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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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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: Santa Ynez Mountains
Ridgetop Tank, Santa Ynez Mountains
The ephemeral pool forms on the bedrockhigh on a sandstone ridgehundreds of feet above the creek, otherwise filling the canyon with the sound of its rushing water,but for the displaced croak of frogshole up in a lone pond in the … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Hiking, Hiking (2), Landscapes, Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Outdoors, Rocks, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains, Wilderness, Wildlife
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2 Comments
The Twelve-Inch Experience, Baron Ranch Corridor
Humboldt lily seed pod. “Adults follow paths. Children explore. Adults are content to walk the same way, hundreds of times, or thousands; perhaps it never occurs to adults to step off the paths, to creep beneath the rhododendrons, to find … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Arroyo Quemado, Baron Ranch, Gaviota Coast, Hiking, Microplastic, Nature, Pacific Ocean, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains, Wilderness, Wildlife
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1 Comment
Discreet Sensitive Habitat Signage, Sespe Wilderness
A thin sign in Sespe Wilderness only but several inches wide with not another sign in sight. Once upon a time not long ago, following wildfire, thoughtful land managers in Ventura County reposted sliver-thin signs along Sespe Wilderness trail, there … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Baron Ranch, Condors, Conservation, Gaviota Coast, Hiking, Hiking (2), Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Santa Barbara County, Santa Ynez Mountains, Sespe Wilderness
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7 Comments
Indian Head Test Pattern (1939)
In my years at University of California earning a degree in American history with a minor in Native American studies I never heard tell of the Indian Head Test Pattern. I first learned of it reading Tommy Orange’s novel, There … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Americana, Chumash, History, Indians, Los Padres National Forest, Native Americans, Pop Culture, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains, TV, Wilderness
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1 Comment
Spring Potrero Mutilated, San Marcos Foothills Preserve
Restoration travesty (January 2023) “Paths are human; they are the traces of our relationships.” —Robert Macfarlane Channel Islands Restoration, her purported protector, deflowered the virgin. A screaming outrage. A grotesque violation. This was not restoration. This was mutilation. I met … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Grasslands, Hiking, Landscapes, Nature, Outdoors, San Marcos Foothills Preserve, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains, Walking, wildflowers, Wildlife
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7 Comments
Jack Elliott's Santa Barbara Adventure 