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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
- Old Cold Spring Tunnel (1897)
- Pine Mountain Fossil Foray
- Time Magazine Story: Chumash Oak Arborglyph in San Luis Obispo County
- Mono Narrows Camp
- Prehistoric Seafloor on Gibraltar Road
- Mono Narrows, The Old Oak Dies
- Beachcombing for Fossilized Whale Bones in Santa Barbara County
- The Chumash Arrowhead
- Mountain Lion Standoff, Santa Ynez Mountains
- Chumash Rock Art, Santa Barbara County
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Latest Dispatches
- The Exceptional Sundowner Winds of Santa Barbara
- Lobster Poachers?
- 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
Lunar Phase

Category Archives: Santa Barbara
Gray Fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus)
I flushed this sucker out of the bushes a few days ago when stomping through the brush. He trotted out into a small clearing and up onto a low rise in the land, where he then sat and watched me … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara County
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Tagged Foxes, Gray Fox, Hiking, Hiking (2), Nature, Outdoors, Photos, Pics, Urocyon cinereoargenteus, Wildlife
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2 Comments
Two Arches, Gaviota Coast
I hiked to the two arches amid the rocky crags of the Gaviota Coast. Along the way on the ridgeline leading to the arches, there is a mountaintop grassy flat shaded by a few gnarled, lichen covered oak trees that … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara County
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Tagged Caves, Gaviota, Hiking, Hiking (2), Landscapes, Nature, Outdoors, Pacific Ocean, Photos, Pics, Rocks, Wildlife
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3 Comments
Slippery Rock Stagecoach Road (19th Century)
Crossing Slippery Rock in the mountains above the Goleta Valley, along the original San Marcos Pass route over the Santa Ynez Mountains. The Pacific Ocean defines the horizon in the background. © Denver Public Library, Western History Collection “Santa Barbara … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara County
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Tagged Hiking, History, Landscapes, Non-fiction, Old West, Photos, Pics, San Marcos Pass, Santa Ynez Mountains, Slippery Rock, Stagecoaches
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15 Comments
Gladiator Games of Bulls and Bears: Sport of Roping Grizzlies (1911)
This post is the fourth and final entry in a series: First: Gladiator Games of Bulls and Bears: A California Blood Sport (1800s) Second: Gladiator Games of Bulls and Bears: Recollections of Jacinto Damien Reyes (1880) Third: Gladiator Games of Bulls and … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara, Ventura
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Tagged Bear Baiting, Bears, Bulls, Grizzly Bears, History, Illustrations, Nature, Non-fiction, Wildlife, Writing
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50 Pound White Seabass
Summertime means white seabass slayin’ fish taco time. A 50 pound whitey shot in the Pacific wilderness.
Posted in Santa Barbara County
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Tagged Fish, Fishing, Freediving, Nature, Ocean, Skindiving, Spearfishing, White Seabass
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2 Comments













