Category Archives: Santa Barbara County

Remarkable Auto Tour In Southern California (1907)

“. . .we located a ford and secured two men and a team of horses to tow us through the current, which was very swift.” The following passage, excerpted from the journal of a businessman named J. B. Powles, was … Continue reading

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Mono Narrows Camp

Mono Jungle under early morning fog. I walked so much I wore down my feet— Do you know how weird that feels? —Shel Silverstein, “Foot Repair” A dense marine layer clings to the Santa Ynez Mountains as I putter up … Continue reading

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Indian Creek Waterfalls and Narrows

Santa Barbara backcountry “My companion and I, for I sometimes have a companion, take pleasure in fancying ourselves knights of a new, or rather an old, order, —not Equestrians or Chevaliers, not Ritters or Riders, but Walkers, a still more … Continue reading

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Orange Fire, Blue Twilight Along Sisquoc River

“You know to be silent in the wilderness. It is that which matters, to learn to live with silence.” —Louis L’Amour, The Californios (1974) Lying in the dirt beside the campfire, a long hard day’s hike from the nearest road, … Continue reading

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Oil and Animals in the Santa Barbara Channel

Crude oil actively bubbling out of the ground at the beach in Carpinteria, California in Santa Barbara County. Three offshore oil derricks are visible as dots in the distance. “The surface of the sea, which was perfectly smooth and tranquil, … Continue reading

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