Author Archives: Jack Elliott

Parks Management Company’s Red Rock Racket

Posted on August 23, 2017 by Jack Elliott

Red Rock, Santa Ynez River, Santa Barbara County “The writer’s duty to speak the truth—especially unpopular truth. Especially truth that offends the powerful, the rich, the well-established, the traditional, the mythic, the sentimental. To attack, when the time makes it … Continue reading →

Posted in Santa Barbara | Tagged Camping, Hiking, Landscapes, Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Pics, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains, Santa Ynez River, Swimming Holes, Wilderness | 52 Comments

The Lost Treasure of San Roque Canyon (1895)

Posted on July 22, 2017 by Jack Elliott

“There were three Santa Barbara boys who started aviation careers with their kite-flying. They were the Loughead brothers, Victor, Malcolm, and Allan, whose mother, Flora Haines Loughead, was a writer for the Independent, one of Santa Barbara’s three newspapers at … Continue reading →

Posted in Santa Barbara | Tagged Adventure, History, Los Padres National Forest, Newspapers, Reading, San Roque Canyon, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains, Travel, Treasure, Writing | 2 Comments

Desert Pictograph Boulder

Posted on July 12, 2017 by Jack Elliott

The thermometer bounces between 108 and 111 degrees as I drive into the Mojave Desert on a recent June afternoon. Several days earlier in 115 degree heat, not all that far away, a middle-aged man had left a tour bus … Continue reading →

Posted in California | Tagged Adventure, Anthropology, Archaeology, Desert, History, Indians, Mojave, Native Americans, Nature, Pictographs, Rock Art | 1 Comment

The Wondrous Orange-Bellied Newt

Posted on May 25, 2017 by Jack Elliott

California orange bellied newt (Taricha torosa). One of the great indicators of seasonal change in the Santa Ynez Range of Santa Barbara is the arrival of orange bellied newts to mountain streams. They don’t always live in water. Newts spend … Continue reading →

Posted in Santa Barbara | Tagged California Newt, Hiking, Hiking (2), Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Outdoors, Pics, Salamander, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains, Wildlife | 9 Comments

Widow’s Tears Falls, Santa Ynez Mountains

Posted on March 17, 2017 by Jack Elliott

“Out around Glen Annie and Cathedral Oaks if you look toward the Front Range after a pretty good rainstorm you can sometimes see a tiny little set of falls that has a vertical drop of circa 100.’ It is set … Continue reading →