The Holler is surrounded by thousands of empty acres.
It has many oak groves, and permanent and seasonal creeks running through it.
900 of these acres are set aside as a permanent nature preserve, and many more 1000’s of acres are still free from human development.
There are no hiking trails or public access, but we live adjacent to the preserve and hike it several times a week.
The Holler was first settled in the 1890’s and consisted of 2,700 acres. It was a working ranch for much of its history. Crumbling fences and old ranch dirt roads remain. We hike the dirt roads, and game trails, which are everywhere.
This is the lower pasture below our house, and this is where we access the preserve.
Since people are not here, The Holler is full of wildlife and has an entirely different feel from hiking in parks that people frequent. This natural ecosystem is unique for over-developed Southern California.
We see oodles of tracks, coyotes, bobcat, cougar, raccoon, but no deer. There are no deer because there are too many predators for them to survive. There are lots of kill sites and bones scattered around, but I will spare you photos of these, even though I have them.
And of course there are hundreds of birds! Cheers to you from the still wild Holler~
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Tranquil place!
Indeed, especially when the coyotes aren’t killing something!
It is the part of life in the middle of nowhere. 🙂
Yes. Exactly, and I have learned, over time, to love it with a passion. Thank you Alexander for knowing.
Oh my! Thanks for sharing your beautiful photos, Cindy!
Thank you more for appreciating them Jill & cheers to you!
These are lovely scenery. As I have seen many beautiful pictures of birds from Holler, Holler is also a heaven for birds and wild lives too. I am glad to learn there are efforts to preserve spaces/lands from human development.
Thank you and yes, we need more wild spaces protected.
It looks like paradise!!! 😀
Keep it quiet, dear Cindy! Someone might get ideas and turn it into a hell for nature and all the wildlife there!… 🙂
This is quite true, which is why I give it a fictional name and don’t post on it often. Access is difficult and trespassing is illegal. Hunters are not welcome and the sheriffs are called if they dare to trespass.
That sounds encouraging 😀
<3
Cindy… what glorious views. It’s such an enchanted place. Thank you for sharing it with us. Hugs on the wing.
Hugs flying back to you Teagan & gratitude too <3
I’m going to think of my enjoyment of this beautiful place through your photos as a tribute to nature poet Mary Oliver, who recently passed away.
Thank you Liz. I grieve the loss of her.
It looks beautiful and peaceful!
It is, even at night when the coyote packs howl!
Beautiful area Cindy. You are so lucky to have it so close to your home.
Yes. If you love open spaces and nature, this is a great place to live.
You make me envious! 😉
Awww, don’t waste any time on envy, into each life some rain must fall.
Thanks for sharing your beautiful holler home Cindy. I would love to live there or a similar place with undisturbed nature as my neighbor! As you mentioned, I bet it looks and feels very different than most parks. Holler hugs!
I hope you do eventually live amongst nature Brad. It is good for the heart, mind and soul.
Indeed. Thank you Cindy.
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Cindy this is a lovely area to live near. How did it get the name “Holler”?
Leslie
I named it that in jest.
I picture great birds swooping down with their calls….
That is exactly accurate! We live on a mountain so they often fly by at eye level.
and what a sight that would be…
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🙂 <3
Beautiful.
Merci beaucoup mon ami <3
It’s great to be surrounded by so much preserve. I love the blue skies and sunshine. I live in the middle of thousands of acres of forest. Love it, but sometimes I miss the big sky. 🙂
Sounds idyllic. Where is your forest?
The coastal range of Oregon. It’s mostly timberland. Not much old growth, but miles and miles of nothing but trees. 🙂
Yes. Gorgeous. We were very close to moving there and still are thinking about Bend.
Bend is lovely. Not rainy enough for me, ha ha, but a fantastic city.
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What a stunning place to live, Cindy! Thank you for sharing The Holler with us. I now have a clearer vision of you and your camera hiking these trails to bring us up close to Nature!
Thank you Debbie. It is a very different sort of place to hike, no formal trails, no people, and lots and lots of wildlife watching from the shadows!
And I thought the Adirondacks were unique. How wonderful to be able to live in “The Holler.”
Enjoy!
Wally
You should stop by and I’ll take you on a hike. Bring your snake boots!
I’m on the next plane, I’ll eco camp for about a month. That should be enough time to get a feel of the place. I love natural rivers, shallow then wide, walk across. I love undisturbed land and making sure it stays the way the Indians left it. Have a great day. 🙂
You would love it here. We wear handmade Chippewa boots that are water and snake resistant and cross and recross the streams multiple times on each hike. I love it too <3
Where did you buy them? I would love something handmade that reminds me of my Cherokee heritage.
Here is a link to them. They are expensive, but so worth it. They are fully water and rattlesnake resistant. My husband and I have worn them constantly for 10+ years and they NEVER show any signs of wear. They have good grip in the soles and they have protected me from snakes and all sorts of other nasty things. They are completely comfortable once you break them in and they are great looking.
https://www.bootbarn.com/chippewa-womens-snake-boots/050T75.html?dwvar_050T75_color=7319#gclid=CjwKCAiAsoviBRAoEiwATm8OYGlazqOwzrzr4A49zbKd08OWBKbNZ0DHqe8lKs0osESAGK0Glxx3xRoCBRgQAvD_BwE&ef_id=CjwKCAiAsoviBRAoEiwATm8OYGlazqOwzrzr4A49zbKd08OWBKbNZ0DHqe8lKs0osESAGK0Glxx3xRoCBRgQAvD_BwE%3AG%3As&start=1
Thanks I’ll check it out. 🙂
What a gorgeous place to live!! Could be straight out of a novel.
Ohhh, I would love to read the novel!
Trees have such individual characteristics. They always make for interesting photography. Great photo of that … hawk? of some sort?
Thank you so much, and I agree, trees have such character, and you are correct that is a red tail hawk.
Very nice picture of the hawk. So clear!
Thank you very much.
Lovely…
Thank you Bette & cheers!
I love your opening statement that the Holler is surrounded by thousands of empty acres. And then you go on to write about the life and joy that are contained in these same acres . What a wonderful way to remind me that we must integrate our lives with the glorious world around us.
Thank you Rebecca <3 10 1/2 years ago I worried I made a mistake moving here, I wasn't used to living amongst all the wild things. Now I could never happily return to living in civilization and the wild critters are my best neighbors!
I’d love to live next to a nature preserve, so that I can go hiking without having to waste any gas. Thanks so much for sharing these lovely photos with us 🙂
If you ever make it out this way, we’ll take you hiking and tracking.
Hopefully I will make it out that way! I’ll let you know if I do; thanks for offering to take me hiking.
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Wow, and thank you! I needed that.
It’s -17C and going down to -35 w/ wchill tonight!
x
Yeeks! That is soooo cold! I recently listened to this climatologist talk about the polar vortex when it splits twice, and then, rarely splits three times, which is has just apparently done. It means very cold weather has flown to where you are. Love to you Resa and stay warm <3
You’ve captured a serene place that is away from it all.
It gives all of us, living here, great comfort.
Wow! How fortunate you are Cindy to live on the edge of nature! We share that wondrous experience here in Virginia although we are on the edge of only a 700 acre tract. Still, there are bob cats, turkeys, foxes, bears, and deer.
And I know Dor, that you and I truly love the critters. They basically, are the nicest people <3
makes me happy
seeing your wide
open space 🙂
Awww, your poem made me happy <3
It looks like a paradise to me, Cindy. Just you and nature. Gorgeous photos!
Nature is our kindest friend <3
Indeed it is, Cindy!
<3
A paradise for sure – you are one lucky woman!
Thank you Leya & cheers to you!
A happy place for birds and many wildlife animals! 💖
Yes indeed and they make me happy <3
#9 Very fine bird – and photo! RH
Grazie Mille!
Diana, you are so fortunate to live near such natural beauty. Happy hiking!
Thanks much & cheers!
What an idyllic place to call home (unless you are a deer!). Beautiful.
Yes, at least the deer are smart enough to stay away!
So beautiful, hope it stays the same.
The critters and I hope so too!
What a beautiful place to live!
Thank you, we need more undeveloped preserves.
JUST WOW CINDY, THE PHOTOGRAPHS ARE FANTASTIC, CHINA
china.alexandria@livingthedream.blog
Your kindness is much appreciated!
Reblogged this on LIVING THE DREAM.
Thanks much my friend & have a wonderful week!
What a fantastic place, Cindy, we would love to live like that <3 Pawkisses for a Happy Day🐾😽💞
Beautiful, Cindy! Happy home 🙂 🙂
So inspired for nature’s wake of our day, Cindy!!❤
Thank you!
You are really blessed to have a piece of heaven like this at your back door, Cuz. I’m jealous! ……..🐾
Love to you Paul.
💜 Right back to you Cindy.
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Such green colors for S. CA! – Oscar
Yep, it bursts forth in winter at The Holler. All these plants in dormant fecund earth just grow and grow! It is gorgeous.
Wow, you’re so lucky to have this near you. Looking at your photos, I just want to plunge into it.
Yes. You should put on your snake boots and come along. It is definitely not a public park. The critters control this place and they watch us from the thickets.
It’s beautiful and looks a lot like it could be a part of Scotland. xxx
It is only green like this a couple of months of the year, when the rains come. It is more like South Africa in terms of vegetation the rest of the time, but the creek always flows, even in the parched summer, which keeps the wildlife here, and this green corridor of living oaks and sycamores thriving like a green thread by the water.
Your description could be a poem; it is a metaphor for so many things in life: “but the creek always flows, even in the parched summer, which keeps the wildlife here, and this green corridor of living oaks and sycamores thriving like a green thread by the water.”
Yep.
Thank you,
very much.
I think in prose.
Words line up.
And tell me,
how I feel.
🙂
Thank you. xxx
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Just wow! How lucky you are to live next to this!
It took some getting used to, 10 1/2 years in, I am used to being here, Iove it, and could never ever live in the suburbs or city again. But it is definitely not for everyone. Lots of people would not like it. I’m glad I am not one of them.
You are so fortunate to live in such a beautiful place. Looking out over all that gorgeous landscape must be heavenly!
Thank you! It is so different to live out here, but now I wouldn’t live anywhere else.
Such a gorgeous place. Thank you for sharing this with us, Cindy.
Thank you much for being you Robert. I am blown away by you <3
Hi, Cindy. I can see why you love this place. It’s a bit of paradise. Enjoy your hikes this week!
Ahh, thank you. I like being places where animals put people in their place. It feels safer to me.
Yes! That’s the natural order of things, not the other way around.
<3
Awesome and beautiful land! Perfect for Wolfie to dance and play in!
So, when are you and Wolfie coming down? I can make him howl. I did it with my friends two wolves, and it puts the coyotes in their places! (You think I am kidding, but I am not).
We’re on our way Cindy!😂See you soon!😀🐺I’m sure Wolfie will be very happy to howl for you….HOoooooooOOOOwwwwWWWWLLLLL!! See?!!🐺😀
What a paradise! 😍
For you and I, any place where nature has a chance, is just such. Be well my friend <3
Your photos of The Hollar are just as beautiful as all of those you’ve shared and taken while on all those awesome wonderful trips taken abroad and in state. I have been busy but not so much at writing. So, wanted to stop in and say, “Hi”. Take care and God bless, Cindy.
God Bless you sweet lady <3
What a beautiful place! Isn’t it hard to leave on your trips? (Kidding. The trips are likely made even more enjoyable by knowing what you are returning to.)
The last photograph–a great gard-bird looking out for all the little lives in the Holler. I know he has to eat, but still it appears that he is fiercely, almost passionately, protective.
You are so prescient. The hawks watch us all the time, they accompany us on hikes, along with the hummingbirds. It has been 10 1/2 years now that we have lived here. They seem to accept us as a non-harmful part of their ecosystem. They seem to watch us, know us, and greet us when we return from a long trip. We have a very long and steep driveway. As soon as we drive down after we are gone for a long time, they are are close in the air seemingly greeting us. I always feel happy seeing them, because I am back with the hawks.
When I am home, they fly super low by the windows and make me get up and let me get photos, and they let me get close too, when they alight on trees.
When I see them in the air, I intuitively know they are here, and I feel better.
Wow! Thanks for adding that. It is so good to hear stories about that kind of ritual, a communion not often available, a gift from above.