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!
PHOTOS

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.
PHOTOS

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.
PHOTOS

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.
FOTKY

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!
PHOTOS

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!
PHOTOS

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!
FOTKY

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.
PHOTOS

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.
PHOTOS

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.
PHOTOS

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.
PHOTOS

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