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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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- Sulfur Mountain Oil Seeps, Ventura County
- Eating Poison Oak
- About
- Indian Head Test Pattern (1939)
- Arrowhead Springs, Drought Resistant Summer Seep
- Largest West Coast Tsunamis Generated in Santa Barbara Channel
- Rock Art Ramblin', Searching For Chumash Pictographs
- Fire Poppy, Baron Ranch Corridor
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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
Piedra Blanca Creek West, Descent From Pine Mountain Lodge Camp
A smidgeon of Piedra Blanca. “Civilization has a relatively precarious hold on us and there is an undoubted attraction in a life of absolute freedom once it has been tasted. The ‘call o’ the wild’ is in the blood of … Continue reading
Posted in Ventura County
Tagged Backpacking, Bears, Camping, Creeks, Hiking, Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Piedra Blanca Creek, Pine Mountain, Sespe Wilderness, Wildlife
6 Comments
Chumash Indian Mortars and the Puzzle of the Midden
We had set out to go spearfishing, but a south wind and a west swell combined to ruin conditions. We drove up the mountain from the beach and hiked down into the canyon, the creek within which drains into the … Continue reading
Posted in Ventura County
Tagged Archaeology, Chumash, Creeks, Hiking, History, Indians, Midden, Mortars, Mussels, Native Americans, Writing
13 Comments
Hunting Desert Bighorn Sheep
A preserved desert bighorn sheep in the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. “. . .the most modern hunters, the men who sally forth with rapid cameras instead of repeating express rifles, who press a high speed shutter instead of … Continue reading
Posted in Backcountry, Fauna
Tagged Backpacking, Bighorn Sheep, Camping, Hiking, Hunting, longreads, Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Travel, Wildlife, Writing
5 Comments













