Alaska - Glacier Bay NP 10. - 22. 7. 2012

Alaska was always on the list of places that I wanted to return to. On the other hand when Josh asked me if I would like to join him and other friends for a kayaking trip at Glacier bay national park, I wasn't so sure. I haven't been really kayaking and I knew that Alaska can be pretty wet and cold, but in the end I decided to go for it, and it was glad for this decision!
I left with Gayatri and Chris a few days earlier before the rest of friends and we spent 3 days exploring Juneau and surroundings. On Friday we met with Grant and then on Saturday morning we flew to Gustavus and there we met with Rachel and Josh. First we watched instructional video in park service and obtained our permit, then we tried out our rain gear, kayaks and listen to more advices what to do and not to do in the bay from the rental company. On Sunday morning we took a boat with other tourists and first had a ride around the bay. Around 2 pm we were dropped off. When we got out of the boat there was a light rain for about 30 minutes, but except for some rain over the first night camping that was all we got. We were extremely lucky and the weather cooperated well. We also saw many whales, dolphins, seals, bald eagles and other birds. We spent 6 nights kayaking around the bay. On  the following Saturday we were again picked up by the same boat and took back to Gustavus. We left for Juneau the same day and on Sunday we flew back to San Francisco.
PHOTOS FROM JUNEAU AND GUSTAVUS
PHOTOS FROM GLACIER BAY NP
Aljaska byla vzdy mistem, kam jsem se chtela vratit. Na druhou stranu, kdyz se me Josh zeptal, jestli bych se chtela pripojit k nemu a dalsim kamaradum na projizdeni narodniho parku Glacier Bay na kajacich, nebyla jsem si uplne jista. Mockrat jsem na kajacich nebyla a vedela jsem, ze Aljaska muze byt pekne mokra a chladna, ale nakonec jsem rada za sve rozhodnuti jet!
Gayatri, Chris a ja jsem odjeli o par dni drive nez ostatni a stravili jsme 3 dny prochazenim se Juneau a okoli. V patek prijel Grant a pak v sobotu rano jsme odleteli do Gustavus a tam jsme se potkali s Rachel a Joshem. Nejdrive jsme se divali na informativni video ve sprave parku a tam jsme dostali take nase povoleni, pak jsme si vyzkouseli nase nepromokave obleceni, kajaky a dostali jsme dalsi rady co delat a nedelat v zalivu od firmy kde jsme si pujcovali tyto veci. V nedeli rano jsme nasedli do lodi s dalsimi cestujicim a nejdrive jsem se projeli po zalivu. Kolem 14h jsme byli vysaseni. Kdyz jsme se dostali z lodi, tak mirne prselo asi 30 minut, ale krome nejakeho deste prvni noc kempovani to bylo vse co nam prselo. Meli jsme neuveritelne stesti a pocasi spolupracovalo skvele. Videli jsem take hodne velryb, delfinu, lachtanu, orlu belohlavych a dalsich ptaku. Zaliv jsem projizdeli 6 noci. Nasledujici sobotu jsem byli opet vyzvednuti stejnou lodi a ta nas vzala zpet do Gustavus. Ve stejny den jsme odleteli zpet do Juneau a v nedeli pak do San Francisca.
FOTKY Z JUNEAU AND GUSTAVUS
FOTKY Z GLACIER BAY NP

Sequoia NP - Twin Lakes

Sierra Nevada mountains are my favorite mountains and since I haven't been to Sequoia NP for a while I reserved permits for Twin Lakes and invited Eric, Alan, Jamsheed, Jared and Josh for weekend backpacking in this area. Twin Lakes were only about 7 miles from the parking lot, even thought all uphill. We arrived around 3 pm to the lakes and still had  a lot of time to wander around, take a swim (Jamsheed and I) and just enjoy this beautiful area. The only downside were mosquitoes that targeted us as their food source. We were in the area almost on our own, only later in the evening arrived another groups. On Sunday we left quite early and got back to car just around noon. After quick lunch we went for walk around giant Sequoia and then headed back home.
PHOTOS

Hory Sierra Nevada patri k mym nejoblibenejsim a jelikoz jsem uz nejakou dobu nebyla v narodnim parku Sequoia, zarezervovala jsem povoleni a pozvala Erica, Alana, Jamsheeda, Jareda a Joshe na vikend prochazeni teto oblasti. Jezera byly jen asi 11 km od parkoviste, ale temer celou cestu dokopce. Na misto jsme prisli kolem 3 odpledne a meli jsme spoustu casu na prochazeni okoli, vykoupani se (Jamsheed a ja) a uzivani si oblasti. Jedinou negativni veci byla spousta komaru, kteri si nas vybrali k veceri. U jezer jsme byli temer sami, jen k veceru prisli dalsi skupiny. V nedeli jsme vyrazili pomerne brzy a zpet u aut jsme byli kolem poledne. Po rychlem obede jsme se prosli kolem obrovskych sequoii a pak jeli domu.
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Bolivia 3. - 25. 6. 2012

My big holiday this year was to Bolivia. The main part was going to be trekking and mountaineering, but because all these activities were going to be in higher altitude, we planned about 5 days around La Paz to get acclimatized. Eric and I got to Bolivia June 4th, we met with Alex who has been traveling in Bolivia already and Mark, who missed his flight and arrived a few days later. First we explored La Paz, then we drive through the "Dead road" for one day to Coroico and then we left La Paz for Lake Titicaca. We stayed one night on Sun Island and had a chance to walk around some Inca ruins, then we returned to the shore and at Copacabana we met up with Jyotsna, Anand and Jaya for next part of our trip.
PHOTOS
 
Moje letosni velka dovolena byla v Bolivii. Hlavni cast dovolene byla prochazenim hor a horolezectvi, ale protoze tyto aktivity probihaly ve vyssi nadmorske vysce, tak jsme si naplanovali asi 5 dni pobliz La Paz abychom si na vyssi nadmorskou vysku zvykli. Eric a ja jsme prileteli do Bolivie 4. Cervna, potkali jsem se s Alexem, ktery uz v Bolivii cestoval a s Markem, kteremu uletelo letadlo a priletel o par dni pozdeji. Nejdrive jsme si prochazeli La Paz, pak jsme si vyjeli po "Silnici smrti" do Coroica a pote jsme odejeli z La Paz k jezeru Titicaca. Jednu noc jsme zustali na ostrove Slunce a meli jsme tak prilezitost se projit kolem pozustatku staveb Incu, pak jsme se vratili na pobrezi do Copacabany, kde jsem se potkali s Jyotsnou, Anandem a Jaya kteri se pripojili na dalsi cast dovolene.
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For our second part of holiday, we met up with Tommi to top our group to 8 people. We traveled to  to Pelechuco,  Cordillera Apolobamba for almost whole day. Most of the way the road was unpaved. Eric was quite sick and as we traveled to higher elevations I felt the altitude. We arrived after dark and slept in small local hostel. The next morning we started our hike from Pelechuco to Charazani, almost every day we went through a pass, the highest was 16 700 ft high, and one day we had extra when Tommi, Anand and Mark went to summit mountain Cuchillo. We finished up the trek at thermal spa. From Charazani we again split, Jyotsna, Jaya, Anand and Alex went back to La Paz, Eric, Tommi, Mark and I drove to Sorata.
PHOTOS
 
Pro druhou cast nasi dovolene jsme se potkali na ceste s Tommim a tak nas bylo celkem 8. Jeli jsme do Pelechuca, Cordillera Apolobamba skoro cely den. Vetsina cest po ceste tam byla nezpevnena. Eric se necitil vubec dobre a ja jsem zacala pocitovat nadmorskou vysku jak jsme stoupali vyse. Prijeli jsme az za tmy a ubytovali se v mistim malem hostelu. Nasledujici den jsme zacali nasi turu z Pelechuca do Charazani, temer kazdy den jsme sli pres prusmyk, ten nejvyssi 5100 m, a jeden den jsme meli extra kdy Tommi, Anand a Mark lezli na  horu Cuchillo. Pochod jsme zakoncili v termalnich laznich. V Charazani jsme se opet rozdelili, Jyotsna, Jaya, Anand a Alex jeli zpet do La Paz, Eric, Tommi, Mark a ja jsme pak jeli do Soraty.
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Last part of my trip was the hardest one. First Eric, Tommi, Mark and I went to Sorata, where we had 1 day to relax. Then guides arrived to take us for the mountain and Eric went back to La Paz and then California. The first day we were supposed to hike up to the lake Chillata at elevation 4200 m, but we just drove by car to the highest possible elevation which was just under 4000 m. The next day we hiked up to lake Glaciar (5040 m). The next "surprise" was that we had only 4 porters with us and it meant that for 3 of us only 1, so Tommi and Mark carried most of their gear on their own. The following day we hiked up to high camp, which was actually lower then it supposed to be because porters couldn't go much further in their simple shoes. For the summit we started at 3 am and summitted at 10 am, then we return to the lake Glaciar with small break at the high camp. At the lake were another 4 people - from the Czech Republic! The next day we descended to Sorata and drove back to La Paz. The last day in La Paz was just to relax and finish souvenir shopping.
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Posledni cast me dovolene byla nejtezsi. Nejdrive Eric, Tommi, Mark a ja jsme jeli do Soraty, kde jsme meli jeden den na zrelaxovani. Pruvodci prijeli por nas druhy den, Eric jel zpet do La Paz a Kalifornie. Prvni den jsme meli vyslapat k jezerru Chillata ve vysce 4200 m, ale jen jsme vyjeli autem do nejvyssi mozne vysky, coz bylo trochu pod 4000 m. Nasledujici den jsme vysli k jezeru Glaciar (5040 m). Nase dalsi "prekvapeni" bylo kdyz jsme zjistili ze mame k dispozici jen 4 nosice a to znamenalo, ze pro nas 3 jen jednoho, tak Tommi a Mark nesli vetsinu svyho vybaveni sami. Nasledujici den jsem vysli do vyskoveho tabora, ktery byl nize nez mel byt, protoze nosici se v jejich primitivnim obuti dale dostat nemohli. Posledni den jsme zacali ve 3 rano a na vrcholku jsme byli v 10, pak jsme se vratili zpet k jezeru Glaciar, s malou prestavkou ve vyskovem tabore. U jezera byli dalsi 4 lidi - z Ceske republiky!. Nasledujici den jsme sesli zpet do Soraty a pak jeli do La Paz. Posledni den v La Paz by na zrelaxovani a posledni nakupy suvenyru.
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Yosemite - Memorial weekend backpacking 26. - 28.5. 2012

This long weekend I took a few friends who never been backpacking before for an easy trip to Yosemite. I think most people expect nice weather in the end of May, but my experience with Memorial weekend is not that great. Even though that the winter was quite warm without much snow, on Friday before Memorial weekend Yosemite received some snow showers and and we almost have to change our plans since Glacier road was closed for a while. In the end everything worked out well and we took bus up to Glacier point and from there slowly walked down to the valley.
PHOTOS
 
Tento prodlouzeny vikend jsem vzala nekolik kamaradu co nikdy nebyli backpackovat na nenarocny vylet do Yosemite. Skoro kazdy si mysli, ze na konci kvetna uz je pekne pocasi, ale moje zkusenost z Memorial weekend je trochu jina. I kdyz tato zima byla pomerne mirna bez mnoha snehu, v patek pred prodlouzenym vikendem v Yosemitech nasnezilo a my jsme malem museli menit plan jelikoz silnice na Glacier point byla zavrena na chvili. Nakonce vse dopadlo dobre a my jsme vyjeli autobusem na Glacier point a odtud jsme pak pomalu sesli zpatky do udoli.
 PHOTOS

Maker Faire - Ohlone 50K 19. - 20. 5. 2012

Maker Faire is annual event with many interesting expeditions and workshops. I went for the first time and I was quite amazed how creative people can be. To save some stress with parking we went by bike and train, which actually was a little bit stressful too, since a lot of people traveled to the same place and the train got crowded, but it was definitely worth it.

On Sunday I run for the second time Ohlone wilderness 50K. I was slower by about 20 minutes than last year (7:56:09 - 106th place out of 219), but the conditions were quite bad and I did overall little bit better. It was so hot, that one runner actually had to be airlifted because about 1/2 mile before finish line collapsed on heat stroke.
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Maker Faire je kazdorocni akce s mnoha zajimavymi exposicemi. Ja jsem na ni byla poprve a byla jsem docela unesena jak lide dokazou byt tvorivi. Abychom si usetrili stres z parkovanim, jeli jsem vlakem a na kole, coz bylo vlastne trosku stresujici take, protoze hodne lidi jelo na stejne misto a vlak byl prelidneny, ale stalo to za to!

V nedeli jsem bezela podruhe Ohlone wildeness 50K. Ubehla jsem to asi o 20 minut pomaleji nez predchozi rok (7:56:09 - 106 misto z 219), ale podminky byly docela spatne a tak celkove jsem si polepsila. Bylo takove vedro, ze jeden zavodnik musel byl letecky prevezen do nemocnice, protoze asi 1/2 mile pred koncem zkolaboval na uzeh. 
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Rafting - Merced River 12.-13. 5. 2012

This year it was for the 7th time in a row that I was organizing rafting trip. This time I choose Merced river near Yosemite national park. Even though the weather over past winter wasn't really wet, 17 of us had enough water to have great fun!
As usually most of us left on Friday evening. I went with 6 other friends on Saturday to Yosemite NP. We drove up to Glacier point  and hiked short distance to Sentinel dome from where we were enjoying amazing views for a while. Then we walked back to Glacier point for ice cream and stared at amazing Half dome and falls longer :) Then we drove back to campground to have our dinner and nice relaxing time by fire.
On Sunday we met with our guides and the water fun started. Most of the class IV rapids were in the beginning so the adrenalin went up fast. After break for lunch we there wasn't much excitement, which was quite good, since most of us got sleepy after such a nice food! It was again great rafting trip!
PHOTOS
 
Tento rok uz to bylo po sedme co jsem organizovala vylet na sjizdeni divoke reky. Tentokrat jsem vybrala reku Merced pobliz narodniho parku Yosemite. I kdyz tato zima neprinesla mnoho srazek, i tak vech 17 melo dost vody abychom si sjizdeni poradne uzili!
Jako obvykle vetsina vyjela uz v patek vecer. Ja a 6 dalsich kamaradu jsme vyrazili v sobotu do Yosemite. Vyjeli jsme na Glacier point a dosli jsem si na nedaleky Sentinel dome ze ktereho jsem si uzivaly uzasne vyhledy. Pak jsme sesli zpet na Glacier point na zmrzlinu a opet jsme hledeli na uzasny Half doma a vodopady :) Pak jsme jeli zpet do kempu kde jsme si dali veceri a relaxovali jsme u ohne.
V nedeli jsem se potkali s lidma co nas vzali na reku a nase vodni dobrodruzstvi mohlo zacit. Vetsina nejtezsich pereji byla hned na zacatku a tak adrenalin rychle vystoupal. Po obede uz takove vzruseni nebylo, coz bylo asi dobre, jelikoz na vsechny padla unava po takovem dobrem obede! Opet to byl vydareny raftingovy vylet!
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Peter Grubb Hut 5.-6.5.2012

Peter Grubb hut is another Sierra Club hut in the Sierra Nevada mountains. I was lucky that I was invite to join Josh's trip to this hut. We drove on Friday up to the mountains and spent the night at Clair Tappaan Lodge. On Saturday we met other people in the group and 10 of us left for quite short (about 3.5 miles) hike to Peter Grubb hut. Since we arrived quite early, we decided to go for hike to Castle Peak (9 109 ft). Before we left one other friend arrived and we finalized out number to 11. After we got back from nice afternoon hike, we enjoyed the evening in the hut. On Sunday we packed and cleaned the hut, but before we left, we went for another short hike around the valley. We also decided to take little bit longer but more beautiful trail back to the cars.
PHOTOS

Horska chata Peter Grubb je jednou s chat Sierra Club v horach Sierra Nevada. Mela jsem to stesti, ze jsem byla pozvana Joshem abych se pridala ke skupine co sla do teto chaty. Do hor jsme vyjeli jsme uz v patek a pres noc jsme zustali v Clair Tappaan Lodge. V sobotu jsme se potkali se zbytkem skupiny a 10 nas vyrazilo na pomerne kratkou turu (asi 5.6 km) k horske chate Peter Grubb. Jelikoz jsme dorazili pomerne brzy, rozhodli jsem se pro vyslap na Castle Peak (2776 m). Predtim nez jsme vyrazili dalsi kamarad prisel a tak nas bylo 11. Pote co jsme se vratili zpet, uzivali jsme si vecera v chate. V nedeli rano jsme se zabalili a uklidili, ale nez jsem odesli, vyrazili jsme na kratkou prochazku kolem udoli. Zpatky k autum jsme sli delsi ale mnohem krasnejsi cestou.
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