Did my head gasket just go?

Today on my drive to work I noticed a burnt smell so I popped the hood and found a heater hose spewing. I have my heater core bypassed and it was spewing next to the firewall - All over my transmission and spark plug. I found a small cat food can laying around so I put that by it to redirect the flow. (I don't know if the coolant could hurt anything but I figured it was best that it not be spraying over everything.)

That didn't worry me too bad. I've had a similar problem with the other hose in the bypass (engine side). I just cut off the faulty piece and there was plenty left. What I don't understand is why there was coolant in it? What is the plastic pipe that attaches to the hose? Apparently it has coolant running through it.

Ok, the part that has me worried. Coolant started leaking out of the head bolt. (corner bolt closest to the thermostat housing) I've had a minor oil leak from there for as long as I've had the car. Is my head gasket shot?

I need to know what to do with the car. I'm about 10 miles from home. If I fix the hose, fill the radiator with water, and nothing is leaking should I drive it home?

Edit: If there was a problem with the head gasket what are the chances I could tell by checking for smoke in the exhaust?

LOL, Hmm....I Have no idea what I'm talking about and I was taking a wild guess?

In that case I guess its the valve cover bolt?

Update: I fixed the hose and ran the car for about 5 minutes - nothing to report.

It sounded a little different but I think its all in my head. (not the head in my car )

This thing just has to last me about 3-4 more weeks.

Red_LX said:

Well, there's really no way that coolant could be leaking from your valve cover bolt considering that it doesn't go into any coolant passages. You sure that some coolant didn't just get in there when your hose was spewing coolant and now it's just seeping out?

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It seems awkward that the coolant would have appeared there. There wasn't any coolant on the cover before that last bolt. But anyways if its impossible I guess the coolant is from the hose. I don't understand how but oh well...

Edit: I didn't mention that I checked and the radiator is full. There was a lot of coolant that leaked. Can anyone shed some light on the mysterious plastic pipe that goes into the heater core hose? I can't tell what its connected to.