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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
- Indian Head Test Pattern (1939)
- The Sisquoc Falls: A Little Known Region in California Explored (1884)
- The Snow Frosted Waterfalls of Rose Valley (+ Video)
- Fallen Rock Chumash Pictograph Rock Art
- About
- The Ol' Swimmin' Hole
- Sulfur Mountain Oil Seeps, Ventura County
- Condor Petroglyphs, Death Valley National Park
- Widow's Tears Falls, Santa Ynez Mountains
- Gladiator Games of Bulls and Bears: Lassoing Grizzlies (1904)
Photos from the blog
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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: Outdoors
Giant Puffball Mushrooms
I went for a hike on Monday and, after several rain showers in the prior weeks, giant puffball mushrooms (Calvatia booniana) had sprouted up everywhere. I stopped counting after coming across fifty of them. They were all well past their … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara County
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Tagged Backpacking, Foraging, Forest, Hiking, Hiking (2), Los Padres National Forest, Mushrooms, Nature, Outdoors, Photos, Pics, Puffballs, Wild Foods
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8 Comments
Cover Photo Contribution For Sierra Club’s “Condor Call”
I contributed a photograph of spring wildflowers on Figueroa Mountain to the local Sierra Club’s newsletter, Condor Call. Editor John Hankins requested it and placed it on the cover for the April/May issue, which can be read in PDF format … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara County, Ventura County
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Tagged Backpacking, Hiking, Hiking (2), lupine, Nature, Outdoors, Photography, Photos, Pics, poppies, Sierra Club, wildflowers
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3 Comments
Mountain Sunset
A sunset view over the Pacific Ocean from the Santa Ynez Mountains in Santa Barbara County.
Posted in Santa Barbara County
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Tagged Hiking, Hiking (2), Nature, Outdoors, Pacific Coast, Photography, Photos, Pics, Santa Ynez Mountains, Snapshots, Sunsets
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6 Comments
Make Do With What You Have
Big surf headed for the California coast on 4-1-12. (Surfline) Scratching furiously through the choppy rough seas at a point break I was recently surfing, trying to paddle up and over a set wave bearing down on me before it … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara County
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Tagged Adventure, Adventure (2), Beach, Handicap, Non-fiction, Ocean, Outdoors, Sports, Surf, Surfboards, Surfer, Surfing, Tales, Waves, Writing
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4 Comments
Ticks, Lizards and Lyme Disease
A blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) questing with legs reaching as it waits for a host to pass by. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Hikers beware. According to the latest April 2012 issue of Veterinary Practice News, we may be … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara County
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Tagged Backpacking, Biology, Camping, Hiking, Hiking (2), Lizards, Lyme Disease, Nature, Non-fiction, Outdoors, Reference, Ticks, Trails, Writing
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13 Comments













