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!

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.