Day 2: Carlsbad and the Shore

Tuesday, April 23, 2002

After another quick loop on the Idyllwild course, it was time to try and locate the San Juan Trail.  The San Juan trail is located in the Cleveland National forest on hiway 74 between Lake Elsinore and San Juan Capistrano.  Although the temperatures during the night while camping in the mountains approached freezing, it was already in the 80's in the lower valley areas - it was hot!

After locating the turn-around point at the top of the mountain at the Blue Jay campground, I stopped in at the ranger station at the starting trail head at the bottom of the mountain.  The ranger gave me some details about the trail and as I headed out to the van, rather than jump onto the trail, I decided to head toward the shore to check on camping areas near the beach.  Although I initially was thinking about camping at San Clemente State Beach, I decided to head down toward Oceanside and Carlsbad.  I had visited the Carlsbad area 2 years ago and really liked the area, but didn't get a chance to explore it much.

On the recommendation from a Southern California local, I decided to head to South Carlsbad State Beach for the night.  Once I got a camp site, I decided that rather than boil my brains out on the trail (I need to save the little brain power I currently have), I would spend the day doing another favorite activity: play at the shore.

Even though the temperature at the shore was 68°, it still was hot, especially in the sun.  I threw on my swim trunks, put on some lotion and headed to the water.  At 62°, the water temperature sure cooled things off quickly!  But was it great!  Living in the desert sure makes me appreciate the ocean that much more.  I spent the afternoon body surfing, diving into the waves and just enjoying the water.

After a shower, the late afternoon/early evening beach air was absolutely inviting for a nice bike ride along the shore.  So, I pedaled along the shore towards Carlsbad, enjoying the sea breeze, the ocean air, the sound of the waves and just enjoying life.

Once in Carlsbad, I explored every street and sidewalk from a bicycle perspective (which is much different than from inside a car).  Rather than head back to the van for a couple of turkey burgers, I impulsively decided to stop inside a pizza-brew joint and have a salad, pizza and a couple of brewskis.  Then, it was back on the bike to pedal slowly along the shore back to the van while the sun sank lower on the horizon.

Even taking my time, I still arrived back at camp with plenty of time left to sit quietly and think as the ocean waves crashed on the shore below, the breeze blew gently and the sun set over the horizon.
 
 

Then, as night fell, I lay staring up at the sky listening to the waves below.  The nearly full moon cast a soft gentle light over the ground, the rhythmic sound of the ocean played in the background and my spirit filled to the near bursting point from it all.  It was the end of a wonderful day at the shore that I almost wished had never ended.