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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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- The Sisquoc Falls: A Little Known Region in California Explored (1884)
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Latest Dispatches
- March of the Mustard; The Spread of Noxious Weeds
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Lunar Phase

Tag Archives: Hiking
Big Bummer At Baron Ranch: Trashing the Place To Save It
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 →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Adventure, Chumash, Hiking, Hiking (2), Los Padres National Forest, Native Americans, Nature, Outdoors, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains, Wilderness
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2 Comments
Renaming Los Padres: Names Of the 1930s
Detail showing Abel Mtn. on a 1938 map of Los Padres National Forest. Backstory I’ve long had an interest in place, in the particularity of natural settings and the composition of undeveloped scenes, and in the forest placenames chosen by … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged backcountry, Backpacking, Camping, Chumash, Hiking, Hiking (2), History, Los Padres National Forest, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains, Wilderness
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7 Comments
Brian Sarvis In Noozhawk Echoes Jack Elliott, No Hat Tip
Jimmy J merch. Prototype run, January, 2023. After six years of silence, Sarvis suddenly spoke. He once more found his voice, in somebody else’s writing. We made it easy by providing inspiration and all source material right here on this … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Backpacking, Brian Sarvis, Camping, Hiking, Hiking (2), History, Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Noozhwak, Santa Barbara, Wilderness
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1 Comment
Native American Trout Gutter
April 2023 A place in the canyon caught my eye. The character of the mountain. The viewshed through the canyon of the Pacific Ocean and Santa Cruz Island. Geography and aesthetics. I felt compelled to go there. Years passed before … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Adventure, Artifacts, Hiking, History, Indians, Los Padres National Forest, Native Americans, Nature, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains, Wilderness
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5 Comments
The Elusive and Fleeting Fire Poppy
I found the fire poppies once more, trailless along a tributary fork of a coastal creek high in the Santa Ynez Mountains. Five years had past since my last sighting. I think the fire poppy, Papaver californicum, may be among … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Adventure, backcountry, Backpacking, Camping, Hiking, Los Padres National Forest, Nature, poppies, Santa Ynez Mountains, Wilderness, wildflowers
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2 Comments













