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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
- Widow's Tears Falls, Santa Ynez Mountains
- Painted Rock Camp, Montgomery Potrero, Sierra Madre Mountains
- Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island: A Female Robinson Crusoe (1897)
- Steelhead Fishing, Santa Ynez River (1948)
- Mammoth Rubbing Rocks
- 'Akaka Falls, Hawaii & Cliff Climbing Goby
- The Day Hell Hit Santa Barbara; Third Hottest Temperature Ever Recorded on Earth
- Gladiator Games of Bulls and Bears: A California Blood Sport (1800s)
- Fire Poppy (Papaver californicum)
- Largest West Coast Tsunamis Generated in Santa Barbara Channel
Photos from the blog
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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: Tales
A Feeling of Aliveness Hard to Find In Any City
Sunset in fall, Los Padres National Forest. Rich sensory perception is the essence of human existence and it occurs in nature more strikingly than perhaps anywhere else. In the remote, less visited tracts of unsettled land exists a feeling of … Continue reading
Posted in Tales
Tagged Backpacking, Camping, Hiking, Landscapes, Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Outdoors, Photos, Pics, Wildlife, Writing
6 Comments
The Bandit of Ballarat
“For 11 months, the Bandit led state and federal officers on a 1500-mile chase through some of the most rugged and inhospitable terrain in America. They had pursued him with helicopters, planes, dogs, trackers, and entire task forces, on horseback, … Continue reading
Radiator Charlie’s Mortgage Lifter Tomato
The name he went by was Charlie or just plain MC and “he’d get mad if anybody said it is Marshall Cletis Byles,” his grandson said. Charlie was a hardworking man with no formal education. “Well, I’ve always had a … Continue reading













