Tag Archives: Hiking

Summer of Serpents of Rattlers Beware

Posted on September 2, 2020 by Jack Elliott

California mountain kingsnake on Figueroa Mountain. Not to be confused with a California kingsnake: Killer Kingsnake Eats Water Snake “To combat the boredom, I occasionally drove over the coastal range and into the Santa Ynez Valley to hike the trails … Continue reading →

Posted in Santa Barbara | Tagged Adventure, backcountry, Hiking, Lockdowns, Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Rattlesnakes, Santa Barbara, Snakes, Wilderness, Wildlife | 7 Comments

Resuscitation

Posted on July 29, 2020 by Jack Elliott

Car headlights swept the blackness revealing a whirling glimpse of dirt parking lot that flashed in the night. Boulders ringed the empty lot before a backdrop of lumpy drab forest. Two men stood bound in a sleepless stupor gazing at … Continue reading →

Posted in Santa Barbara | Tagged Adventure, Fiction, Hiking, Hiking (2), Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Outdoors, Santa Barbara, Stories, Wilderness, Writing | 2 Comments

The Myth Of Wilderness and Ethnocentrism: Race and Recognition In the Woods

Posted on July 2, 2020 by Jack Elliott

Los Padres National Forest, Santa Barbara County “The evidence strongly suggests that the prehistoric Indians’ effect on the environment can no longer be ignored by scientists and government agencies charged with stewardship of our natural resources.” M. Kat Anderson Tending … Continue reading →

Posted in Santa Barbara | Tagged Anthropology, backcountry, Chumash, Hiking, Los Padres National Forest, National Forest, Native Americans, Nature, Race, Wilderness, Writing | 9 Comments

Rename Los Padres National Forest? Race and Recognition In the Woods

Posted on June 29, 2020 by Jack Elliott

Should Los Padres National Forest be renamed? In the roiling social wake of the George Floyd killing, and the peaceful protests and the violence and destruction that erupted across these United States and the world, in this moment of national … Continue reading →

Posted in Santa Barbara | Tagged backcountry, Backpacking, Hiking, History, Indians, Los Padres National Forest, Native Americans, Race, Racism, Social Justice, Wilderness | 38 Comments

Petroglyph, Santa Ynez Mountains

Posted on June 21, 2020 by Jack Elliott

“The symbols of shamans were potentially dangerous because of their material spirituality connecting them to the sacred…The vulva itself was considered unusually perilous. For example, a Northern Paiute account indicates that the worst from of sorcery a man could endure … Continue reading →