Heater core leaking?

I have coolant coming out from under my dash and it is leaking down into my passenger footwell. I am also seeing steam or an evaporative smoke cloud coming from under the dash and out of the windshield defog vent. I am guessing either a rubber hose has finally given up or my heater core has decided to pack its bags and leave for the winter.
I have heard you have to take the dash out to get to the heater core, which is no problem, but I am curious what could be the best fix.

 

Yuck. You may not know the problem until you take it apart. I think if this happened to my Taco, I’d just bypass the heater core altogether, but I’m in southern CA where the coldest days hit 30 degrees less than five days a year, unless I head into the mountains. Good luck.