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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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- Eating Poison Oak
- John Haines On Pool Rock
- Bald Eagle, Manzana Creek, San Rafael Wilderness
- Swordfish Cave, Earliest Chumash Rock Art On California's Central Coast
- Manzana Creek Schoolhouse (1893)
- Arrowhead Springs, Drought Resistant Summer Seep
- Mugwort: A Natural Poison Oak Preventive
- A Treasure Hunt For Chumash Pictographs and the Vicious Protector
- Native Steelhead of Yore
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Latest Dispatches
- Bald Eagle, Manzana Creek, San Rafael Wilderness
- When Rains Fall, Will USFS Close Our Forest? The Coming El Nino
- 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
- Naming Santa Barbara’s Modoc Road
- Mark of Conquest: Benchmark and Mortar
- Hat Tip to the Selfless Samaritans In Service to Others
- The Intelligence of Coyote Tobacco (Nicotiana attenuata)
Lunar Phase
Tag Archives: Landscapes
Figueroa Mountain Bug Bloom
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
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Tagged Adventure, backcountry, Figueroa Mountain, Hiking, Ladybugs, Landscapes, Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Santa Barbara, Wilderness, Wildlife
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7 Comments
Spring Potrero Mutilated, San Marcos Foothills Preserve
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
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Tagged Grasslands, Hiking, Landscapes, Nature, Outdoors, San Marcos Foothills Preserve, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains, Walking, wildflowers, Wildlife
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7 Comments
Firefighters Save the Old Oak, San Marcos Preserve
“It had stood there for hundreds of years, and he thought it would always stand there. Its roots clutched the hill like a fist with fingers sunk into the soil, and he thought that if a giant were to seize … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Firefighters, Hiking, Landscapes, Los Padres National Forest, Nature, San Marcos Preserve, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains, Trees, Wildfires, Wildlife
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1 Comment
Wild Iris Bloom, Santa Ynez Mountains
The wild iris are abloom now in the Santa Ynez Mountains. This particular flush shown may be the best bloom in many years, coming after the Thomas Fire of 2017 cleared the way, and a month after the torrential record-setting … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Adventure, backcountry, Hiking, Hiking (2), Landscapes, Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains, Wilderness, wildflowers
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4 Comments
Claw Marks In the Tiny Tank
I went for a walk to a tiny tank high on the mountain. The rain had fallen for days, for hours non-stop, in amounts not common around this neck of the woods. Records were set. And so we have to … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Adventure, backcountry, Hiking, Hiking (2), Landscapes, Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains, Wilderness, Wildlife
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4 Comments
Jack Elliott's Santa Barbara Adventure 