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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
- A Treasure Hunt For Chumash Pictographs and the Vicious Protector
- Rocky Peak Park, Santa Susana Mountains
- Eating Poison Oak
- The Sisquoc Falls: A Little Known Region in California Explored (1884)
- The Chumash Arrowhead
- 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
Photos from the blog
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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
Parks Management Co’s Selective Fee Enforcement
A valley of mixed woods, Condor National Forest, Santa Barbara County. RULE 4: “Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.” If the rule is that every letter gets a reply, send 30,000 letters. You can kill them with this … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Camping, Davy Brown, Figeuroa Mountain, Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Nira, Outdoors, Parks Management Company, Santa Barbara, US Forest Service, Wilderness
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2 Comments
Otter Point, Gaviota Coast
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Beach, Gaviota Coast, Hiking, Nature, Ocean, Outdoors, Santa Barbara, Sea Otters, Surf, Wilderness, Wildlife
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3 Comments
Ridgetop Tank, Santa Ynez Mountains
The ephemeral pool forms on the bedrockhigh on a sandstone ridgehundreds of feet above the creek, otherwise filling the canyon with the sound of its rushing water,but for the displaced croak of frogshole up in a lone pond in the … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Hiking, Hiking (2), Landscapes, Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Outdoors, Rocks, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains, Wilderness, Wildlife
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2 Comments
California Name Origins: Joseph Wood Krutch, The Forgotten Peninsula (1961)
Detail of Nicholas de Fer’s map from 1705 showing Santa Barbara Channel. An excerpt from The Forgotten Peninsula: A Naturalist in Baja California (1961) by Joseph Wood Krutch detailing the suspected origins of the name California: Most of the place … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Adventure, Baja, California, California Island, History, Joseph Wood Krutch, Santa Barbara
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2 Comments
The Extraordinary Rains of August 2023
The organic curves of chaparral-cloaked Condor National Forest. I’m growing like a seedRain’s been falling on me — KT Tunstall, Feel It All “I’m wondering if we won’t see August thunderstorms.” I wrote that in June, a freak premonition. The … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Backpacking, Camping, Hiking, Landscapes, Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Santa Barbara, Sespe Wilderness, Wilderness, wildflowers, Wildlife
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3 Comments













