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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)
- Burro Schmidt Tunnel and Shanty (1906-1930s)
- 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
- Mountain Lion Standoff, Santa Ynez Mountains
- The Chumash Arrowhead
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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
Category Archives: Santa Barbara
Save Old Mission Sycamore … __ __ __ …
The sycamore sprout on the tree that refuses to give up. For years I’ve watched from the window of my passing vehicle the historic sycamore stump adjacent Santa Barbara’s Old Mission resprout, and get whacked. Every time the tree pops … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Historic Landmarks, History, Landscapes, Nature, Old Mission Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, Sycamore, Symbiosis, Travel, Trees, Wildlife
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4 Comments
Raking the Forest: Anderson, Trump, Kuyper
Yellow lupine on Pine Mountain, Los Padres National Forest, Ventura County (May 2025) I came across the first quote below back in 2019 when reading M. Kat Anderson’s extraordinary book, Tending the Wild: Native American Knowledge and the Management of … Continue reading →
Initials of J.D. Reyes (1907)
J.D. Reyes served the length of his duty as a United States Forest Service ranger, from 1900 to 1931, in Santa Barbara National Forest, later renamed Los Padres several years after his retirement. When his family first settled in the … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Adventure, Anthropology, backcountry, Caves, Hiking, Hiking (2), History, J.D. Reyes, Los Padres National Forest, United States Forest Service, Wilderness
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5 Comments
Last California Grizzlies Seen In Santa Barbara National Forest? (1926)
“As a result of his 1903 visit to California, Roosevelt was to create the Santa Barbara National Forest out of the Pine Mountain and Zaca Lake Forest Reserves. This was the land that McKinley had set aside on March 2, … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Adventure, Backpacking, Grizzly, Grizzly Bears, Hiking, Los Padres National Forest, Natural History, Nature, Santa Barbara, Wilderness, Wildlife
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4 Comments
Eccentric Artifact, San Marcos Foothills Preserve
This oak and these boulders were slated to be the backyard of a few people, but activist efforts by Save the San Marcos Foothills coalition rescued the area for the many people of the public at large; surely of much … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Anthropology, Archaeology, Artifacts, Chumash, Hiking, Indians, Native Americans, Outdoors, San Marcos Foothills Preserve, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains
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5 Comments
Jack Elliott's Santa Barbara Adventure 