Author Archives: Jack Elliott

Gaviota Coast Gallivants: The Wildest Wilderness

“The ocean is an unbelievably vast wilderness.” –Steven Callahan, “Adrift: Seventy-six Days Lost at Sea” The 76-mile long Gaviota Coast is the wildest wilderness in Santa Barbara County. According to Gaviota Coast Conservancy, it is “the largest stretch of undeveloped coastline … Continue reading

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Tarantula Mating Season, Santa Barbara County

No photos on this blog have ever been staged, but in the interest of honesty I’d like to note that this tarantula, found walking a few yards away, was placed atop this branch in order to allow a better snapshot. … Continue reading

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Chumash Rock Art, Santa Barbara County

These Chumash paintings show little wear from the elements over the last several decades. They are presented here without alteration, but for a slight intensification of the existing natural color. They measure roughly about twelve inches in length. The pictographs … Continue reading

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The Mighty Chia Seed, Cuyama Badlands

The Cuyama Badlands can be a wicked and terrible place for a human on foot with minimal supplies. Heaved aloft, scorched and desiccated, it’s a land clawed open and washed away by spotty cloudbursts that quench a sparse growth of piñon pine, juniper and sagebrush. … Continue reading

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Scotland, Shifting Baseline Syndrome & Your Local Wilderness

Glen Sannox as seen from Cir Mor Saddle, Isle of Arran, Scotland. Such scenic sweeping grassland is not natural, but in fact the result of human agency. “The British Isles, a Roman outpost located at the edge of European civilization, was … Continue reading

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