A Feeling of Aliveness Hard to Find In Any City
Sunset in fall, Los Padres National Forest. Rich sensory perception is the essence of human existence and it occurs in nature more strikingly than perhaps anywhere else. In the remote, less visited...
View ArticleFinding Clarity and Perspective in the Wilderness
Castle Rock, San Rafael Wilderness Concerns in the wilderness revolve around basic necessities not luxuries. Removal from the busy, overstocked urban realm and immersion in the sparse serenity of...
View ArticleReturn to Whiteacre Peak or Day of the Condor
A long lost condor radio transmitter on Whiteacre Peak. Condors seem to have an eye on Whiteacre Peak in Sespe Wilderness. The first time Stillman (davidstillman.blogspot.com) and I hiked the peak,...
View ArticleLost Valley, Hurricane Deck, Potrero Cyn 20 Mile Day Hike
Hurricane Deck, the prominent ridge defining the skyline. There is no trace of water on Hurricane Deck, no trees and no campgrounds. It’s a 20 mile long ridgeline with south facing cliffs and steep...
View ArticleBallard Camp, Figueroa Mountain
La Jolla Trail Trail through the oak trees. Dropping into Birabent Canyon on La Jolla Trail. A U.S. Forest Service stove at Ballard Camp, which was presumably named after the nearby town of Ballard or...
View ArticleIndian Wells Canyon, Southern Sierra
A view of the ridgeline running down from Owens Peak, which was named by Major General John C. Fremont after Richard Owens, a captain who served in his California Battalion during the Mexican-American...
View ArticleThe Crackling Oak Forest of Aliso Canyon
A stand of charred oak trees on an elevated flat overlooking the Santa Ynez River. The White wildfire was touched off by careless recreationists barbequing at White Rock Day Use Area in May 2013. A...
View ArticleThe Slot at Devil’s Playground
Devil’s Playground topside, Santa Ynez Mountains. There are two worlds in Devil’s Playground. The topside and the underside. The upper dimension is one of expansive sky, farsighted coastal views and...
View ArticleHiking Every Season In All Conditions
Bryan route finding off-trail in Sespe Wilderness. “I came to know that country, not in the way a traveler knows the landmarks he sees in the distance, but more truly and intimately, in every season,...
View ArticleBarger Canyon Arch
Looking through Barger Arch toward Santa Barbara. A coast live oak tree obscured for most of my life this frontside feature of the Santa Ynez Mountains. Arroyo Burro Trail, which cuts the mountainside...
View ArticleYosemite Falls
Lower and Upper Yosemite Falls, March 2015. “One of Yosemite’s oldest historic trails (built 1873 to 1877), the Yosemite Falls Trail leads to the top of North America’s tallest waterfall, which rises...
View ArticleGoatfell Peak, Isle of Arran, Scotland
Goatfell Peak by silhouette from Brodick Bay. A view of Brodick Bay from the stony trail up to Goatfell Peak. Goatfell summit looking across at Cir Mhor or the “Great Comb.” (Properly pronounced here.)...
View ArticleSitiptip Flat, Los Padres National Forest
The place. Note the white mineral deposit on its far side. “Our history is carried by word of mouth, but it’s anchored to the land. The old boys used to play a game: one of them would leave his cap on...
View Article‘Akaka Falls, Hawaii & Cliff Climbing Goby
‘Akaka Falls on Kolekole Stream on the Big Island of Hawaii plunges 442 feet. ‘Akaka Falls may be one of the most remarkable waterfalls in the world. Not because of its impressive height nor natural...
View ArticleA Great Interval of Silence, Chumash Wilderness
Boilin’ the billy. “Great intervals of silence are evidently conducive to our well-being. A meditative stillness, suggests Gary Snyder, was invented by waiting hunters. Perhaps this reflected the...
View ArticleGaviota Coast Gallavants: Then Came the Fox
June 2016 I take the kids to the zoo. It’s not a place I can appreciate any longer, but granny bought us a family membership. So we go. The kids scamper through the prison camp, er, zoological garden...
View ArticleSan Ysidro Tank
Total rainfall county-wide for Santa Barbara measures in at 125% of normal so far this season. The San Marcos Pass gauge has recorded more rain during the first half of this season alone than during...
View ArticleWidow’s Tears Falls, Santa Ynez Mountains
“Out around Glen Annie and Cathedral Oaks if you look toward the Front Range after a pretty good rainstorm you can sometimes see a tiny little set of falls that has a vertical drop of circa 100.’ It...
View ArticleParks Management Company’s Red Rock Racket
Red Rock, Santa Ynez River, Santa Barbara County “The writer’s duty to speak the truth—especially unpopular truth. Especially truth that offends the powerful, the rich, the well-established, the...
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