Returning home to Pine Valley

Sitting on the steps of his tool shed and workshop, Jack English, 94, tries to warm himself on a chilly Sunday morning in November. The tool shed and workshop - as well as the adjacent cabin - are located on 5 acres that English purchased in 1975.   (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

English mounted a plaque in honor of his wife, Mary, on a rock between his workshop and the cabin.   (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

Twilight comes early to the valley in the fall, and the small cabin is lit by the fire and few Coleman lanterns. Jack English’s son, Dennis, wanders in front of the open back door. Over the years, English has become something of a legend in the Ventana Wilderness.  (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

Temperatures at night dropped below freezing on a recent weekend in November, and English would tuck himself into his sleeping bag in his bunk in the cabin. His 11-year-old grandson, Jacob, prefers to sleep on the pad on the floor.   (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

Using a bow that his father made, Dennis English plays “My Mother’s Waltz,” a song that he wrote after Mary English died in 2001. Dennis, 51, is an accomplished fiddle player. His father’s bows are prized among violin, viola, cello and bass players in the Santa Cruz area.   (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

English’s bunk in the cabin is modest: a sleeping bag on top of a mattress. On the shelf at the head of the bed, he has placed a small box that contains the ashes of his wife, Mary. He carries the ashes everywhere he goes, which gives him a chance to say good morning and good night to Mary each day.   (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

As night begins to fall and the lighting in the cabin grows dim, Jack English takes the Coleman lanterns outside to fill them with camp fuel.   (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

Amy Wells, right, and two friends camped near the cabin on a weekend in November, and on the Sunday morning they visited English, who invited them in for tea. Wells has been visiting Pine Valley for a little more than 10 years. She used to bring English banana bread when he lived here by himself. “People want to believe that someone like Jack can live out here,” she says.  (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

An 8x10 photograph of Mary English sits on the left side of the mantel above the fireplace. The picture, which was taken by Jack in the 1950s, shows young Mary holding up an impromptu bouquet of wild iris, harebells and shooting stars.   (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

Silhouetted by the light from the backyard, Jack English stands at the kitchen sink.   (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

Reflected in the windows of the cabin, sandstone cliffs rise on the eastern edge of Pine Valley. Jack and Mary purchased the five acres in the valley with his brother and his wife when the property was put up for auction in 1975. They bid high - $11,000 - in order to make sure they got the parcel.  (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

A photograph of Mary English rests on the mantel above the fireplace inside the cabin. On the bottom of the photo, which was taken in the 1950s, Jack English has written the word “Scrumptious,” which is his nickname for her.   (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

Jack English hikes near his cabin. He believes he first visited Pine Valley on a hunting trip when he was 11 years old and ever since, has dreamed of buying the homestead here. When he was 17, he made an offer, but it wasn’t until 1975 - when he was 56 - that he was able to make his dream real.  (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

As Jack English has gotten older, hiking the five miles into the cabin in Pine Valley has become more difficult. To help out, a friend - a local helicopter pilot - has a long-standing offer with Jack: “As long as I can fly, I’ll bring you in.” The flight from the Watsonville Airport takes about half an hour.  (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

Sunset from the Tassajara Road streaks the sky above the Ventana Wilderness. When Jack English was younger, he would drive to a trail head just off the Tassajara Road and hike - with backpacks and with horses - the five miles to the cabin. Pine Valley’s isolation presented the greatest challenge to building the cabin.  (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)