Author Archives: Jack Elliott

Dinosaur Footprints, Isle of Skye, Scotland

Posted on January 28, 2019 by Jack Elliott

A typical road on the Isle of Skye. I’m listening to Dylan. And driving fast in a small, or wee as the locals would say, car. “Throw on the dirt, pile on the dust” Husbands leaving wives. They’re out to … Continue reading →

Posted in Scotland | Tagged Adventure, Beaches, Dinosaurs, Fossils, Hiking, Islands, Landscapes, Nature, Pics, Scotland, Travel | 8 Comments

Wild Oyster Mushrooms and Reading the Nuances of Nature

Posted on December 12, 2018 by Jack Elliott

Oysters on a standing dead cottonwood tree in the Santa Ynez Mountains. You can see where the deceased tree’s canopy had filled in the now empty sky above, the other trees wrapping around it. “The hunter-gatherer lives on what is … Continue reading →

Posted in Santa Barbara | Tagged Backpacking, Camping, Hiking, Los Padres National Forest, Mushrooms, Nature, Oyster Mushrooms, Wild Edibles, Wildcraft, Wilderness, Writing | 11 Comments

The Ol’ Swimmin’ Hole

Posted on November 28, 2018 by Jack Elliott

“Most of these places, however, were not marked as special on my map. But they became special by personal acquaintance. … I remembered what Ishmael had said in Moby-Dick about the island of Kokovoko: ‘It is not down in any … Continue reading →

Posted in Santa Barbara | Tagged Adventure, Hiking, Hiking (2), Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Pics, San Rafael Wilderness, Santa Barbara, Swimming Holes, waterfalls, Wilderness | 6 Comments

Fire Poppy (Papaver californicum)

Posted on June 20, 2018 by Jack Elliott

Great Scott! He’s found it. Our indefatigable wanderer of lands of lesser interest, fumbling, bumbling, stumbling his way onward deep within the myriad folds of the wildfire wasted, drought stricken, flash flood ravaged Santa Ynez Mountains, having mustered the resolve … Continue reading →

Posted in Santa Barbara | Tagged Hiking, Hiking (2), Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Outdoors, Photography, Pics, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains, Wilderness, wildflowers | 10 Comments

The Summer Microburst, September 3, 2017

Posted on January 8, 2018 by Jack Elliott

Looking out from under the shade canopy. Note the umbrella in the air in the distance for some sense of the action and all the dark dots of palm tree debris even higher overhead and the bend in the trunk of … Continue reading →