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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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- Indian Head Test Pattern (1939)
- Return To Scene Of Lion Standoff
- Ticks, Lizards and Lyme Disease
- About
- Lower Lion Canyon, Sierra Madre Mountains
- The Exceptional Sundowner Winds of Santa Barbara
- Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing: A Santa Barbara Original
- Laguna Blanca Lake
- Meadow Camp (Dick Smith Wilderness)
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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: Wilderness
Horripilation
A summer morning in the Santa Barbara backcountry. Weigh your counsel, Priest, he said. We are all here together. Yonder sun is like the eye of God and we will cook impartially upon this great siliceous griddle I do assure … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Adventure, Backpacking, Creative Nonfiction, Hiking, Hiking (2), Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Public Lands, Santa Barbara, Wilderness, Writing
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5 Comments
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
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
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
