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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
- 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: Wilderness
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
Figueroa Mountain Bug Bloom
Along the road to bugville in autumn. Springtime wildflower blooms on Figueroa Mountain capture all the attention. But I’ve long marveled, too, at the winter ladybug blooms of the mountain. December 2023 I hold onto a childhood memory of ladybugs … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Adventure, backcountry, Figueroa Mountain, Hiking, Ladybugs, Landscapes, Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Santa Barbara, Wilderness, Wildlife
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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
Big Bummer At Baron Ranch: Trashing the Place To Save It
Yikes. Alright already, sheesh. A wall of nearly impenetrable willow needs no sign. Nobody is going in there. And we destroy everything we can find And tomorrow when the human clock stops and the world stops ticking We’ll be an index fossil … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged Adventure, Chumash, Hiking, Hiking (2), Los Padres National Forest, Native Americans, Nature, Outdoors, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains, Wilderness
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2 Comments
Renaming Los Padres: Names Of the 1930s
Detail showing Abel Mtn. on a 1938 map of Los Padres National Forest. Backstory I’ve long had an interest in place, in the particularity of natural settings and the composition of undeveloped scenes, and in the forest placenames chosen by … Continue reading →
Posted in Santa Barbara
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Tagged backcountry, Backpacking, Camping, Chumash, Hiking, Hiking (2), History, Los Padres National Forest, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains, Wilderness
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7 Comments
Jack Elliott's Santa Barbara Adventure 