

-
Join 946 other subscribers
-
“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

-
“. . .here, where there are still the silences and the loneliness of the earth before man, . . .”

Search Jack’s Blog


Recently Read
Photos from the blog
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
-
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: San Rafael Wilderness
The Case For Renaming Los Padres National Forest
“I love the feeling when it falls apart.” –Red Hot Chili Peppers, Desecration Smile “By virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me by the act of June 4, 1897, 30 Stat. 1, 11, 36 (U.S.C., title 16, … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
|
Tagged Chumash, Hiking, History, Indians, Landscapes, Los Padres National Forest, Native Americans, Pictographs, San Rafael Wilderness, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains
|
3 Comments
Wind Poppy (Papaver heterophyllum)
Rancho Nuevo Canyon, Dick Smith Wilderness (Early May, 2012) “It is possible to be indifferent to flowers—possible but not very likely. Psychiatrists regard a patient’s indifference to flowers as a symptom of depression. It seems that by the time the … Continue reading →
Chaparral
Slopes of chaparral in the Santa Ynez Mountains. On down the slopes and all the way to the canyons was a thicket of varied shrubs that changed in character as altitude fell but was everywhere dense enough to stop an … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
|
Tagged backcountry, Chaparral, Hiking, Hiking (2), Landscapes, Los Padres National Forest, Nature, San Rafael Wilderness, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains, Wilderness
|
3 Comments
Horny Toad
“It was a rough land that bred a tough man.” —Louis L’Amour, Utah Blaine (1984) The observer may glean some insight into the nature of the land by looking at its native inhabitants. When you’re wearing a helmet of horns and shrouded … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
|
Tagged Adventure, Backpacking, Camping, Hiking, Lizards, Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Pics, San Rafael Wilderness, Santa Barbara, Wildlife
|
6 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
|
Tagged Adventure, Hiking, Hiking (2), Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Pics, San Rafael Wilderness, Santa Barbara, Swimming Holes, waterfalls, Wilderness
|
6 Comments













