Month: January 2013
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Old School Signage: The Graveyard
Welcome to the Mother Lode On a clear Santa Barbara day this past week, a band of VWRs assembled along the banks of the Santa Ynez for a day’s training and camaraderie. Over the course of the day, DAW-G, ZK, Bardlero Primero and I stopped a few times at the “Graveyard,” a storage area for…
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“Is This Thing On?”
Brace Yourself … With a big thanks to Perry in the Morning, I recently received the aircheck from the KVTA Talk Radio appearance Rick Bisaccia from the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy and I made July 2, 2012. For those who care to listen to two bearded wilderness knuckleheads embarrass themselves on the air … have…
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Series 22 West
“Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause …” And westward we march, now amongst the trails of Range 22 West. These routes tend to concentrate in the Chumash Wilderness or the Ojai/Rose Valley area, either side of Nordhoff Ridge. (Refer to Series 18 West, Series 19 West, Series 20 West,…
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Dungeons of Maptitude Review No. 4: Conant’s 2013 Matilija & Dick Smith Wilderness
The Map in the Arena, Redux Back in the Spring of 2012, I posted a review of Bryan Conant’s 2008 (first edition) Matilija & Dick Smith Wilderness map. I was about four years late in reviewing that great map, but I’m happy to report a new edition has just landed in map cabinets near you,…
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Project Meriadoc
“So you’ve come on this little expedition, too?” This is a short tale that began with a call I received from Regulus about a week from 2012’s end. We two had earlier in the month discussed a historical route about which Regulus had recently learned, but now said historical route needed scouting; due diligence as…
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The Forest, Suffering the Nerd
“Like Gravy to Potatoes, Luke to Darth Vader …” When I was 19, I signed my first book deal. This wasn’t a notable deal, mind you, and the book for which I applied pen to paper and surrendered my Social Security number was never actually published. But it was the start of my long and…