Tag Archives: Nature

Fire Poppy (Papaver californicum)

Posted on June 20, 2018 by Jack Elliott

Great Scott! He’s found it. Our indefatigable wanderer of lands of lesser interest, fumbling, bumbling, stumbling his way onward deep within the myriad folds of the wildfire wasted, drought stricken, flash flood ravaged Santa Ynez Mountains, having mustered the resolve … Continue reading →

Posted in Santa Barbara | Tagged Hiking, Hiking (2), Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Outdoors, Photography, Pics, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains, Wilderness, wildflowers | 10 Comments

The Summer Microburst, September 3, 2017

Posted on January 8, 2018 by Jack Elliott

Looking out from under the shade canopy. Note the umbrella in the air in the distance for some sense of the action and all the dark dots of palm tree debris even higher overhead and the bend in the trunk of … Continue reading →

Posted in Santa Barbara | Tagged Arroyo Burro, Beach, Hendry's Beach, Microburst, Nature, Ocean, Santa Barbara, The Pit, Thunderstorms, weather, Writing | 9 Comments

From Graffiti to Graffito, Trash To Treasure

Posted on December 3, 2017 by Jack Elliott

The old black board inside Manzana Schoolhouse, a free-for-all graffiti panel. (Manzana Creek Schoolhouse Circa 1893) Inside the old Manzana Creek schoolhouse within the San Rafael Wilderness of Santa Barbara County one hundred years worth of names and dates cover … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Archaeology, Hiking, History, Landscapes, longreads, Nature, Non-fiction, Pictographs, Rock Art, Santa Barbara, Writing | 6 Comments

Parks Management Company’s Red Rock Racket

Posted on August 23, 2017 by Jack Elliott

Red Rock, Santa Ynez River, Santa Barbara County “The writer’s duty to speak the truth—especially unpopular truth. Especially truth that offends the powerful, the rich, the well-established, the traditional, the mythic, the sentimental. To attack, when the time makes it … Continue reading →

Posted in Santa Barbara | Tagged Camping, Hiking, Landscapes, Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Pics, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains, Santa Ynez River, Swimming Holes, Wilderness | 52 Comments

Desert Pictograph Boulder

Posted on July 12, 2017 by Jack Elliott

The thermometer bounces between 108 and 111 degrees as I drive into the Mojave Desert on a recent June afternoon. Several days earlier in 115 degree heat, not all that far away, a middle-aged man had left a tour bus … Continue reading →