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!

Southern California Culture Shock

As a new resident of southern California, and having not lived anywhere even remotely close in distance or climate, I'm having a significant adjustment period for certain things.

• The heat

I am a child of four seasons.  In Atlanta, they weren't so extreme as they were in Pennsylvania and Michigan.  I quickly adjusted to extremes, because there was always something exciting to look forward to.  I never thought I loved summer until I moved up north.  Even winter had its beauty and charm.

However, it's obvious that my new home is much different:

Temperature (F) with respect to time, evaluated monthly, courtesy WolframAlpha.

I moved in September, which is a transition month for Michigan.  However, my transition was halted, and I was catapulted into temps in the 80s and 90s.  It was 90 F on Thanksgiving.  The highest temperature I've felt here in Socal was 104 F in late October.

• Taxes

California income taxes are, to put it bluntly, bonkers.  Let's do a quick comparison:

Income taxes by salary.  Filing status = single. Top: Ypsilanti, MI. Bottom: Vista, CA.  Calculator: SmartAsset

You can see that my federal increased because I got a cost-of-living increase (for which I'm now incredibly glad I negotiated).  But that state marginal rate?  Wow.  My rent is also ridiculous, but we won't even go into that.

The Sunshine Tax is real.

• Fall is for FIRE!

I've weathered tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards, and ice storms, but fires are completely unfamiliar.

I have a special spot in my heart for autumn, because it's when the weather turns cold and you get to wear boots and put more blankets on the bed.

No.  Fall in Socal means FIRE.  I learned very quickly what a red flag warning was, and what Santa Ana winds are.  The dry hot wind comes sweeping through and BAM!  Fires and allergies.

• The giant disparity between nighttime and daytime temperatures

Get your SPF 50 out, because the sun here is intense (my plants love it), and it makes it feel way hotter than the air temperature during the day.  But once that sun drops?  Get ready for a reset, because that mercury dips a lot.

Ah, the beauty of the desert.  It makes for great sleeping weather.

• The sun sets WAY early

I've lived most of my life on the western part of the eastern time zone, so the sun tends to set later-ish.  In Michigan during the summer solstice, you still have light at 9:30 pm, and even in the winter, the sun doesn't set until after 5.  In Socal, the sun sets at 4:40, before you even leave work.

It makes me tired much earlier.  Since friends in the east stop talking to me ~8 pm because they've gone to bed, I tend to go to bed really early as well.  This is actually a good thing for work!