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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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Recently Read
- Petroglyph, Santa Ynez Mountains
- Summer of Serpents of Rattlers Beware
- Lost Valley, Hurricane Deck, Potrero Cyn 20 Mile Day Hike
- The Ol' Swimmin' Hole
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- California Slender Salamander
- Pine Mountain Fossil Foray
- Indian Head Test Pattern (1939)
- Swordfish Cave, Earliest Chumash Rock Art On California's Central Coast
- Gladiator Games of Bulls and Bears: A California Blood Sport (1800s)
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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: Nature
Whiteacre Peak, Fossilized Bones, Cougar Prints and Condors
California condor soaring over Whiteacre Peak. Stillman (DavidStillman.blogspot.com) had a good idea, which by the end of our day turned out to be an excellent idea, to find a route to the summit of Whiteacre Peak in the Sespe Wilderness. … Continue reading
Posted in Ventura County
Tagged backcountry, Condors, Fossils, Hiking, Los Padres National Forest, Mountain Lions, Nature, Peaks, Sespe Wilderness, Whiteacre, Wildlife
8 Comments
Los Padres Tree Lobster
Hericium in a hole. A Hericium mushroom I harvested today. When sauteed in butter and olive oil it tastes remarkably similar to lobster. It’s a choice wild edible. Meat Lion’s Mane Related Posts: Hericium Mushrooms
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Backpacking, Camping, Foraging, Hericium, Hiking, Hiking (2), Los Padres National Forest, Mushrooms, Nature, Outdoors, Wild Foods
4 Comments
Pine Mountain from Piedra Blanca
An iPhone’s-eye view of a day hike I took this last Sunday up the Gene Marshall-Piedra Blanca National Recreation Trail to Pine Mountain Lodge Camp. It’s about six miles to the top with some 3000 feet of elevation gain. Gene Marshall-Piedra … Continue reading
Posted in Ventura County
Tagged Backpacking, Camping, Gene Marshall Trail, Hiking, Hiking (2), iPhoneography, Nature, Outdoors, Photos, Pics, Pine Mountain, Pine Mountain Lodge Camp, Sespe Wilderness
3 Comments
Bending the Map in Bear Canyon (Sespe Wilderness)
Falls “Whenever you start looking at your map and saying something like ‘well, that lake could have dried up,’ or ‘ that boulder could have moved,’ a red light should go off. You’re trying to make reality conform to your … Continue reading
Posted in Ventura County
Tagged Hiking, Hiking (2), Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Outdoors, Photos, Pics, Sespe, Wilderness
11 Comments
Finding Frontier in the Forest Conquered
“Superficially, the world has become small and known. Poor little globe of earth, the tourists trot round you as easily as they trot round the Bois or round Central Park. There is no mystery left, we’ve been there, we’ve seen … Continue reading
Posted in Essays
Tagged Camping, D. H. Lawrence, Hiking, John Muir, Landscapes, Nature, Outdoors, Photos, Pine Mountain, Reading, Richard Louv, Wilderness
3 Comments
Jack Elliott's Santa Barbara Adventure 