A Hike to Santa Barbara’s Inspiration Point

Some days, you just need to get away from it all, and that day was yesterday for this Santa Barbara blogger. Feeling dejected by the plethora of so-called publishers out there—along with imaginary friends, inflated egos, and career carrots dangled and withdrawn—I grabbed my camera and headed out to the quiet of Santa Barbara’s Seven Falls. If there’s one thing I’ve learned by this stage of my life, chickens, it’s that Nature restores.

No valet parking!

And it’s not stingy about it, either. Just driving the winding route of Tunnel Road eased the senses, carved as it is, through Mission Canyon’s lushly forested, sandstone. So what if parking was such I had to park a full half-mile from the trailhead? With more than 5 separate trails leading from the front country to the back, it’s no wonder so many cyclists, runners and hikers were on site to enjoy.

Why, even chickens were out partaking of the late afternoon quiet! The instant I stepped out of my car, I happened upon these “wild chickens”—or at the very least extremely free-range chickens—foraging at the edge of an orange grove, their unrestrained movements echoing their lack of concern for my spastic shutterbugging. Continue reading →…