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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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- Dick Smith on Forest Access
- Renaming Los Padres: Names Of the 1930s
- The Mighty Chanterelle and the Gnarly Oak
- Fitzgerald's Fit: Man Leads Work Crew To Wreck Montecito Hot Springs
- Barger Canyon Arch
- The Candy Bag Bandit
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Latest Dispatches
- Dick Smith on Forest Access
- Old Mission Sycamore Whacked Again
- Bald Eagle, Manzana Creek, San Rafael Wilderness
- When Rains Fall, Will USFS Close Our Forest? The Coming El Niño
- 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
Lunar Phase
Author Archives: Jack Elliott
A Sea of Debris and Plastic Microtrash
A plastic bin to hold plastic bags washed ashore along the Gaviota Coast. “Our research found 6-to-1 plastic to plankton by weight in 1999. We went back last year [2008] and found 46-to-1 plastic to plankton – the weight had … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Baron Ranch, City of Santa Barbara, County of Santa Barbara, Gaviota Coast, Litter, Microplastic, Microtrash, Nature, Ocean, Plastic, Santa Barbara
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1 Comment
The Twelve-Inch Experience, Baron Ranch Corridor
Humboldt lily seed pod. “Adults follow paths. Children explore. Adults are content to walk the same way, hundreds of times, or thousands; perhaps it never occurs to adults to step off the paths, to creep beneath the rhododendrons, to find … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Arroyo Quemado, Baron Ranch, Gaviota Coast, Hiking, Microplastic, Nature, Pacific Ocean, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains, Wilderness, Wildlife
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1 Comment
Figueroa Mountain Bug Bloom
Along the road to bugville in autumn. Springtime wildflower blooms on Figueroa Mountain capture all the attention. But I’ve long marveled, too, at the winter ladybug blooms of the mountain. December 2023 I hold onto a childhood memory of ladybugs … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Adventure, backcountry, Figueroa Mountain, Hiking, Ladybugs, Landscapes, Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Santa Barbara, Wilderness, Wildlife
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7 Comments
Discreet Sensitive Habitat Signage, Sespe Wilderness
A thin sign in Sespe Wilderness only but several inches wide with not another sign in sight. Once upon a time not long ago, following wildfire, thoughtful land managers in Ventura County reposted sliver-thin signs along Sespe Wilderness trail, there … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Baron Ranch, Condors, Conservation, Gaviota Coast, Hiking, Hiking (2), Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Santa Barbara County, Santa Ynez Mountains, Sespe Wilderness
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7 Comments
Indian Head Test Pattern (1939)
In my years at University of California earning a degree in American history with a minor in Native American studies I never heard tell of the Indian Head Test Pattern. I first learned of it reading Tommy Orange’s novel, There … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Americana, Chumash, History, Indians, Los Padres National Forest, Native Americans, Pop Culture, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains, TV, Wilderness
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1 Comment
