Tag archives: Los Padres National Forest
The American Hiking Society has announced June 1 as National Trails Day. This is an annual event on the first Saturday of June. The mission is to “Leave it Better than you found it,” by volunteering to maintain, clean up, and advocate for public lands and trails. Everyone is invited to discover events and organizations […]
After bushwhacking and rambling across three mountain ranges and crossing two rivers between Nira Camp in the Los Padres National Forest and the Carrizo Plain National Monument, amazingly I didn’t find a single tick on me. It was December 2023, and fortunately, the same went for my five comrades as we spent seven days and […]
Let’s head outdoors this second week of January for a healthy start, and to reconnect with the nature in our backyard – balancing the indoor parties and holiday festivities that just ensued. One way to do that (and be of service) is to volunteer with the Los Padres Forest Association (LPFA) on any of the […]
The Los Padres Forest Association’s (LPFA) 7th Annual Used Outdoor Gear Sale is on October 22, at 11 am at Tucker’s Grove Site #2, Santa Barbara. Bargains abound on great outdoor gear, including Gossamer backpacks. This year the sale is being held in honor of Robert Frederick “Rik” Christensen, Jr. of Summerland, who passed in […]
With hot temperatures continuing over the next week, Los Padres National Forest officials reminded visitors last week that an open fire ban remains in effect for the Santa Barbara front country while trail closures have been extended for the Old Romero Road (26W25), Romero Canyon Trail (26W14), and San Ysidro Trail (26W15 Singletrack) through August […]
Coming out of Thanksgiving and heading into the holidays that mark the end of the year – if you are thinking you may want a vacation in 2023, love being outdoors in the wilderness, and want to do something to help our natural forest in California, check out the Los Padres Forest Association website. There […]
After backpacking out of the Sierra Madre Mountains in the Los Padres National Forest, myself and two others hiked out to Hwy 166 to walk and hitchhike to our next water cache 15 miles to the west. It would require brushing up alongside speeding semitrucks, sleepy cows, the arid Cuyama Valley, all the while knowing […]
I chose a broad sandstone stage, dropped my camera pack, and kicked back on the gritty slab in the Sierra Madre Mountains of the Los Padres National Forest. It was the spring of 1997, and the sun was shining overhead with intermittent puffy clouds drifting north to south. My hands were behind my head and […]
A month into his position as the Los Padres National Forest (LPNF) Santa Barbara District Ranger, Daryl Hodges is now dealing with the statewide Los Padres National Forest closure due to fire prevention and mitigation, with support directed to the Caldor Fire. That, along with decreased staffing and his entire budget focused on fire prevention, […]
After an almost monthlong closure aimed at preventing new fires in what is already one of the busiest fire seasons in California history, the National Forest Service reopened the Los Padres National Forest on October 9. At just after 9 am that morning, 13 mules and a horse led by a trio of wranglers hired […]
Straddling the coastal spine of the Transverse Range, I hiked (and sometimes ran) the sandstone sea serpent that rises and falls east to west all the way from the idyllic Gaviota Coast to the stunningly breathtaking Matilija Wilderness, a stone’s throw away from Carpinteria. The chaparral-choked Santa Ynez Mountains are one of the main gateways […]
