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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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- Condor Petroglyphs, Death Valley National Park
- Old Mission Santa Barbara
- 'Akaka Falls, Hawaii & Cliff Climbing Goby
- Teardrop, Santa Ynez Mountains
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- Ancient Artifact: Eccentric Chipped Stone Crescent
- Tafoni Weathered Stone
- Matías Reyes, Santa Barbara Mission (1887)
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Latest Dispatches
- 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)
- The Journey of a Root (1907) and Plant Intelligence
- Santa Barbara County Morels
- Hollyleaf Cherries Golden Morph
- Barefoot Prints In Volcanic Ash, Hawaii (1790)
- Skinny-Dipper Detained, Cuffed and Cited at Montecito Hot Springs
- Red Horny Toad
Lunar Phase
Tag Archives: Los Padres National Forest
Foreclosure
They outlawed walking in the forest. They said it was too dangerous. They told me it was “critical” that I didn’t walk in the woods for my “own safety” and that of others. They said the conditions in other places … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged COVID-19, Hiking, Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Non-fiction, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains, US Politics, Wilderness, Wildfires, Writing
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23 Comments
Summer of Serpents of Rattlers Beware
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
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Tagged Adventure, backcountry, Hiking, Lockdowns, Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Rattlesnakes, Santa Barbara, Snakes, Wilderness, Wildlife
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7 Comments
Resuscitation
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
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Tagged Adventure, Fiction, Hiking, Hiking (2), Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Outdoors, Santa Barbara, Stories, Wilderness, Writing
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2 Comments
Wolves, Grizzlies and the Howling Wilderness of Change, Santa Barbara National Forest: Race and Recognition In the Woods
Sierra Madre Mountains, Cuyama, Santa Barbara County Chief Standing Bear of the Oglala Sioux once stated that his people “did not think of the great open plains, the beautiful rolling hills and the winding streams with their tangled growth as … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged backcountry, Hispanic, History, Jacinto Damien Reyes, Los Padres National Forest, Native Americans, Race, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Wilderness, Wildlife
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6 Comments
The Myth Of Wilderness and Ethnocentrism: Race and Recognition In the Woods
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
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Tagged Anthropology, backcountry, Chumash, Hiking, Los Padres National Forest, National Forest, Native Americans, Nature, Race, Wilderness, Writing
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9 Comments
Jack Elliott's Santa Barbara Adventure 