Predcasne vanoce 10. - 11. 12. 2011

It is becoming a tradition that I celebrate Christmas a little bit earlier. The reason is that I usually travel over the Christmas break, this year I am off to Costa Rica. The advantage of this early celebration is that I don't have to deal with crowds in stores to buy food for my dinner. As a Czech tradition we had fried carp and potato salad, for desert we have Czech Christmas cookies, this year I made 11 kinds! It is not also totally Czech dinner anymore, since Daniela and Martin married non Czech/Slovak people we introducing our tradition to people from Ecuador and Japan :)
I wanted celebrate Christmas with my non Czech friends also, so the second day I invited other friends for small Christmas party.
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Uz je tradici, ze slavim vanoce o neco drive. Duvodem je me cestovani pres vanocni prazdniny, tento rok jedu do Costa Riky. Vyhodou brzkeho slaveni je ze nemusim bojovat s davy v obchodech. Jako tradicne jsme meli k veceri smazeneho kapra a bramborovy salat, jako zakusek bylo vanocni cukrovi, tento rok jsem udelala 11 druhu! A uz nemame ani uplne ceskou veceri, jelikoz Daniela a Martin si vzali "cizince", ukazujeme tak nasi tradici i lidem z Eqvadoru a Japonska :)
Chtela jsem take oslavit vanoce s mymi neceskymi kamarady a tak jsem na druhy den udelala malou vanocni party.
FOTKY

Thanksgiving 24. - 26. 12. 2011

I think this was after a few years first Thanksgiving that I stayed at home. This holiday doesn't really have any meaning to me since I wasn't born in USA and since this is family holiday and all my family is in Europe. This year after busy summer and October traveling I stayed in San Jose. I prepared with my friend Christina non traditional Thanksgiving dinner and celebrated this holiday with a few friends.
On Saturday we drove to Bear Valley for one day for short snowshoeing and to visit my friend Katka and her family.
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Myslim, ze toto bylo prvni Dikuvzdani po nekolika letech, co jsem zustala doma a nikam nevyrazila. Tyto svatky nemaji pro mne vpodstate zadny vyznam, jelikoz jsem se v USA nenarodila a hlavne moje cela rodina zije v Evrope. Tento rok po velkem cestovani v lete a rijnu jsem proto zustala v San Jose. Pripravila jsem s kamaradkou Christinou netradicni veceri na dikuvzdani a oslavila jsem svatky s nekolika kamarady.
V sobotu jsme pak jeli do Bear Valley na sneznice a navstivit kamaradku Katku a jeji rodinu.
FOTKY

Hawaii - Oahu 22. - 30. 10. 2011

Going to Hawaii was on my list of places that I would like to see, just not too high, since there are not really any mountains :) But when Martin invited me to celebrate with him and Yumi their wedding day, I couldn't say no. It was great week, full of water activities - surfing (or probably just trying to stand up on surf), snorkeling, scuba diving (even though I got panic attack in depth 80 ft, so not so great) and of course swimming.
Martin and Yumi rented for this occasion a beautiful big house where they stayed with their families for one week. On Monday we came for BBQ where we got to know each other, on Tuesday then was the wedding party. All was nicely organized and everybody had a great time!
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Navsteva Hawaii byla na mem seznamu mist, kam jsem se chtela podivat, jen ne az tak vysoko, jelikoz Hawaii nema zrovna zadne hory :) Ale kdyz me Martin pozval na jeho svatbu, tak jsem nemohla rici ne. Byl to super tyden plni vodnich aktivit - surfovani (tedy spise snaha o postaveni se na surfu), snorklovani, potapeni se ( i kdyz jsem dostala panicky zachvat asi v hloubce 24 m) a samozrejmne plavani.
Martin a Yumi pronajali pro tuto udalost nadherny a velky dum na plazi, kde zustali s rodinami po cely tyden. V pondeli jsme prisli na grilovani, kde jsme se vsichni navzajem poznali, v utery pak byla svatba. Vse bylo pekne zorganizovane a myslim, ze si to vsichni uzili.
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Tuolumne meetup 24.-25. 9. 2011

Even though or maybe because my working week was quite stressful I couldn't resist and left for Yosemite the second weekend in row. This time the Moutaineering meetup camped at Tuolumne meadows. On Saturday I went to Mt. Hoffman (10,845 feet/3,305 m). The weather was quite stormy, which on one hand meant interesting sky for photos, but on the other hand it was getting quite dangerous on the top. On Sunday a lot of people from the meetup went to Clouds rest. It was nice to see the place where I did my first ever backpacking trip!
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I kdyz nebo mozna prave proto, ze jsem mela docela stresujici tyden, jsem se vydala druhy vikend po sobe do Yosemite. Tentokrat moutaineering meetup kempoval v Tuolumne meadows. V sobotu jsem vyrazila na Mt. Hoffman (10,845 feet/3,305 m). Pocasi bylo docela bourkove, coz znamenalo pekne mraky na foceni ale nebezpeno na vrcholku. V nedeli hodne lidi z meetup vyrazilo na Clouds rest. Bylo hezke si zase zajit na misto kde zacalo me backpackovani!
FOTKY

Tioga Pass - Meetup 17.-18.9. 2011

Being out most of this summer I didn't spend much time in Sierra Nevada mountains, so it was great opportunity to go again with BAMM (Bay area mountaineering meetup) to the mountains. This time we camped by Saddlebag lake. On Saturday I went with part of the group up to Mt. Conness via East Ridge, it was great hike. I got little bit sick, partially because of elevation, partially because I got big cold, but luckily I was able to summit - 12,649 ft (3,855 m). In the evening we had big campfire where everybody shared their stories. The second day I went for just short hike with Kirsten around 20 lakes basin, we relaxed by one of the lakes and when Phil came back from North peak we drove home.
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Jelikoz jsem byla vetsinu leta mimo, nemela jsem moc casu na vylety to hor Sierra Nevada, a tak kdyz se naskytla prilezitost vyrazila jsem opet s BAMM do hor. Tentokrat jsme kempovali u jezera Saddlebag. V sobotu jsem vyrazila s casti skupiny na horu Conness pres East Ridge, coz byl super vyslap. Nebylo me uplne nejlepe, castecne kvuli nadmorske vysce, castecne protoze jsem chytla velkou rymu, ale nastesti se mi podarilo se na vrchol vyskrabat - 12,649 ft (3,855 m). Vecer jsme pak meli velky taborak, kde kazdy povidal o svych vyletech. Druhy den jsem vysla jen s Kirsten na kratky vyslap kolem 20 jezer, zastavily jsme se u jednoho jezera a tam odpocivaly. Kdyz se Phil vratil z North Peak, jeli jsme zpet domu.
FOTKY

Yosemite - Vogelsang Backpacking 3. - 5. 9. 2011

Long weekend is always great for backpacking trip! This time I was invited to join a group for backpacking in Yosemite. Two Rachaels, Josh, Mandar, Joe and I left on Saturday morning for adventure around Vogelsang. One sad element in our trip was search and rescue that was happening. One about 70 year man didn't come back to his car about 3 days ago and everybody was looking for him. They found him dead about 1 hour before we actually passed his campsite on our way to our destination. We wouldn't probably found him anyway, since it looked that he was in his tent, he fell asleep one night and never woke up the second morning.
We did nice loop around many lakes and we were planning to finish early on Monday so we can stop at one swimming hole on our way back, but the weather got colder and we dropped this idea.
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Prodlouzeny vikend je vzdy idelni pro straveni casu v divocine. Tentokrat jsem byla pozvana abych se pripojila ke skupine co jela do Yosemite. Dve Rachael, Josh, Mandar, Joe a ja jsem vyrazili v sobotu rano za dobrodruzstvim kolem Vogelsangu. Malou vadou na krase celeho vyletu byla zachranna akce, ktera se zrovna konala. Asi 70ti letty muz se nevratil pred 3 dny ze sveho vyletu a tak jej vsichni hledali. Nasli jej mrtveho asi hodinu pred tim, nez my jsme prosli kolem jeho kempu. My bychom jej stejne asi neobjevili, protoze to vypadalo, ze byl ve svem stanu, pravdepodobne usnul a uz se druhy den nevzbudil.
Obesli jsme si kolecko kolem mnoha jezer a planovali jsme jeste v pondeli se zastavit na jednom miste na koupani, ale protoze se ochladilo, tak jsem nakonec jeli primo domu.
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Rafting - Friends of River 20.-21.8. 2011

American river in California is regulated by dam so rafting is possible almost all year around, so when I was invited by a friend to join weekend of rafting with Friend of River I didn't hesitate. It was relaxing and fun weekend when I met many interesting and nice people!
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Reka American river v Kalifornii je regulovana hrazi a tak se na ni da raftovat temer cely rok a tak kdyz me kamarad pozval abych se pridala na vikend s organizaci Friends of River ani jsem nezavahala. Byl to odpocinkovy a vesely vikend kde jsem poznala mnoho zajimavych a dobrych lidi!
FOTKY

Emigrant Wilderness - 6. - 9. 8. 2011

Since I haven't done "normal" backpacking for a long time I decided to join one of the backpacking meetup group for adventure in Emigrant Wilderness. Jannet, Corey, Lawrence and I met on Friday evening for a first time, Lawrence and Corey knew each other and planned this trip, but otherwise we didn't know each other. This didn't stop us from having great time exploring the area, the only downside were annoying mosquitoes. For a few reasons (work, health, mosquitoes...) Jannet and I left one day earlier, but still had a great time finding our way back to our car off trail!
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Jelikoz jsem uz dlouho nesla na "normalni" backpack, rozhodla jsem se pripojit se k jedne meetup skupine a uzit si dobrodruzstvi v oblasti Emigrant Wildernes. Jannet, Corey, Lawrence a ja jsem se sesli v patek poprve, Lawrence a Corey se znali a naplanovali tento vylet spolu, ale jinak nikdo neznal nikoho. To nam ale nezabranilo k tomu abychom si uzivali prozkoumavani oblasi, jedinnym negativem byli otravni komari. Z mnoha duvodu (prace, zdravi, komari...) Jannet a ja jsme se vratily o den drive, ale i tak jsem si uzily orientovani se mimo cestu a hledani cesty zpet k autu!
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Mt. Rainier 29. - 31.7. 2011

Mt. Rainier is 14,411 ft tall and covered by glaciers with crevasses which open up without any notice...so I still can't believe that I summit this big mountain! Miles, Phil, Nick and I drove about 14 hours from our homes to Mt. Rainier national park in Washington state for our three day adventure. The first day we hiked up to Inter Glacier where we found great spot for camping. The second day we had to go only about a mile to Emmons Glacier for our second night. This night was very short, because we woke up at midnight and got ready for climbing at 1 am. The weather was quite nice, we saw stars above us, only the wind was quite strong. We started to climb with many other teams (all roped up for safety), when we were in about half the weather changed and the mountain disappeared in clouds. Most of the teams on the mountain turned back, but we kept climbing. At about 9.30 am we reach the summit, unfortunately we couldn't see anything, but we made it! In about 15 minutes after we left the top the weather changed and there was blue sky again! We manage to get down safely - it was quite scary to see all the crevasses that we passed on the way up in day light. When we got down we found out, that my tent with many others was blown away and probably ended up in crevasses, and my sleeping bag, mat and some clothes with it. With them our plan to sleep at campground before we drive back home got canceled and we got home around 11 on Monday.
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Mt. Rainier je 4392 m vysoky, pokryty ledovcem ktery se otevira na mnoha mistech bez jakehokoliv upozorneni... A tak stale nemuzu uverit tomu, ze se mi podarilo vylezt na tuto horu! Miles, Phil, Nick a ja jsme jeli 14 hodin od nasich domovu do narodniho parku Mt. Rainier ve statu Washington na nasi tridenni vypravu. Prvni den jsme vyrazili k Inter Glacier, kde jsme nasli uzasne misto na kempovani s vyhledem. Druhy den jsme sli jen asi 1.6 km na Emmons Glacier, kde jsme stravili druhou noc. Ta byla ale velice kratka, protoze jsme vstavali o pulnoci a v 1 rano jsme vyrazeli na nas vystup. Pocasi bylo pekne, nad nami hvezdy, jen vitr byl docela silny. Zacali jsme z mnoha skupinkami (vsichni navazani kvuli bezpecnosti). Kdyz jsme byli asi v polovine pocasi se zmenilo a hora zmizela v mracich. Vetsina ostatnich skupin se obratila a sla zpet, ale my jsme pokracovali. Kolem 9.30 jsme dorazili na vrchol, bohuzel nebylo skoro nic videt, ale my jsme to zvladli!. Asi za 15 minut pote co jsme se vydali nazpet se pocasi opet zmenilo a kolem nas byla modra obloha! Vporadku jsme se dostali dolu, bylo to docela strasidelne videt vsechny ty otvory v ledovci kolem kterych jsme sli po ceste nahoru za denniho svetla. Kdyz jsme prisli zpet, zjistili jsme ze muj stan s mnoha dalsimi byl odfouknut a pravdepodobne zkoncil v nejakem ledovci, s nim zmizel i muj spacak, karimatka a nejake obleceni. Tim se zmenil i nas plan prespat jeste jednu noc v kempu a tak jsme vyrazili zpet na cestu a zpet jsme byli kolem 11 v pondeli rano.
FOTKY

Nepal - Bhutan 16.6. - 16.7. 2011

Hong Kong - Nepal, Kathmandu 17.6. - 20.6.2011



Our flight to Nepal was through Hong Kong where we had about 10 hours to spare. I made great plan to see Victoria peak with the great view of Hong Kong. Unfortunately it was raining and it was no point going over there. Jeanne and I spent the time walking around Hong Kong and Kowloon islands and eating Chinese food.
The first three days of our holiday we spent in Kathmandu, capital city of Nepal. I tried twice to take mountain flight to see Mt. Everest, but the weather was bad and we didn't see anything. With Jeanne we walked around Thamel, the old and tourist part of Kathmandu, visited Swayambhunath (Monkey Temple), Pashupatinath, Bodhnath (Boudha) and met with Jeanne's students from India.
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Nas let do Nepalu byl pres Hong Kong, kde jsem meli asi 10 hodin volna. Ja jsem naplanovala, ze se podivame na Victoria peak, odkud mel byt nadherny vyhled na Hong Kong. Bohuzel ale prselo a tak nemelo vubec cenu se timto smerem vydavat. Jeanne a ja jsem stravily dany cas prochazenim se po ostrovech Hong Kong and Kowloon a pojidanim cinskeho jidla.
Prvni tri dny nasi dovolene jsme stravily v Kathmandu, hlavnim meste Nepalu. Ja jsem zkousela letet dvakrat k Mt. Everest, ale pocasi bylo spatne a tak jsme nic nevideli. S Jeanne jsme prosly Thamel, stare a turisticke jadro Kathmandu, navstivily jsme Swayambhunath (Opici chram), Pashupatinath, Bodhnath (Boudha) a potkaly se se studenty Jeanne z Indie.
FOTKY

Pokhara - Upper Mustang 21.6. - 2.7.2011



The second part of our trip was trekking in Upper Mustang region. We flew to Pokhara where we had two days for our permits to be issued. Upper Mustang was closed for tourism till 1992, then the number of visitors used to be limited, these days it less strict, but there is fee $50 per day and for a minimum 10 days. The agency didn't tell us about the minimum 10 days until we got to Nepal and since we planned only 7 days in the area and we couldn't do anything about it anymore, we weren't happy that we have to pay for 3 extra days! Upper Mustang is area south of Tibet, which used to be part of Tibet and the culture and buildings show that. Summer is monsoon season in Nepal, but Upper Mustang should be one of few places not affected by it. Even though it was true for most of days, the surrounding mountains were under clouds. We were hiking in elevation between 3000 - 4000 meters, sleeping in simple "hotels" - tea houses. We had one guide with us and one assistant/porter who was carrying big bag for Jeanne. I decided to carry my backpack myself since I realized that for this trek I don't need too many things. To prove that Czech people are almost everywhere, we met one guy from Prague.
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Druha cast naseho vyletu bylo prochazeni oblasti Upper Mustang. Odletely jsme do Pokhary,kde jsme mely dva dny na to aby nam vyridili povoleni. Upper Mustang byl uzavren pro turisty do roku 1992, pak pocet turistu bylo limitovano a v teto dobe uz to neni tak striktni, ale poplatek za vstup je $50 na den a na minimum 10 dni. Agentura nam rekla o 10ti dennim minimu az kdyz jsme priletely do Nepalu a jelikoz nas plan byl jen na 7 dni a my uz jsme s tim nic delat nemohly, na nalade nam nepridalo, ze jsme musely platit za 3 dny navic. Upper Mustang je oblast jizne od Tibetu, drive to byla cast Tibetu a tak se to projevuje v kulture i budovach. V lete je monsunove obdobi v Nepalu, ale Upper Mustang je jednou s mala oblasti, ktera by nemela byt zasazena destil. Toto sice bylo po vetsinu dni pravda, ale okolni hory byly zahaleny v mracich. Pohybovali jsme se ve vysce 3000 - 4000 metru nad morem, spaly v skromnych "hotelech" - tea houses. Mely jsme sebou jednoho pruvodce a jednu asistentku/nosice ktera nesla Jeannin velky batoh. Ja jsem se rozhodla, ze si svuj velky batoh ponesu sama, kdyz jsem zjistila, ze na tento vylet toho moc nepotrebuji. Abych dokazala, ze Cesi jsou temer vsude, tak jsem se tam take potkala s jednim Cechem z Prahy.
FOTKY

Kathmandu - Bhutan 3.7. - 16.7.2011



Last part of our holiday was in Bhutan, but first we stopped for one day in Kathmandu. I took mountain flight for the third time, but this time I saw finally Mt. Everest. Even though only the top was out of the clouds, it was memorable experience! Another amazing experience was our flight to Paro, Bhutan. For the royal Bhutanese airline fly two Czech pilots and since it is relatively small plane with a few people I was invited to the cockpit and also I could stay for landing. At the airport we were picked up by Jeanne's student father and his employee and since then they took care of us. We slept in nice hotels, drove around the country in nice car and learned a lot about Bhutan. It is nice happy kingdom with their own amazing architecture. We took trip to the center of Bhutan and since Bhutan has mainly big mountains, the 270 km trip took us about 9 hours! The roads are not that great, they are steep, winding and narrow. We were lucky to see one festival with traditional dances, for this occasion we dressed up in traditional clothes too.
The month went so fast and after our 10 days in Bhutan we flew back to Nepal and the second day back to San Francisco through Hong Kong.
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Posledni cast nasi dovolene jsme stravily v Bhutanu, ale nejdrive jsme se zastavily na den v Kathmandu. Uz potreti jsem vyletela se podivat na velehory, tentokrat uspesne. Konecne byl videt Mt. Everest, sice jen spicka vykukovala z mraku, ale i tak to byl uzasny zazitek. Dalsi neuveritelny zazitek byl let do Para v Butanu. Pro Butanske kralovskou spolecnost litaji dva cesti piloti a jelikoz jsme leteli v relativne malem letadle s malym poctem lidi na palube, byla jsem pozvana do kabiny a mohla jsem zustat i na pristani! Na letisti jsme byly vyzvednute otcem studentky Jeanne a jeho zamestnanci a ti se o nam po celou dobu starali. Prespavaly jsme v hezkych hotelich, vozili se po okoli v peknem aute a dozvedely se mnoho o Butanu. Je to skutecne stastne kralovstvi s jejich vlastni typickou architekturou. Jeli jsme i do stredu zeme, ale jelikoz Butan je tvoren hlavne velehory, 270 km cesta nam zabrala asi 9 hodin. Silnice nejsou az tak uzasne, jsou strme, hodne se tocici a uzke. Mely jsme taky to stesti se podivat na jeden z mistnich festivalu s tradicnimi tancemi, na tuto prilezitost jsme se take oblekly do tradicnich satu.
Mesic ubehl rychle a po 10 dnech v Butanu jsme letely zpet do Nepalu a pak druhy den zpet do San Franciska pres Hong Kong.
FOTKY

Rafting - Yuba river - 4. - 5. 6. 2011

I chose this year for our annual rafting trip Yuba river. It is class III - IV with one class V rapid which people can decide if they want to walk around it or ride it. This year signed up 24 people, but the California weather was playing with us and for the first week of June the forecast predicted cold and rainy weather and 11 people canceled. The 13 brave, hard core people left on Saturday morning (actually only 11, 2 arrived on Sunday morning just for the rafting) and spent the day around Grass Valley. We met for nice lunch, then walked around interested gold mine - Empire mine and since it was raining the whole time, we had also dinner at Grass Valley and then drove to the campground.
Sunday morning we met with our Whitewater voyages, company that we went every year so far. We put wetsuits and warm layers on and drove to the starting point on the river. Then we listen to safety talk, how to behave in the river if something doesn't go well, and that time we didn't know how useful it will be for some of us. The rapids in the beginning weren't too dangerous, mostly III class with some IV class, but it changed after lunch. Maytag is class V rapid, we stopped at shore to look at it and if somebody wasn't comfortable to ride it they could walk around it, nobody chose to walk though :). Raft with me went first, we got into hole, our guide and two other people were washed of, I hold for a little bit more, but then I swam too. This was first time that I fell of the boat. The last three people on raft managed to get out without another loss! It was just great experience swimming through the rapid! The second boat manage without problems. After that we had a few other interesting rapids before we ended up in the campground. On the way back we stopped at Czech restaurant in Concord for dinner.
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Tento rok jsem vybrala pro vyrocni rafting reku Yuba. Je to III - IV trida s jednema perejema tridy V, kde si clovek mohl vybrat jestli je pojede na raftu a nebo obejde. Tento rok melo jet 24 lidi, ale Kalifornske pocasi si s nami hralo a na prvni vikend v cervnu predpoved rikala zimu a dest a tak 11 lidi zrusilo. Tech 13 statecnych a zdatnych vyjelo v sobotu rano (vlastne jen 11, 2 prijeli az v nedeli rano jen na rafting) a ztravilo den v okoli mesta Grass Valley. Potkali jsme se na obed, pak jsme se prosli kolem zajimavych zlatych dolu - Empire mine a protoze nam porad prselo, zasli jsme si take jeste na veceri v Grass Valley nez jsme odjeli do kempu.
V nedeli rano jsme se potkli s Whitewater Voyages, firmou se kterou jsme zatim jeli kazdy rok. Oblekly jsme si neoprny a dalsi teple vrsty a jeli jsme na misto odkud jsme zacinali rafting. Nejdrive jsme si vyslechli jak se chovat na vode, kdyby se neco nemileho stalo, to jsme ani jeste nevedeli, ze pro nektere z nas to bude velice uzitecne! Pereje zpocatku nebyly prilis nebezpecne, vetsinou tridy III, a par IV, ale to se zmenilo po obede. Maytag je perej tridy V a tak jsme nejdrive zastavili u brehu a obhledli situaci, kdo by chtel, mohl tuto perej obejit, ale vsichni chteli jet. :) Raft, kde jsem sedela jel prvni, dostali jsme se do diry, a nas instruktor a dalsi dva lidi byli smeteni do vody, ja jsem se drzela jeste chvili, ale pak jsem ve vode zkoncila take. Toto bylo poprve, co jsem spadla z lode! Trem poslednim lidem na raftu se podarilo odtud dostat bez dalsi ztraty! Byla to zajimava zkusenost plavat pereji! Druha lod proprula bez potizi. Pak uz bylo jen par dalsich zajimavych pereji a zkoncili jsme u kempu. Na ceste zpatky jsme se zastavili v Ceske restauraci v Concordu na veceri.
FOTKY

Matterhorn 28.-30.5. 2011

There are two mountains named Matterhorn that I know of, one in Alps, one in Sierra mountains, so when on Mountaineering meetup was posted trip to climb Matterhorn I didn't hesitated and signed up. It was great opportunity to practice my mountaineering skills that I learned a couple weeks ago. It supposed to be trip for three days, but because of not so great weather, we shorten it to two. Even with little bit better weather in the end we weren't able to summit, the last rocky part was covered with snow and at places too dangerous to cross. Even with not reaching the summit it was great trip.
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Ja znam dve hory se jmenem Matterhorn, jedna v Alpach, druha v horach Sierra Nevada, tak ze kdyz Mountaineering meetup ohlasil vylet na horu Materhorn, ani chvili jsem nevahala a prihlasila se take. Byla to skvela prilezitost procvicit si znalosti z horolezeckeho kurzu, kterym jsem prosla pred par tydny. Puvodne to mel byt vylet na 3 dny, ale kvuli ne zrovna idealnimu pocasi to bylo zkraceno na dva. I kdyz jsme nakonec meli lepsi pocasi, nepodarilo se nam dosahnout vrcholu, protoze posledni cast byla skalnata a pokryta snehem a misty nebezpecna. I pres to, ze jsem nedosahli cile to byl super vylet.
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Ohlone Wilderness trail 50km run 22.5.2011

I think when I heard of this run a couple years ago I thought why would I ever do that? Then I started to meet more people who didn't think this is crazy, but challenging and signed up! I actually signed up this year because my friend wanted to run too, in the end somehow I ended up running it by myself! It was really tough, especially because it was colder that I expected and my muscles were stiff and it was difficult to run. I made it in 7 hours 38 minutes, not so bad for first time 50 km race especially in this conditions and with so much elevation change, but I was still a little bit disappointed. I was 117 from total of 199 people, but 21st from only 44 women!
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Když jsem poprve slyšela o tomto běhu před pár lety, pomyslela jsem si, proč bych neco takoveho vůbec dělala? Pak jsem se začala potkavat víc lidí, kteří si nemysleli, že je to šílené, ale ze je to dobra vyzva a tak jsem se přihlásila! Vlastně jsem se tento rok prihlasila, protože moje kamaradka chtěla běžet taky, nakonec jsem ale nějak běžela sama! Byl to opravdu těžky zavod, a to zejména proto, že bylo chladněji nez jsem očekávala a moje svaly byly ztuhlé a bylo celkove obtížné bezet. Ubehla jsem to za 7 hodin 38 minut, coz nebylo tak špatné na poprvni 50 km závod, zejména za techto podmínek a v tolika kopcich, ale i ta jsem byla trochu zklamana. Byla jsem 117 z 199 lidi, ale 21 z jen 44 zen!
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Santa Cruz BBQ - Bay to Breakers - Lenka Filipova 14.-15.5. 2011

This week was quite busy. On Saturday Martin had his BBQ party in Santa Cruz. Sunday was even busier, first I got up at 3.40 am and drove to San Francisco for 100 anniversary of Bay to Breakers run. Even though it was only 2 weeks after running marathon I managed to finish 12 km under 1 hour! Exactly 0:58:24! Then I went home, had a nap and then drove back to San Francisco to see Czech singer Lenka Filipova concert!
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Tento týden byl docela rušný. V sobotu měl Martin party v Santa Cruz. Neděle byla jeste vice rusna, nejprve jsem vstala uz v 03:40 a jela do San Franciska na 100 výročí Bay to Breakers. I když to bylo jen 2 týdny pote co jsem bezela maraton, tak se mi podařilo dobehnout 12 km pod 1 hodinu! Přesně 0:58:24! Pak jsem jela domů, zdřímla si a pak jela zpět do San Franciska na koncert česke zpěvačky Lenky Filipove!
FOTKY

Big Sur Marathon 1.5. 2011

I am not sure how I signed up for this second Big Sur marathon, when last year was supposed to be my first and last marathon! :) The course was a different due to road slide, so we run out and back. I thought first that it is going to be easier because there won't be big 2 mile climb to hurricane point, but apparently going twice over Carmel highlands added 700 feet of climbing! Even though I didn't reach my goal - qualify for Boston Marathon I ran 12 minutes faster than last year: 3:45:50!
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Nejsem si jista, jak k tomu doslo, ze jsem se přihlásila na druhý Big Sur maratón, kdyaz minuly rok měl být můj první a poslední maraton! :) Trasa byla jiný vzhledem k tomu, ze se sesunula cast silnice, a tak jsme bezeli tam a zpet. Myslela jsem si, že to bude jednodušší, protože tam nebude velký 2 mílovy výstup na kopec Hurikán, ale bezet dvakrát pres kopecky v Carmelu přidalo 213 metru stoupani! I když jsem nedosáhla svého cíle - kvalificovat se na Bostonský maraton, ubehla jsem to o 12 minut rychleji než loni: 3:45:50!
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Birthday BBQ 23.4.2011

As a tradition for my birthday I invited friends to park for a BBQ. This time it was in Almaden Lake park, which has volleyball court. The weather was just perfect - not too cold, not too hot. And I hope everybody had good time as I did!
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Jako tradičně na moje narozeniny jsem pozvala kamarády do parku na grilovani. Tentokrát to bylo v parku Lake Almaden, který má volejbalove hřiště. Počasí bylo perfektní - ani příliš chladno, ani příliš horko. Doufám, že všichni si to uzivali jako já!
FOTKY

Rainier - Mountaineering course 9. - 16.4. 2011

Sometime last year friends asked me if I would like to try to climb mount Rainier with them. The thing with mt. Rainier is, that it is not very easy mountain - at least not for me, with no mountaineering experience, so the plan was to take a course to learn some of the mountaineering skills while climbing the mountain. In the end I ended up signing up by myself.... and not only that, but I choose course in April, when is still "winter" in Washington and the name of the course was "Denali Expedition" which should prepare me for possible Denali climb. We never reached the summit, we didn't unfortunately stay even all 6 nights on the mountain, but it was interesting experience. The first day we stay in tents not far away from the parking lot, the second day, while having beautiful day, we climbed to camp Muir which is in 10000 ft, the third day started to snow and the wind picked up and also one of the guys who went with us had blood in his urine, so our guides decided that it will be safer to get back down. We descended the mountain with almost no visibility, but made it safely back. So the next 3 1/2 days we trained from the town, going up to the snowy mountain only for a couple of hours to practice self rescue, avalanche awareness, building snow anchors and crevasses rescue.
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Někdy vloni se mě kamaradi zeptali, jestli bych chtěla zkusit vylézt na Mount Rainier s nimi. Vylezt na Mt. Rainier není az tak snadné - alespoň ne pro mě, bez horolezeckycg zkušenosti, takže plán byl, ze si vezmeme kurz, kde se naucime některé horolezecke dovedností při stoupání na vrchol. Nakonec jsem se přihlásila sama .... a nejen to, ale prihlasila jsem se na kurz v dubnu, kdy ještě panuje zima ve Washingtonu a jmeno kurzu bylo "Denali expedice", která by me měla připravit na možné slezani Denali. Nepodarilo se nam dosáhnout vrcholu, ani jsme bohužel nezůstali všech 6 nocí v horach, ale byla to zajímava zkusenost. První den jsme zůstali ve stanech nedaleko od parkoviště, druhý den, za krasneho pocasi, jsme se vyšplhali k táboru Muir, který je v nadmorske vysce asi 3048 m, třetí den začalo sněžit a zvedl se vítr a také jeden z ucastniku kurzu, ktery sel s námi měl krev v moči, a tak naši průvodci rozhodli, že to bude bezpečnější kdyz sejdeme zpet dolů. Sestoupili jsme dolu za mionimalni viditelnosti. Další 3 1 / 2 dny jsme trenovali v městecku, a vyjizdeli jsme ke snehu jen na pár hodin - procvicovali jsme vlastní záchranu, ohodnoceni lavinoveho terenu, budování sněhoveho uchyceni a zachranu po padu do ledovce.
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Lake Tahoe Cabin - BAMM 12.-13.2011

Mountains are just beautiful in the winter and I love staying in a cabin in mountains after day in snow. This trip was organized by Bay area mountaineering meetup and group of about 22 great people managed to get into one big cabin in South lake Tahoe. On Saturday some people went downhill skiing, some backcountry skiing on Mt. Tallac and 4 including me snowshoeing. We tried to get as high as we could on Mt. Tallac, but the approach is so steep that we managed only to the ridge. The second day most people went to Kirkwood for downhill skiing. I was nicely surprised that even after one year of not skiing practically at all I was quite confident on black and double black diamond runs!
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Hory jsou prostě nádherné v zimě a já miluji zustat na chate v horách po dnu stravenem ve sněhu. Tento výlet organizoval BAMM (Bay area mountaineering meetup) a skupina asi 22 skvělých lidí se sesla na chate v South Lake Tahoe. V sobotu jeli někteří na sjezdovky, někteří sjet horu Tallac a 4, včetně mě na sněžnice. Snažili jsme se dostat na Mt. Tallac tak vysoko, jak jsme jen mohli, ale přístup byl strmy, a tak se nám podařilo dostat pouze na hřeben. Druhý den většina lidí jela lyzovat na Kirkwood. Byla jsem příjemně překvapena, že i po jednom roce, kdy jsem temer nelyzovala, jsem se dobre citila na cernych sjezdovkach!
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Snowcamping II. 4.-6.3. 2011

Second snowcamping trip with Sierra Club was to Lassen Volcanic National park. We left on Thursday, and had three whole days to enjoy the snow. Friday was sunny and we manage to come to Ridge lake quite fast, we had to break the trail a little bit and had opportunity to practice working with map and compass. Around 2 pm we started to build our shelters. I made with Alice snow cave. It was hard work, we dig quite far (further than we needed), but it was great shelter! It was warm and since I was quite tired I manage to sleep there almost 12 hours!
Saturday was free day, it was snowing so I spent quite a while back in the cave, while other improved their shelters or went for short hike. In the afternoon we had small exercise to practice what we learn about working with map and compass. Since the snow started to fall quite hard we had just quick dinner.
On Sunday we woke up to a lot of new snow, had quick breakfast, destroy our shelters and left. Going down was easy, just in one part we had to go one by one because of avalanche danger. We were by cars around noon.
Great trip!
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Druhý výlet kempovani ve snehu se Sierra Club byl do vulkanickeho narodniho parku Lassen. Vyjeli jsme jiz ve čtvrtek, a měli celé tři dny, na to abychom si uzili sněhu. Pátek byl slunečný a podařilo se nam dojit k jezeru Ridge docela rychle, museli jsme trochu proslapavat cestu a měli jsme možnost vyzkoušet si práci s mapou a kompasem. Kolem 2 odpoledne jsme začali budovat naše přístřešky. Ja jsem vykopala snehovou jeskyní s Alice. Byla to docela tezke, kopali jsme docela daleko (dál, než jsme potřebovali), ale byl to skvěly pribytek! Bylo tam teplo, a protože jsem byla docela unavena, podařilo se mi tam spát skoro 12 hodin!
V sobotu jsme meli volný den, sněžilo, takže jsem strávila nějakou dobu v jeskyni, zatímco ostatní zlepšovali jejich přístřešky nebo šli na krátkou prochazku. V odpoledních hodinách jsme měli malé cvičení s mapou a kompasem. Vzhledem k tomu, ze snezilo docela dost, měli jen rychlou večeři.
V neděli jsme se probudili do hodně nového sněhu, rychle jsme posnidali, zničili naše přístřešky a vyrazili zpet. Cestou dolů to bylo snadné, jen v jedné části jsme museli jít jeden po druhém, protože hrozilo lavinové nebezpečí. U aut jsme byli kolem poledne.
Skvělý výlet!
FOTKY

Czech republic 13.2. - 27.2. 2011

In the spring 2010 I got letter that I won green card in DV visa lottery, I thought that it was some kind of joke! There are about 100 000 people who received this letter and only 50 000 get it. Who is the lucky and who is not depends on their number. My number was relatively low and based on last couple years I could get my green card in February. So it wasn't surprised that I got invitation letter for interview in Prague for February 15th 2011. It was Tuesday before my week off in school so I was able to spent 2 weeks in Czech republic. I spent a few days with my friend from University Heda and her family, I had mini high school reunion,I organized my mom's secret 60th birthday party, I visited two aunts who couldn't come for the party, I met a friend from elementary school that I haven't seen for many years and went to thermal bath in Hungary - busy 2 weeks! The only downside was that during these two weeks were unusual cold weather and I gave up on running, the temperatures were around 19F.
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Na jaře 2010 jsem dostala dopis, ze jsem vyhrála v loterii zelenou kartu, nejdřív jsem si myslela, že to byl nějaký vtip! Asi 100 000 lidí obdrželo tento dopis a jen 50 000 ji dostane. Kdo je ten šťastný a kdo ne, závisí na jejich cisle. Moje číslo bylo relativně nízké a na základě několika posledních let jsem cekala, ze bych zelenou kartu mela dostat v únoru. Takže to nebylo překvapeni, že jsem dostala pozvánku na pohovor v Praze 15.února 2011. To bylo úterý před mým týden volna ve škole, takže jsem byl schopen strávit 2 týdny v České republice. Strávila jsem několik dní s mou kamaradkou z univerzity Hedou a její rodinou, měla jsem mini sraz ze střední školy, zorganizovala jsem tajnou oslavu mamcinych 60. narozenin, navštívila dvě tety, ktere nemohly přijít na oslavu, potkala jsem kamarádku ze zakladni školy, které jsem neviděla mnoho let a jela do termálních lázní v Maďarsku - nabite 2 týdny! Jediná nevýhoda byla, že během těchto dvou týdnů byly neobvykle chladné počasí a prestala jsem běhat, teploty byly kolem -7C.
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Snowcamping - Sierra Club 5. - 6.2. 2011

I love mountains in any season, but in the winter especially, the only problem is that it gets too cold for camping. A few years ago I saw presentation about snow camping and this year I decided to take snow camping course with Sierra club. We met on Saturday morning near Lake Tahoe area and 26 of us took of towards Nancy Lake. We practiced working with map and compass on the way, and around 1 pm we stopped so we have time to build our snow shelters. It was amazing how about 26 people disappear and were digging snow trenches and caves. Then we build nice kitchen so all 26 people can sit down in the evening and enjoy the time together. I built nice trench which was nice and cozy and I really enjoyed sleeping in it. In the morning we had breakfast, then went for short hike to learn more about orienting in the mountains, then broke down our shelters and started our hike back. One inpatient person took of without waiting for the group and got lost. When we didn't find him in the parking lot, the leaders went back to search for him and we also call the search and rescue. Luckily he managed to find his way back without any injury.
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Miluji hory v každém ročním období, ale v zimě zejména, jediný problém je, že příliš chladno na kempování. Před několika lety jsem viděla prezentaci o kempovani ve sněhu a letos jsem se rozhodla jit kempovat se Sierra club. Potkali jsme se v sobotu ráno v blízkosti jezera Tahoe a 26 z nás se vydalo smerem k jezeru Nancy. Po ceste jsem se ucili pracovat s mapou a kompasem a kolem 1 odpoledne jsme se zastavili,abychom jsme měli čas budovat naši sněhové přístřešky. Bylo úžasné, jak asi 26 lidí zmizelo v okoli a zacalo kopat sníhove prikopy a jeskyně. Pak jsme se postavili pěknou kuchyň, takže všech 26 lidí si mohlo sednout večer pospolu. Postavila jsem pěkný příkop, který byl hezký a útulný a já jsem si opravdu užila spáni v něm. Rano jsme měli snídani, pak šli na krátký výlet, kde jsme se ucili vice o orientaci v horách, pak se znicili náše úkryty a vydali se zpět. Jeden člověk byl tak netrpelivy, ze vyrazil sam dopredu a ztratil se. Když jsme ho nenašli na parkovišti, par vedoucích šlo zpět jej hledat a tak jsme zavolali horskou sluzbu. Naštěstí se mu podařilo najít cestu zpět bez zranění.
FOTKY

Van Vleck - Eldorado National Forest 22.- 23. 1. 2011

I can't miss any opportunity to go to mountains in the winter, so when Kim from Mountaineering Meetup reserved hut in Eldorado National Forest and organized it as a meetup I was in! 9 of us met at the trailhead on Saturday morning, 5 took snowshoes, 4 skis and we took off. Somehow we managed to get lost - we followed blue diamonds, but apparently all the trails in the area were marked with blue diamonds, so not much help. Luckily with help of modern technology we found our way to the hut. For dinner was nice fish stew, broccoli, and as a dessert apple pie. It the morning we cleaned up and after two and half hours, this time without getting lost we were back at our cars.
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Nemohu nechat ujít žádnou příležitost jít do hor v zimě, takže když Kim z Moutaineering Meetup zarezervovala chatu v Eldoradu národním lese a zorganizovala to jako "Meetup" hned jsem se prihlasila! 9 se nás potkalo na zacatku cesty v sobotu ráno, 5 vzalo sněžnice, 4 lyze a vyrazili jsme. Nějak se nám podařilo se ztratit - sledovali jsme modré znacky, ale zřejmě všechny tratě v oblasti byly označeny modre, takže zadny div. Naštěstí s pomocí moderní technologie jsme našli cestu k chatě. Na večeři byla ryba, brokolice a jako dezert jablečný koláč. Ráno jsme uklidili a po dvou a půl hodinach, tentokrát bez bloudění jsme byli zpátky u aut.
FOTKY

Yosemite in winter 15. - 16.1. 2011

Yosemite is one of my favorite places in the world and in the winter it is even more magical. I managed to persuade Petra, Miro and Jeanne to come with me for cross country skiing from Badger pass. The first day we went to Dewey point, about 3.5 miles from Badger pass. The second day Jeanne exchange skis for snowshoes and Petra, Miro and I went for about 7 mile loop on skis. Great weekend!
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Yosemite patri k mých nejoblíbenějším místum na světě a v zimě jsou ještě uzasnejsi. Podařilo se mi přesvědčit Petru, Mira a Jeanne, aby se mnou jeli na běžecky. První den jsme šli k Dewey point, asi 3,5 mil od Badger pass. Druhý den Jeanne výměnila lyže za sněžnice a Petra, Miro a já jsme jeli asi 7 milovy okruh na lyžích. Skvělý víkend!
FOTKY

Patagonia 18.12. 2010 - 2.1.2011

Couple years ago I read in news that Czech guy accidentally put on fire national park in Chile - Torres del Paine, when I saw photos from this park I knew I would like to visit it. This Christmas break I found two other people, Miles and Grant, who thought visiting Patagonia would be great idea and we took off! We flew to Punta Arenas and from here we took bus to Porto Natales and then national park Torres del Paine. We backpack around big circle, which is about 80 miles. It is recommended to hike it in 10 days, we did it in 6 days without any problems. Then we took bus over the border to Argentina to El Calafate. We had small accident, two wheels fell off, but luckily bus has a lot of wheels so it stayed upwards, we just had to wait for another bus and we arrived to El Calafate around 2 am. The next morning we took bus to El Chalten, small and very young town, entrance to Los Glaciares national park. We resupply and took off to the park for three days to see Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre. The weather was great, sunny and relatively warm. The only downside was that these destinations were possible to reach by day hike and we were meeting too many people. Otherwise perfect! Last day in El Chalten we just did day hike to a peak from where should be great views to the mountains, unfortunately it was cloudy, so no great views, but still nice day.
Journey home took three days! From El Chalten by bus to El Calafate, there we took plane to Buenos Aires. We expected big party city for New Year's Eve, but we learned that NYE is more family oriented celebration and we were just lucky to find some buffet for dinner. The next day we flew to Miami, with little bit adventure when we didn't know that Buenos Aires has two airports and we were of course on the wrong one. Then to Dalas, where we stayed over night in hotel and then finally San Francisco!
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Torres del Paine
Mo 20.12.10 - Hotel Las Torres - Segon - 7.5 m
Tu 21.12.10 - Segon - Dickson - Los Perros - 17.5 m
We 22.12.10 - Los Perros - Paso - Los Guardas - 12.5 m
Th 23.12.10 - Guardas - Paine Grande - Italiano - 12.8 m
Fr 24.12.10 - Italiano - Britanico - Los Cuernos - 10.3 m
Sa 25.12.10 - Los Cuernos - Torres - 15.6 m
Su 26.16.10 - Torres - Hotel Las Torres - 3.1 m


Před několika lety jsem četla ve zprávách, že nekdo z Cech omylem zapálil národní park v Chile - Torres del Paine, když jsem viděla fotografie z tohoto parku věděla jsem, že bych ho chtěla jednou navštívit. O vánoční dovolene jsem našela další dva lidi, Milese a Granta, kdo si take mysleli, ze navsteva Patagonie bude skvělý nápad a tak jsme vyrazili! Letěli jsme do Punta Arenas a odtud jsme jeli autobusem do Porto Natales a pak národního parku Torres del Paine. Sli jsme kolem velkého okruhu, což je asi 128 km. Tento vylet se doporučuje udelat za 10 dnů, my jsme to usli za 6 dní a to bez jakýchkoliv problémů. Pak jsme jeli autobusem přes hranici do Argentiny do El Calafate. Po ceste jsme měli malou nehodu, odpadli nam dvě kola, ale naštěstí autobus má spoustu kol, takže jsme se neprevratili, jen jsme museli čekat na další autobus a dorazili jsme do El Calafate kolem 2 hodin ráno. Druhý den ráno jsme jeli autobusem do El Chalten, malého a noveho městečka, vstupu do Los Glaciares národního parku. Nakoupili jsme jidlo a vyrazili do parku na tři dny k Fitz Roy a Cerro Torre. Počasí bylo skvělé, slunečno a relativně teplo. Jediná nevýhoda byla, že tyto mist bylo možné dosáhnout jen jako jednodenni výlet a my jsme tak potkavli příliš mnoho lidí. Jinak to bylo perfektní! Poslední den v El Chalten jsme si vysli na misto, kde by měl být krásný výhled na hory, ale bohužel to bylo oblačno, takže jsme moc nevideli, ale stále to byl pěkný den.
Cesta domů trvala tři dny! Z El Chalten jsme jeli autobusem do El Calafate, odtud jsme leteli do Buenos Aires. Očekávali jsme bujare veseli na Silvestra, ale dozvěděli jsme se, že Silvestr je více rodinne orientovaný a meli jsme jen štěstí, že jsme nasli nějaký bufet na večeři. Další den jsme odletěli do Miami, s trochou dobrodružství, když jsme nevěděli, že v Buenos Aires má dvě letiště a my jsme byli samozřejmě na tom špatnem. Pak do Dalasu, kde jsme zůstali přes noc v hotelu a pak konečně do San Franciska!
FOTKY

Torres del Paine
Po 20.12.10 - Hotel Las Torres - Segon - 12 km
Tu 21.12.10 - Segon - Dickson - Los Perros - 28 km
My 22.12.10 - Los Perros - Paso - Los Guardas - 20 km
Čt 23.12.10 - Guardas - Paine Grande - Italiano - 20.6 m
Fr 24.12.10 - Italiano - Britanico - Los Cuernos - 16.5 km
Sa 25.12.10 - Los Cuernos - Torres - 25 km
Su 26.16.10 - Torres - Hotel Las Torres - 5 km