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100° Hike
Santa Ynez Valley viticulture as seen on drive to trailhead. It’s an ordinary summer day. It’s not one of those media hyped heat wave events, but it’s supposed to be hot out. Such forecasts don’t...
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The Sisquoc Falls: A Little Known Region in California Explored (1884)
Sisquoc Falls, located in a restricted condor sanctuary in the San Rafael Wilderness, is officially off-limits to the general public. The following narrative was originally published in the Santa Maria...
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Lost 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...
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Eddy Fields’ Initials, Manzana Creek (Circa 1900)
Blue skies and golden grass along lower Manzana Creek Trail at the Pratt homestead site. “The Pratts homesteaded just below Cold Spring on Manzana Creek. They had a stepson by the name of Eddy Fields....
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Rattlesnake Falls, San Rafael Wilderness
DavidStillman.com standing beside Rattlesnake Falls deep in the Santa Barbara backcountry on a recent backpacking trip, the creek a tributary of the Wild and Scenic Sisquoc River.
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Coldwater Camp, San Rafael Wilderness
Coldwater Camp lies in a meadow under a large oak tree along Lower Manzana Creek Trail, and is rimmed by hills. A detailed profile of the camp can be seen at Hike Los Padres – Coldwater Camp. The camp...
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The Ol’ Swimmin’ Hole
“Most of these places, however, were not marked as special on my map. But they became special by personal acquaintance. … I remembered what Ishmael had said in Moby-Dick about the island of Kokovoko:...
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Horny Toad
“It was a rough land that bred a tough man.” —Louis L’Amour, Utah Blaine (1984) The observer may glean some insight into the nature of the land by looking at its native inhabitants. When you’re...
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Chaparral
Slopes of chaparral in the Santa Ynez Mountains. On down the slopes and all the way to the canyons was a thicket of varied shrubs that changed in character as altitude fell but was everywhere dense...
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Wind Poppy (Papaver heterophyllum)
Rancho Nuevo Canyon, Dick Smith Wilderness (Early May, 2012) “It is possible to be indifferent to flowers—possible but not very likely. Psychiatrists regard a patient’s indifference to flowers as a...
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