Sheltered Lands

  Twenty-five miles off the California coast, I disembark and wander into the wrong group. “The hikers are meeting under the eucalyptus trees,” someone tells me. Only later do I realize that group is major donors here for a private tour of the island. I was already in awe of Santa Cruz’s beauty as we approached the dock—but learning that it draws conservation leaders and benefactors only deepens my sense that this is one of the most enchanting places I’ve ever visited.   Santa Cruz Island, the largest of the Channel Islands, lies off Ventura in California’s southwest corner. For me, it marks the third of four “corner-of-the-country” Nature Conservancy sites I’ve visited—after Great Wass in Maine (2018) and Blowing Rocks in Florida (2022). Half of Santa Cruz belongs to Channel Islands National Park, the other half to TNC—a partnership that protects high peaks, deep canyons, and miles of wild coastline.   It’s also a place of internationally renowned conservation succes...

  The airline app shows we’ll arrive 45 minutes early. On an east-to-west flight — already a 27-hour day — that’s nearly 28 hours. A nice perk for us mortals, and just enough cushion for my perhaps overly optimistic itinerary.   When I step out of my rental car at The Nature Conservancy (TNC)’s Santa Clara Preserve in Saticoy, California , a pungent urine smell fills the air.   Wasn’t expecting that.   I assume the worst: a mountain lion has marked its territory, so my guard immediately goes up as I enter the trail system.   My wife hates when I travel alone, and trudging into lion country is one of the reasons, I’m sure.   Back east, I rarely worry about wildlife encounters.   But out west, the threats are stout – and few are stouter than mountain lion.     Located just north of the congestion of Los Angeles, the Santa Clara River is one of the most threatened rivers in America – a trifecta of threats. The Santa Clara River is a v...

S M I T H   R O A C H   G A P,  V A   Over the past thirty-five years, I’ve driven 15,400 times up and over one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world.  The Blue Ridge are an eastern-most front range of the Appalachians which extend from Pennsylvania to Georgia.   The range formed four hundred million years ago when Europe and North America collided pushing these mountains up as high as the Alps.  Millions of years later, they’ve been worn down by erosion to their current height which makes crossing them now only a mild hurdle along my daily commute.  To say the Blue Ridge are a familiar range is an understatement.  They’re my home team, mountain-wise. The Blue Ridge are renowned for their isoprene-triggered bluish tint.  If viewed with the glow of a sunrise or sunset mixed in, the imagery of this ancient mountain ridge becomes iconic.  Of my 15,400 crossings, many have occurred amid brilliant imagery. The name is...

Big Falls on the Big Cedar Creek, Russell County, Virginia H O N A K E R,  V A The Pinnacle Natural Area Preserve is an elusive place.  Located in one of America’s least populated counties in the heart of southwest Virginia, it’s about the furthest place in the state from my home.  You don’t drive past The Pinnacle or even Russell County on your way anywhere else.  The Pinnacle is hidden at the dead end of a gravel road in the middle of nowhere.  If you’re here, you must have planned it, which is exactly what I’ve done today.  The Pinnacle long ago piqued my interest, and it’s been poking at my Travelling Jones ever since.  Shortly after I bought a topographic map of the state back in the ‘90s and got lost perusing its contour lines, I discovered this alluring place.  A little further research unveiled some enticing descriptions: “… one of the most biodiverse areas in all of North America” “… towering cliffs, sheer limestone ledg...