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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
- Eccentric Artifact, San Marcos Foothills Preserve
- Eating Poison Oak
- The Sisquoc Falls: A Little Known Region in California Explored (1884)
- Old Mission Santa Barbara
- Mugwort: A Natural Poison Oak Preventive
- 1960s Era Pull-Tab Coca-Cola Can
- Halibut Surf Fishing
- Save Old Mission Sycamore ... __ __ __ ...
- Return to Whiteacre Peak or Day of the Condor
- Gem-studded Puffball Mushrooms
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Latest Dispatches
- 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
- 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
Lunar Phase

Tag Archives: Santa Barbara
Foreclosure
They outlawed walking in the forest. They said it was too dangerous. They told me it was “critical” that I didn’t walk in the woods for my “own safety” and that of others. They said the conditions in other places … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged COVID-19, Hiking, Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Non-fiction, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains, US Politics, Wilderness, Wildfires, Writing
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23 Comments
Halibut Surf Fishing
“Conservation of animals and plants was a burning, emotional, personal issue. A properly socialized individual had a powerful sense that the wild world was feeding him, and he ought to be as grateful and as anxious to act decently as … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Adventure, Beach, Fish, Fishing, Halibut, Nature, Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Santa Barbara, Sea, Wildlife
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Leave a comment
Summer of Serpents of Rattlers Beware
California mountain kingsnake on Figueroa Mountain. Not to be confused with a California kingsnake: Killer Kingsnake Eats Water Snake “To combat the boredom, I occasionally drove over the coastal range and into the Santa Ynez Valley to hike the trails … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Adventure, backcountry, Hiking, Lockdowns, Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Rattlesnakes, Santa Barbara, Snakes, Wilderness, Wildlife
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7 Comments
No Halibut, One Arrowhead
The artifact as found sitting center frame. What? Where? I found this copy of Chuck Palahniuk’s novel, Diary, tucked into the children’s section for sale at the Goleta branch of the public library. I mistook it for an oversight in … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Anthropology, Arrowhead, Artifacts, Beach, Chumash, Fishing, Indians, Native Americans, Nature, Ocean, Santa Barbara
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1 Comment
Resuscitation
Car headlights swept the blackness revealing a whirling glimpse of dirt parking lot that flashed in the night. Boulders ringed the empty lot before a backdrop of lumpy drab forest. Two men stood bound in a sleepless stupor gazing at … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Adventure, Fiction, Hiking, Hiking (2), Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Outdoors, Santa Barbara, Stories, Wilderness, Writing
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2 Comments













