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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, . . .”
Search Jack’s Blog
Recently Read
- Indian Head Test Pattern (1939)
- Chanterelle Mushrooms
- Bodie, California Ghost Town
- Gladiator Games of Bulls and Bears: Lassoing Grizzlies (1904)
- Rock Art Ramblin', Searching For Chumash Pictographs
- Condor Petroglyphs, Death Valley National Park
- Dinosaur Footprints, Isle of Skye, Scotland
- Burro Schmidt Tunnel and Shanty (1906-1930s)
- Widow's Tears Falls, Santa Ynez Mountains
- Chumash Indian Rock Art Pictograph
Photos from the blog
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Latest Dispatches
- The Exceptional Sundowner Winds of Santa Barbara
- Lobster Poachers?
- Dick Smith on Forest Access
- Old Mission Sycamore Whacked Again
- Bald Eagle, Manzana Creek, San Rafael Wilderness
- When Rains Fall, Will USFS Close Our Forest? The Coming El Niño
- 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
Lunar Phase
Tag Archives: Nature
Wild Oyster Mushrooms and Reading the Nuances of Nature
Oysters on a standing dead cottonwood tree in the Santa Ynez Mountains. You can see where the deceased tree’s canopy had filled in the now empty sky above, the other trees wrapping around it. “The hunter-gatherer lives on what is … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Backpacking, Camping, Hiking, Los Padres National Forest, Mushrooms, Nature, Oyster Mushrooms, Wild Edibles, Wildcraft, Wilderness, Writing
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11 Comments
The Ol’ Swimmin’ Hole
“Most of these places, however, were not marked as special on my map. But they became special by personal acquaintance. … I remembered what Ishmael had said in Moby-Dick about the island of Kokovoko: ‘It is not down in any … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Adventure, Hiking, Hiking (2), Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Pics, San Rafael Wilderness, Santa Barbara, Swimming Holes, waterfalls, Wilderness
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6 Comments
Fire Poppy (Papaver californicum)
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
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Tagged Hiking, Hiking (2), Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Outdoors, Photography, Pics, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains, Wilderness, wildflowers
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10 Comments
The Summer Microburst, September 3, 2017
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
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Tagged Arroyo Burro, Beach, Hendry's Beach, Microburst, Nature, Ocean, Santa Barbara, The Pit, Thunderstorms, weather, Writing
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9 Comments
From Graffiti to Graffito, Trash To Treasure
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
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Tagged Archaeology, Hiking, History, Landscapes, longreads, Nature, Non-fiction, Pictographs, Rock Art, Santa Barbara, Writing
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6 Comments
