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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
- The Exceptional Sundowner Winds of Santa Barbara
- The Day Hell Hit Santa Barbara; Third Hottest Temperature Ever Recorded on Earth
- Ticks, Lizards and Lyme Disease
- Condor Petroglyphs, Death Valley National Park
- Old Mission Santa Barbara
- Sulfur Mountain Oil Seeps, Ventura County
- Fossil Falls, A Glacial Relic of the Pleistocene
- Return To Scene Of Lion Standoff
- Meadow Camp (Dick Smith Wilderness)
- Burro Schmidt Tunnel and Shanty (1906-1930s)
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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
Tag Archives: Camping
Dick Smith on Forest Access
Kiddin’ around on La Cumbre Peak, the warm apricot glow of that slanted winter light. “And it was one of those days in the high pines when the sun and sweet breeze get into your underwear.” —Don DeLillo, Underworld (1997) … Continue reading →
Fog Drip Morels
Sans soil. Every day, for weeks now, a marine layer swamps the coast so far this spring, cool and sometimes spritzing. I wake to the rhythmic tap of fog drip falling through the rain gutters. May 5 morels. Measurable precipitation … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Camping, Fieldcraft, Foraging, Hiking, Los Padres National Forest, Mushrooms, Nature, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains, Wild Foods, Wildlife
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The Intelligence of Coyote Tobacco (Nicotiana attenuata)
Wild tobacco growing in the Sierra Madre Mountains of Santa Barbara County. (Fall 2024) If we define intelligence as an ability to perceive, understand and respond effectively to environmental stimuli, then we might attribute to plants what is normally considered … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Backpacking, Camping, Hiking, Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains, Science, Wilderness, wildflowers, Wildlife
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Parks Management Co’s Selective Fee Enforcement
A valley of mixed woods, Condor National Forest, Santa Barbara County. RULE 4: “Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.” If the rule is that every letter gets a reply, send 30,000 letters. You can kill them with this … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Camping, Davy Brown, Figeuroa Mountain, Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Nira, Outdoors, Parks Management Company, Santa Barbara, US Forest Service, Wilderness
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2 Comments
The Extraordinary Rains of August 2023
The organic curves of chaparral-cloaked Condor National Forest. I’m growing like a seedRain’s been falling on me — KT Tunstall, Feel It All “I’m wondering if we won’t see August thunderstorms.” I wrote that in June, a freak premonition. The … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Backpacking, Camping, Hiking, Landscapes, Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Santa Barbara, Sespe Wilderness, Wilderness, wildflowers, Wildlife
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3 Comments
