Tag Archives: Hiking

The Twelve-Inch Experience, Baron Ranch Corridor

Posted on December 27, 2023 by Jack Elliott

Humboldt lily seed pod. “Adults follow paths. Children explore. Adults are content to walk the same way, hundreds of times, or thousands; perhaps it never occurs to adults to step off the paths, to creep beneath the rhododendrons, to find … Continue reading →

Posted in Santa Barbara | Tagged Arroyo Quemado, Baron Ranch, Gaviota Coast, Hiking, Microplastic, Nature, Pacific Ocean, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains, Wilderness, Wildlife | 1 Comment

Figueroa Mountain Bug Bloom

Posted on December 20, 2023 by Jack Elliott

Along the road to bugville in autumn. Springtime wildflower blooms on Figueroa Mountain capture all the attention. But I’ve long marveled, too, at the winter ladybug blooms of the mountain. December 2023 I hold onto a childhood memory of ladybugs … Continue reading →

Posted in Santa Barbara | Tagged Adventure, backcountry, Figueroa Mountain, Hiking, Ladybugs, Landscapes, Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Santa Barbara, Wilderness, Wildlife | 7 Comments

Discreet Sensitive Habitat Signage, Sespe Wilderness

Posted on December 11, 2023 by Jack Elliott

A thin sign in Sespe Wilderness only but several inches wide with not another sign in sight. Once upon a time not long ago, following wildfire, thoughtful land managers in Ventura County reposted sliver-thin signs along Sespe Wilderness trail, there … Continue reading →

Posted in Santa Barbara | Tagged Baron Ranch, Condors, Conservation, Gaviota Coast, Hiking, Hiking (2), Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Santa Barbara County, Santa Ynez Mountains, Sespe Wilderness | 7 Comments

Spring Potrero Mutilated, San Marcos Foothills Preserve

Posted on September 7, 2023 by Jack Elliott

Restoration travesty (January 2023) “Paths are human; they are the traces of our relationships.” —Robert Macfarlane Channel Islands Restoration, her purported protector, deflowered the virgin. A screaming outrage. A grotesque violation. This was not restoration. This was mutilation. I met … Continue reading →

Posted in Santa Barbara | Tagged Grasslands, Hiking, Landscapes, Nature, Outdoors, San Marcos Foothills Preserve, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains, Walking, wildflowers, Wildlife | 7 Comments

Big Bummer At Baron Ranch: Trashing the Place To Save It

Posted on August 29, 2023 by Jack Elliott

Yikes. Alright already, sheesh. A wall of nearly impenetrable willow needs no sign. Nobody is going in there. And we destroy everything we can find And tomorrow when the human clock stops and the world stops ticking We’ll be an index fossil … Continue reading →