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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)
- Fossil Falls, A Glacial Relic of the Pleistocene
- The Day Hell Hit Santa Barbara; Third Hottest Temperature Ever Recorded on Earth
- The Sisquoc Falls: A Little Known Region in California Explored (1884)
- Ticks, Lizards and Lyme Disease
- About
- Carrizo Plain Wildflowers: Temblor Range, San Luis Obispo County
- The Castor Bean Plant: Common, Valuable and Deadly
- Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing: A Santa Barbara Original
- The Exceptional Sundowner Winds of Santa Barbara
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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: Santa Barbara
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
Wolves, Grizzlies and the Howling Wilderness of Change, Santa Barbara National Forest: Race and Recognition In the Woods
Sierra Madre Mountains, Cuyama, Santa Barbara County Chief Standing Bear of the Oglala Sioux once stated that his people “did not think of the great open plains, the beautiful rolling hills and the winding streams with their tangled growth as … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged backcountry, Hispanic, History, Jacinto Damien Reyes, Los Padres National Forest, Native Americans, Race, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Wilderness, Wildlife
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6 Comments
Petroglyph, Santa Ynez Mountains
“The symbols of shamans were potentially dangerous because of their material spirituality connecting them to the sacred…The vulva itself was considered unusually perilous. For example, a Northern Paiute account indicates that the worst from of sorcery a man could endure … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Adventure, Archaeology, Hiking, Hiking (2), History, Los Padres National Forest, Native Americans, Nature, Petroglyphs, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains
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10 Comments
Parks Management Company’s Red Rock Racket and the Secret Green Ticket
Kid on a rope. Parks Management Company employees will never tell you that you’re free to drive past their checkpoint at First Crossing, at the end of Paradise Road in Santa Barbara County, and park in unpaved pullouts along River … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Backpacking, Hiking, Hiking (2), Los Padres National Forest, News, Parks Management Company, Red Rock, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez River, Swimming Holes, Wilderness
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6 Comments
Long Lost Trail Discovered, Hiking In A Time Of Lockdown And Distancing
Jack-in-a-crack doing what he does. Wandering. Searching. Hunting. Looking. Seeing. Sometimes discovering. Looking to get my hike on, and so surveying various trailheads through my car window during the COVID-19 governor’s lockdown order, I saw more cars parked than expected, … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Adventure, Archaeology, Artifacts, Hiking, Hiking (2), History, Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains, Wilderness
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19 Comments













