

-
Join 938 other subscribers
-
“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

-
“. . .here, where there are still the silences and the loneliness of the earth before man, . . .”

Search Jack’s Blog


Recently Read
- March of the Mustard; The Spread of Noxious Weeds
- Mussel Harvest At Low Tide: Modern Man, Ancient Practice
- Bald Eagle, Manzana Creek, San Rafael Wilderness
- Honeysuckle in the Highlands
- The Day Hell Hit Santa Barbara; Third Hottest Temperature Ever Recorded on Earth
- Painted Rock Camp, Montgomery Potrero, Sierra Madre Mountains
- McDonald's Egg McMuffin Born In Santa Barbara
- SPAM, Backcountry Delicacy Par Excellence
- Eccentric Artifact, San Marcos Foothills Preserve
- The Storied Life of Davy Brown (Davy Brown Campground, Santa Barbara County)
Photos from the blog
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
-
Latest Dispatches
- Old Mission Sycamore Whacked Again
- 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
Lunar Phase

Category Archives: Santa Barbara
Carrizo Plain Elk Under Full Moon
Tule elk graze Carrizo Plain. Two photographers perched before one end of Selby Rocks outcrop shooting the moon rising over the broken spine of white sandstone. We drove past, along the meandering dirt road, through the undulating beige grassland, down … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
|
Tagged Adventure, backcountry, Carrizo Plain, Elk, iPhoneography, Landscapes, Nature, Photography, Pics, Sunsets, Wildlife
|
1 Comment
Wind Poppy (Papaver heterophyllum)
Rancho Nuevo Canyon, Dick Smith Wilderness (Early May, 2012) “It is possible to be indifferent to flowers—possible but not very likely. Psychiatrists regard a patient’s indifference to flowers as a symptom of depression. It seems that by the time the … Continue reading →
Long Lost Trail Discovered, Hiking In A Time Of Lockdown And Distancing
Jack-in-a-crack doing what he does. Wandering. Searching. Hunting. Looking. Seeing. Sometimes discovering. Looking to get my hike on, and so surveying various trailheads through my car window during the COVID-19 governor’s lockdown order, I saw more cars parked than expected, … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
|
Tagged Adventure, Archaeology, Artifacts, Hiking, Hiking (2), History, Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains, Wilderness
|
19 Comments
Baby Blue Eyes Wildflower
A single baby blue eyes now blooming in the folds of the Santa Ynez Mountains, standing tall and strong though alone, maintaining proper social distancing from family and friends in the background, beneath a blue spot of sky above. Happy … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
|
Tagged Hiking, Hiking (2), Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Outdoors, Pics, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains, Wilderness, wildflowers, Wildlife
|
4 Comments
The Sign
Santa Barbara backcountry The men emerged at dawn from the confine of darkness with strained faces wet and ruddy as writhing newborns and the forested land materialized before their bloodshot eyes by the minute in the lightening day, ever larger, … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
|
Tagged Adventure, backcountry, Backpacking, Fiction, Hiking, Nature, Non-fiction, Outdoors, Santa Barbara, Wilderness, Writing
|
12 Comments













