Hiking Mount Calavera

I love cloudy weekends, because then I can hike without having to reapply sunscreen!  Yesterday I decided to try Mt. Calavera and Lake Calavera, and was it ever worth it!

Mt. Calavera is actually a volcanic plug, but you can hike up to the ridge.  The view from both the bottom and the top are stunning, though obviously the caldera can only really be observed from the bottom.

Mt. Calavera quarry.  People at the top!

Getting to the top from the east is a real scramble in places, but I got up it (slowly).  Here it was from the bottom looking up, and then the top looking down!

The top was well worth the climb.

Looking southwest towards Carlsbad and the Pacific Ocean

Looking straaaaaight down (!) and northwest at Lake Calavera

There were a couple of shrines to loved ones who have been lost.  I imagine in wetter times, they look more like the "gardens" that they are purported to be.  All that was in Lala's Garden was a prickly pear cactus.

Lala's Garden

What goes up must come down, and coming down on the west side was as much a scramble as it was on the east side.  Sliding looked like a good option!  Here are pictures from the top looking down, and the bottom looking up.

That erosion, though.  I imagine that when it rains, this is treacherous.

I finally got back onto flat ground and hiked around Lake Calavera, which is dammed and very tranquil.  There were a few trail runners, bikers, and walkers, and I got to say hi to some cute doggies.

Lake Calavera, looking northeast from the dam

It was only 2 miles, but it was a great workout, especially because of all the unsteady climbing!  I earned a pho lunch after that.  I'd love to come back at different times of the year, especially once the rain and plant life start to pick up a little in the winter.

Mission accomplished!

This.... state.... is on FIRE.

With apologies to Alicia Keys.

Southern California has been in the national news for the past few days because of our fires.  The biggie is the fire burning up in Ventura, near L.A., but this week, we got a taste of our own fire.

I don't actually live in San Diego, but rather north San Diego county ("north county"), in a town called Vista.  On Thursday afternoon, when I was busy with some on-site clients at the lab in Carlsbad, we noticed that we could see smoke out the window.

Then some coworkers got the call for mandatory evacuation, and they took off posthaste.  One of my colleagues' smoke detectors were alarming by the time she got home.

People were dropping out of work at an alarming rate as more schools and homes were evacuated.  I was definitely scared, but distracted by my clients.

And then I got home and made the mistake of turning on the TV.  Horses running everywhere, people evacuating, traffic backed up, and camera shots that looked like hell was being unleashed down the sides of canyons.

Wouldn't you be scared?

The Santa Ana winds were blowing to the southwest, and Vista was south of the fire zone.  I put Franz's collar on just as a precaution, and then they started making rumblings of evacuating Vista.

I will admit to having a mild freakout.  I threw a suitcase of essentials together for both girl and cat and gathered crucial documents and keepsakes for easy car loading.  Only northwest Vista was being evacuated, but I was ready for the call.

I didn't sleep well, as I kept waking up and checking for alerts on my phone.  But once those winds died down, the fire crews were (amazingly) able to hold the line on the Lilac fire.  Schools were out as a precaution, and half my coworkers weren't there the next day, but as far as I know, no one's home was burned.

Here are the current boundaries of the Lilac fire.  Fire crews have now switched to an offensive fight from a defensive one.  It is predicted to be ten more days before the fire truly is extinguished.

Lilac fire boundaries, Dec. 10 morning

I've endured tornadoes, hurricanes, ice storms, and blizzards, but my fear in those paled in comparison to the fear I felt with the threat of fire.  And with these dry conditions, the threat is constant, as well.

It was a real wake-up call.  I'm no longer in a land with an overabundance of water.

Hello winter my old friend....

...it's nice to play in you again.

As much as I enjoy my new temperate climate, I'm trying to grapple with it being so unfamiliar.  So yesterday, I took myself to the local skating rink at Icetown Carlsbad for a little bit of winter sports and comfort.  The reviews said to expect it to be SO COLD in there.  I say, internally, bring it on.

I never skated much until I moved up north for graduate school, and the Penn State Ice Pavilion (which sadly is no more) would offer public skate afternoons on the weekends.  For $8 with a student ID, I could get a great workout in and better myself in a new area.  Being cold while ice skating has never been a problem for me.  I commonly emerge from the ice quite warm.

I really worked to get in shape in 2008, and it showed on the ice.  I could go faster, and for longer, the fitter I got.  I made friends with an older gentleman, a very graceful figure skater who also frequented the free skate days, and he complemented my ability.  I still remember it to this day.

There's something about ice skating that's therapeutic for me.  You get the endorphins of exercise, but you've also got to strategize, especially with younger (aka kamikaze, no fear) or inexperienced skaters.  You're constantly gauging the situation and figuring out what you're going to do next.  Can you safely pass?  Can you make that turn?  And my favorite: oh god, can I stop?!

I'm still not great at stopping.

O Canadaaaaa, my home and adoptive laaaaaand!

After an hour of skating, the crowds were getting oppressive, and a few near misses convinced me that it was probably time to quit.  But I walked out of there happy to have spent at least part of my day in the mid-fifties, even if some ladies outside warned me that I'd freeze at that temperature in my flip-flops.  Quaint.