Napa Valley tasting 13.10. 2012

Josh, Eric and I were driving in May back from one backpacking trip when we started to talk about possibility to rent Google bus through Eric and organize wine tasting trip, we looked in our calendars and the first free common weekend was October 13, so we marked our calendars... We invited friends and colleagues and 28 of us went. We visited three wineries Reata, Black Stallion and Bourassa. Every winery was different and it was nice selection, everybody had a great time.
PHOTOS
Josh, Eric a ja jsem jeli v kvetnu z jednoho kempovaciho vyletu, kdyz jsme zacali mluvit o moznosti pronajmuti autobusu z Googlu pres Erica a zorganizovani vyletu do vinne oblasti, zkonzultovali jsme nase kalendare a prvni spolecny volny vikend byl 23. Rijen, a tak jsme si datum poznacili. Pozvali jsme kamarady a kolegy a 28 nas vyrazilo. Navstivili jsme tri vinnarny  Reata, Black Stallion and Bourassa. Kazda vinnarna byla jina a byl to dobry vyber, kazdemu se vylet libil.
FOTKY

Jamaica 30.9. - 6.10. 2012

Our school year started quite early this year and some people felt that it would be nice to have a fall break to relax a little bit. Christina and I bought a stay at one hotel in Jamaica through Groupon and we decided to use it this week off. The weather over all wasn't bad, but it was raining every day for a little bit. We spent some time on beaches as well as traveling around, even though we found out that Jamaica is quite expensive place to get around.
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Nas skolni rok zacal pomerne brzy tento rok a nekteri lide citili, ze bude treba dostat dovolenou na zrelaxovani. Christina a ja jsem si koupily ubytovani pres Groupon na Jamaice a rozhodly jsem to vyuzit prave tento tyden. Pocasi nebylo uplne nejhorsi i kdyz nam alespon kratce prselo kazdy den. Cas jsme stravily na plazi i cestovanim po okoli, i kdyz jsme dosly k zaveru, ze Jamaika je docela drahe misto na projizdeni.
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Franklin lakes - Mineral King area - Sequoia NP 1. - 3. 9. 2012

Long weekend is always good time to go backpacking. I choose to go to Mineral King area in Sequoia NP where I have never been before. The drive to get there was quite bad, last 90 minutes was on narrow, windy old road, but it was worth it. The first day we hiked up about 6 miles to Franklin lakes (10 426 ft), we went quite slowly, since in our quite large group of 8 were three people who never been backpacking before and we arrived late afternoon. The next day we did just a day hike to Franklin pass (11 800 ft) for a great views, especially of Mt. Whitney. On Monday we hiked back to the cars and drove home with a short stop for lunch.
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Prodlouzeny vikend je vzdy dobry na backpackovani. Tentokrat jsem vybrala oblast Mineral king v Sequoia NP, kde jsem jeste nebyla. Cesta tam byla docela spatna, poslednich 90 minut se jelo po uzke, tocite a stare silnici, ale stalo to za to. Prvni den jsem usli asi 10 km k jezerum Franklin (3050), sli jsme pomerne pomalu, jelikoz v nasi pomerne velke skupine o 8 byli tri kamaradi, co nikdy predtim backpackovat nebyli a tak jsme dorazili az pozde odpoledne. Nasledujici den jsme si udelali jen denni vylet do prusmyku Franklin (3596 m), odkud byl nadherny vyhled, zvlaste na Mt. Whitney. V pondeli jsme pak jen sesli zpatky a jeli domu s kratkou zastavkou na obed.
FOTKY

Chain Lakes - Yosemite 18. - 19. 8. 2012

This weekend trip was organized again by Josh. We - Josh, Stuart, Mandar, Phil, Eric and I started on Saturday morning at Ansel Adams wilderness and after about 8 miles hiking we reached beautiful Chain lakes in Yosemite. We walked to the last one and find nice camping spot. Since it was quite hot, Josh, Eric, Phil and I went for swimming in quite cold water. In the evening we made camp fire and enjoyed beautiful evening. The next day we hiked out in about 3 hours.
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Tento vikendovy vylet byl zorganizovan opet Joshem. Josh, Stuart, Mandar, Phil a ja jsem vyrazili v sobotu rano z Ansel Adams wilderness a asi po 13 km jsme dorazili k jezerum Chain v Yosemitech. Sli jsme az k tomu poslednimu a tam jsem si nasli hezke misto na kempovani. Jelikoz bylo pomerne teplo, tak Josh, Eric, Phil a ja jsem si sli zaplavat v pomerne studene vode. Vecer jsme si udelali taborak a uzivali jsi nadherneho vecera. Druhy den jsem zvladli cestu zpet za 3 hodiny.
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Peeler Lake - Hoover Wilderness 11. - 12. 8. 2012

This weekend I went to Eastern Sierras to Hoover wilderness. Josh organized a backpacking trip to Peeler lake and invited a few people who never been backpacking to experience the beauty of sleeping in the mountains. We started around 11 am on Saturday and hiked 8 miles to Peeler lake, stopping at Barney lake for lunch. After lunch a thunderstorm came, and I somehow forgot to pack my rain jacket, but luckily we didn't get too wet. It cleared up in the evening and we had nice dinner by the lake. On Sunday we explored Peeler lake a little bit more and then on the way down went to see another lake that was just about 1 mile off our path. It was beautiful and sunny day till lunch, then it started to rain on us again, but this time we got soaking wet, luckily we had dry clothes in the cars and drove back home to dry bed.
PHOTOS

Tento vikend jsem vyrazila do vychodnich Sierras do Hoover wilderness. Josh zorganizoval vylet k jezeru Peeler a pozval par lidi, co nikdy nebyly backpackovat, aby zazili tu nadheru prespani v horach. Vyrazili jsme kolem 11 rano v sobotu a usli jsme 8 mil k jezeru Peeler, po ceste jsem se zastavili na obed u jezera Barney. Po obede prisla bourka, a me se nejak podarilo si zapomenout nepromokavou bundu, ale nastesti jsme moc nezmokli. Na vecer se vyjasnilo a tak jsem si mohli vychutnat veceri u jezera. V nedeli jsem se nejdrive prosli kolem jezre Peeler a pak na ceste zpet jsme si zasli k jeste jednomu dalsimu jezeru, co bylo asi 1 mily z cesty. Do obeda bylo pekne a slunecno, pak na nas zacalo opet prset, tentokrat jsme uplne promokli, ale nastesti jsme meli v aute suche obleceni a jeli jsme domu do such postele. FOTKY

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.
FOTKY