Sunday At Calavera

Since we're due for crummy weather all week...
...and in spite of Celeste's cold and Allie's lingering sickness, I suggested that we get out and do a little local exploring this morning. No Field Trips to San Diego or LA, we just took Juno all of five miles up to the Calavera Lake trails in Carlsbad.

Parked the car at the closed produce stand where Carlsbad is planning to build a new high school...
...slipped thru the gate...
...and walked down a dirt road to get on to some of the trails. Unfortunately Celeste didn't have a whole lot of energy, so we didn't get too far. But the grrrls both needed and appreciated the fresh air.
Celeste found a perfect retrievin' stick for June Bug...
...and, being a Lab, we pitched it down the creek over and over and over and over again. After all, it's unpossible to keep this dog out of water.
We headed home after an hour or so, with a wet, stinky and happy dog panting in the back of the wagon.
After lunch I returned with my bike, a 2.5 hour "hall pass" and the desire to get a better feel for how the extensive trails intertwine to form the fun network. I've ridden Calavera a couple of times with a local friend as well as brought Celeste to the lake on the north side of the open space, but still didn't know it well enough to be able to fully navigate it solo.
Most of the trails I rode today consisted of relatively-smooth and twisty singletrack on decomposing granite and surrounded by abundant California Sage. Minimal elevation changes and everything I rode today was in my bike's middle ring.

Being the car dork I am, I made a point of stopping to check out a long-abandoned Toyota.
Amazingly, the '71 Toyota Corona my dad owned from 1976-85 had far more rust on it than this "KE20" (second generation) Corolla of similar vintage does. Early Japanese cars + Midwestern road salt = a very bad case of tinworm.
The block and transmission were still in place...
...but the 1166cc (55HP) block had been "well-ventilated" - a thrown con rod perhaps?
Just across from the Toy, but far-less complete and unidentifiable (by me at least) was another CARcass...
My hunch? Some small British roadster. The British Racing Green floor pans are a good clue.
Nice flaking paint on the inner side of the door.
All-in-all, I put in about nine miles and 1500' of elevation gain over an hour and a half of exploring the trails, sometimes doubling-back to better figure out how the puzzle pieces fit together.
Not a bad way to spend the afternoon. Now this storm front needs to blow through quickly so I can head back next weekend.