Arroyo Secco 11. - 13. 6. 2021

My preferred camping destination is Sierras mountains, but we do have a few favorite spots closer to us. One of them is gorge Arroyo Seco. This was our first truly group camping since the pandemic started. On Saturday we all went for about 2 mile hike to the river. Most families left before us because they had little ones that needed nap, but we stayed and played in the water for big part of the day. The hike back in the heat is usually the worse part of the trip.
On Sunday all except for us and another family left in the morning to drive home. We were planning to go to the day use area for more water play. When we drove down to the parking lot, we were told that the area is full and we have to leave. Luckily we managed to get parking spot and payed the day use fee so we can stay little bit longer. 
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Me oblibene misto na kempovani jsou hory Sierras, ale mame i par oblibenych mist blize k nam. Jedno z nich je souteska Arroyo Seco. Toto byl nase prvni skupinove kempovani od zacatku pandemie. V sobotu jsme sli asi 3 km k rece. Vetsina rodin odesla pred nami hlavne kvuli tomu, ze deti potrebovali spat, ale my jsme zustali velkou cast dne a hrali si ve vode. Cesta zpatky v horku je vetsinou nejhorsi z celeho vyletu.
V nedeli vsichni krome jeste jedne rodiny odjeli primo domu. My jsme planovali jit jeste k rece u kempu, ale kdyz jsme jeli na parkoviste, tak nam bylo receno, ze uz je plno. Nastesti jsme nasli misto na parkovani a zaplatili vstupne a tak jsme u reky mohli chvili zustat. 
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Salmon Creek camping 29 - 31. 5. 2021

This was our first kind of group camping with friends after a year of pandemic. We didn't have group campsite, but friends reserved a campground near us and it felt like having group campground. We had 14 adults and 11 children in our group.
On Saturday we all went for a short hike to Salmon and Horse lake and then we relaxed by a lake. In the evening we met by one campfire and had a nice time drinking wine and eating s'mores. On Sunday the group split into smaller groups. We went for 4 mile hike - Bear lakes loop. It was beautiful hike and challenging for Emma, but she covered the distance and elevation without bigger problems. On Monday we packed our tent and before we headed home we stopped by one lake for a little play.
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Toto bylo naše první kempování s kamarády po roce pandemie. Tentokrát jsme neměli skupinový kemp, ale kamarádi reservovali kempy poblíž nás a bylo to jako bychom byli v jednom skupinovém kempu. Ve skupině jsme měli 14 dospělých a 11 dětí.
V sobotu jsme všichni vyrazili na krátký výšlap k jezerům Salmon a Horse. Poté jsme odpočívali u jezera. Na večer jsme se všichni sešli u jednoho ohýnku a relaxovali jsme s vínem a čokoládou. V neděli jsme se rozdělili do menších skupinek. My jsme vyrazili na 6.5 km výšlap kolem jezer Bear. Byl to moc pěkný okruh a trochu náročný pro Emičku, ale ta tu vzdálenost a převýšení zvládla bez větších problémů. V pondelí jsme se zabalili a než jsme vyrazili domu, tak jsme se ještě zastavili u jednoho jezera se trochu okoupat. 
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Arizona 3. -10. 4. 2021

We choose trip to Arizona's national parks for spring break trip this year. Since it is long drive, we stopped at Joshua Tree national park on the way. For 4 nights we stayed at Tucson and visited Saguaro NP and Desert museum. Then we drove north, stopping at Tonto National monument and visiting Petrified forest NP. After that we drove home, stopping just for a night in a hotel on the way. 
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Tento rok jsme se rozhodli jet na vylet do Arizony pres jarni prazdniny. Jelikoz je to od nas dlouha cesta, tak jsme se zastavili po ceste v narodnim parku Joshua Tree. 4 noci jsme pak zustali ve meste Tucson a navstivili narodni park Saguaro a Poustni museum. Pote jsme jeli na sever, po ceste jsme se zastavili u narodniho monumentu Tonto a navstivili narodni park Petrified forest. Pak uz jsme jeli domu, jen jsme se po ceste zastavli na noc v hotelu. 
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Tahoe skiing - 16. - 23. 1. 2021

 

We canceled our ski trip over the Christmas/New Year because of Covid, but we felt that we need a vacation. When restriction at Tahoe are loosened up a little bit, we went for skiing. We wanted to do a little bit of cross country skiing and a little bit of downhill skiing, in the end we skied 6 days. Adam covered about 6 miles on cross country skis and Emma was very close to being able to ski on her own in the end of the trip.
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Zrusili jsme nasi dovolenou pres Vanoce a Novy rok kvuli Covidu, ale pocitovali jsme, ze potrebujeme dovolenou. Kdyz se omezeni kolem jezera Tahoe trochu uvolnili, tak jsme vyjeli lyzovat. Chteli jsme par dni na bezky a taky na sjezdovky. Nakonec jsme lyzovali 6 dni. Adam zvladnul odjet pres 10 km na bezkach a Emma uz skoro mohla jezdit sama na sjezdovkach na konci naseho vyletu. 
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Arnold - Bear Valley 25. - 29. 11. 2020

Thanksgiving time is for us usually opportunity for travel. Last few years we went to a cabin with friends, this year we continued with the tradition, but because of Covid, we shared the cabin with just one more family. We stayed in Arnold (same as last year) and explored the area. We hiked in Calaveras Big Tree SP, cross country skied at Bear Valley, hiked/sled to Alpine lake and hike up to "Top of the world" view in Arnold. We had a nice time and we got so needed time off in the mountains.
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Čas kolem díkuvzdání je pro nás většinou období, kdy cestujeme. Poslední roky jsme vždy jeli na chatu s kamarády. Tento rok jsme v tradici pokračovali, ale kvůli Covidu jsme na chatu jeli jen s jednou další rodinou. Chata byla v Arnoldu (stejně jako minulý rok) a my jsme dělali výlety do okolí. Vyšli jsme si do státního parku Calaveras Big Tree, zajezdili na běžkách v Bear Valley, vyšlápli/sáňkovali jsme k jezeru Alpine a nakonec jsme vyšli k vyhlídce "Top of the world" v Arnoldě. Moc jsme si to užili a odpočinuli jsme si, už jsme to moc potřebovali. 
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Great Basin and Death Valley NP 3. - 13. 10. 2020

This pandemic year we didn't have really any vacation. We did a lot of weekend camping and backpacking in close by Sierras though. Since we needed a little bit bigger break, we decided to visit two National parks. One in Nevada - Great Basin and one on the boarder with Nevada - Death Valley.We drove the first day about 10 hours to get near Great Basin NP and we stayed in a hotel in near by town. In the morning we drove to the park and luckily we were able to get one of the best campsites in the park. We couldn't reserve any spot online, so we were little bit nervous, but luckily it wasn't a problem. We stayed 4 nights at the park. The park is above 10000 ft and we could feel the elevation. During the nights the temperature went under 32 F, but during the day it was just warm enough. We did several hikes.On Thursday we drove about 6 hours to Death Valley NP. Originally we were planning on camping there too, but just before we left for our trip, we change our mind. The temperatures during the day should get up to 100 and during Covid times the campsite visitors didn't have access to a pool. On top of that the smoke from California's fires were visible there. So we reserved hotel room, which didn't share entrance and had patio, so we could use our stove and prepare our meals. We spent 4 nights at the hotel. At Death valley we did less hikes, but a lot of sightseeing. Our drive home on Monday took about 8 hours.
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Tento pandemicky rok jsme nemeli vpodstate zadnou dovolenou. Ale byli jsme na mnoha kempovani a vyletu do hor behem tydne v horach Sierras. Protoze jsme potrebovali vetsi pauzu, rozhodli jsme se navstivit dva narodni parky. Jeden v nevade - Great Basin a jeden na hranici s Nevadou - Death Valley. 
Prvni den jsme jeli asi 10 hodin k parku Great Basin, prespali jsme v hotelu ve mestecku pobliz parku. Rano jsme pak jeli do narodniho parku a meli jsme stesti, ze se nam podarilo ziskat jedno z dobrych mist na kempovani. Kemp jsme si nemohli rezervovat dopredu pres Internet, tak jsme byli trochu nervozni, ale nastesti to nebyl problem. Zustali jsme 4 noci v parku. Park je v nadmorske vysce nad 3000 m n a my jsme tu nadmorskou vysku docela pocitovali. Behem noci teplota klesla pod 0 C, ale behem dne bylo tak akorat teplo. Sli jsme na nekolik vyslapu. 
Ve ctvrtek jsme jeli asi 6 hodin do Death Valley NP. Puvodne jsme take tady chteli kempovat, ale par dni pred tim nez jsme vyjeli na nas vylet jsme zmenily plan. Teploty behem dne se blizili k 40 C a behem pandemie Covid ti co kempuji nemaji pristup do bazenu. Navic kour z kalifornskych pozaru byl videt i tam. Tak jsme zarezervovali hotelovy pokoj, ktery nemel spolecny vchod a mel maly prostor za pokojem, kde jsme mohli pripravovat nase jidla. Tady jsme zustali take 4 noci. V Death Valley jsme sli na mene vyslapu, ale zato jsme videli spoustu zajimavosti. Nase cesta v pondeli domu trvala asi 8 hodin. 
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Alpine Lake - Bear Valley camping 4.- 6. 9. 2020

 

Labor day weekend is always good weekend for camping or backpacking. This year we had two group sites reservation that were cancelled because of Covid, so in the end we reserved family site next to our friends. The campground was very primitive, but nice. On Saturday we went for hike to Inspiration point. As we were hiking we started to see and smell smoke coming in. After hike we spent some time by the Alpine lake and we watched how the sun hid behind smoke. In the evening the ashes were falling from the sky and we started to wonder if we should pack and drive home. In the end we stayed over the night. In the morning the sky looked better, but we still saw smoke. Since we couldn't check the air quality we decided to drive home one day early.
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Prodlouzeny vikend na zacatku zari je vzdy dobry vikend na kempovani v kempu nebo v horach. Tento rok jsem meli zarezervovane dva skupinove kempy, ktere byly ale zruseny kvuli Covidu. Nakonec jsme tedy zarezervovali rodinny kemp hned vedle kamaradu. Kemp byl docela primitivni, ale pekny. V sobotu jsme se vydali na kopec Inspiration point. Jak jsme sli, tak jsme zacali sledovat a citit kour, ktery k nam prichazel. Po ture jsme stravili odpoledne u jezera Alpine a videli jsme jak se slunicko schovalo za kour. Na vecer na nas zacal padat popel a my jsme zacali premyslet, jestli bychom radeji nemeli jet domu. Nakonec jsme zustali pres noc. Rano vypadala obloha lepe, ale stale jsme videli kour. Jelikoz jsme nemohli poradne zjistit jaka je kvalita vzduchu, tak jsme se rozhodli jet o jeden den drive domu.  
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