Rock Racket and the Secret Green Ticket
Kid on a rope. Parks Management Company employees will never tell you that you’re free to drive past their checkpoint at First Crossing, at the end of Paradise Road in Santa Barbara County, and park in unpaved pullouts along River … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Backpacking, Hiking, Hiking (2), Los Padres National Forest, News, Parks Management Company, Red Rock, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez River, Swimming Holes, Wilderness
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6 Comments
Carrizo Plain Elk Under Full Moon
Tule elk graze Carrizo Plain. Two photographers perched before one end of Selby Rocks outcrop shooting the moon rising over the broken spine of white sandstone. We drove past, along the meandering dirt road, through the undulating beige grassland, down … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Adventure, backcountry, Carrizo Plain, Elk, iPhoneography, Landscapes, Nature, Photography, Pics, Sunsets, Wildlife
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1 Comment
Wind Poppy (Papaver heterophyllum)
Rancho Nuevo Canyon, Dick Smith Wilderness (Early May, 2012) “It is possible to be indifferent to flowers—possible but not very likely. Psychiatrists regard a patient’s indifference to flowers as a symptom of depression. It seems that by the time the … Continue reading →
Long Lost Trail Discovered, Hiking In A Time Of Lockdown And Distancing
Jack-in-a-crack doing what he does. Wandering. Searching. Hunting. Looking. Seeing. Sometimes discovering. Looking to get my hike on, and so surveying various trailheads through my car window during the COVID-19 governor’s lockdown order, I saw more cars parked than expected, … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Adventure, Archaeology, Artifacts, Hiking, Hiking (2), History, Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains, Wilderness
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19 Comments













