Yosemite - Cathedral Lake - Mt. Dana 18.-19.7.09

As I mentioned a few times, Yosemite is one of my favorite places in the world, so I couldn't resist and I went for a weekend hiking there. We (Carolina, Pavel and I) left on Friday evening and slept on road near Yosemite west entrance. On Saturday day we woke up early and drove to east entrance where we met with Shosh and Marina. The original plan was to hike up Mt. Dana the first day and go to see Cathedral lake the second day, but because the weather didn't look too good, we decided to switch the plans. Since there was a possibility to make a loop hike, we drove to Tenaya lake where we left one car and then went in one car to Tolumne meadows where the trail started. It was about 3.5 miles to the Cathedral lake. There we divided - Shosh and Marina went back the same way and Carolina, Pavel and I hiked the loop - total about 13 miles total. Later in the evening we stopped by Mono Lake to take pictures in the sunset. We spent the night at a motel.
The second day we got up early again so we could start our hike to Mt. Dana early - about 7.30. It was about 3 miles hike, but with the 3108 feet gain. Mt. Dana (13057 feet) is the second highest peak in Yosemite and in the higher parts there are not really real trail and one must be careful where to step! In the end we all made it! We spent some time on the top, took necessary photos and then hiked back down. We got back around 2 pm and then drove back home - avoiding all the traffic!
PHOTOS

Jak uz jsem nekolikrat vzpominala, ze Yosemite jsou jednim z mych nejoblibenejsich mist na svete a tak jsem nemohla odolat a jela jsem tam na vikendove tury. Carolina, Pavel a ja jsme vyrazili v patek vecer a spali u cesty pobliz zpadniho vjezdu do Yosemite. V sobotu jsme vstali brzy a jeli k vychodnimu vjezdu do Yosemit kde jsem se potkali s Shosh a Marinou. Puvodni plan byl to vyslapnout na Mt. Dana prvni den a jit k jezeru Cathedral druhy den, ale protoze pocasi nevypadalo nejlepe, tak jsme se rozhodli plan prohodit. Protoze byla moznost udelat okruzni turu, tak jsme jeli k jezeru Tenaya, kde jsme nechali jedno auto a pak jeli druhym autem k Tolumne meadows, kde zacinal cesta. K jezeru Cathedral to bylo asi 5.6 km. Tam jsme se rozdelili. Marina a Shosh sli zpet tou samou cestou, Carolina, Pavel a ja jsem udelali okruzni turu - dohromady asi 21km. Pozdeji vecer jsme se jeste zastavili u Mono lake abycho udelali nekolik fotek pri zapadu slunce. Spali jsme v motelu.
Druhy den jsem vstali opet brzy, abychom mohli zacit nas vystup na horu Dana co nejdrive - asi v 7.30. Byl to asi 5 km dlouhy vystup ale s 947 metrovym prevysenim. Mt. Dana (3981 m) je druhou nejvyssi horou v Yosemitech a ve vyssich polohach neni vpodstate zadna cesta a clovek musi davat pozor kam slapnout! Nakonec jsme to vsichni zvladli! Zustli jsme chvili na vyrcholku, udelali nezbytne fotky a pak sesli zpet. Dole jsme byli kolem 2 odpoledne a pak jsme jeli domu a vyhnuli se velkym zacpam!
FOTKY

Coldplay 13.7.09

Petra, Miro and I found out that Coldplay is coming to Shorline in Mt. View so we got tickets and enjoyed the great concert!
PHOTOS

Petra, Mira a ja jsme zjistili, ze Coldplay je na Shorline v Mt. View, tak jsme koupili listky a uzili si vyborny koncert!
FOTKY

Trinity Alps 3.-5.7. 09

Every long weekend is great for backpacking and this three day off around Independence day wasn't different. Petra, Miro and I went to Trinity Alps. For me it was first backpack in that area and I was again nicely surprised how beautiful mountains around California are. It was really long drive, but it was worth it.
I had class till 9 pm on Thursday, so we left after 10 pm from Concord. We found one spot somewhere by the road around 2 am and had about 4 hours of sleep. In the morning we drove to the trail-head for Caribou lake. The last about 17 miles were on dirt road with a lots of stones so we drove really slowly - my car is not really 4 wheel drive :-)
The first day of our backpack we had to climb up about 9 miles from a valley to the Caribou lake. It was beautiful hike with great views, even to Mt. Shasta at one point. We found nice place for camping, made a dinner and I went to sleep quite early (I was still recovering after illness), and Petra and Miro were enjoying almost full moon evening with a lots of stars.
The second day we took just one backpack with food and climb slowly to the ridge above the lake and then later to one of the peaks on the ridge. We took it really slowly and enjoyed the beautiful views all around us!
On Sunday we hiked back to our car and drove back, as I mentioned the drive was long and with one stop for dinner we arrived home around 1 am.
PHOTOS

Prodlouzeny vikend je vzdy dobra prilezitost jit do prirody a tento vikend kolem dne nezavislosti nebyl odlisny. Petra, Miro a ja jsme se vydali do Trinity Alps. Pro me to byla prvni navsteva teto oblasti a opet jsem byla prijemne prekvapena jak nadherne hory jsou v Kalifornii. Cesta tam byla docela dlouha, ale stalo to za to!
Mela jsem ve ctvrtek skolu do 9 vecer a tak jsme odjizdeli po 10 vecer z Concordu. Kolem 2 rano jsme se ulozili nekde po ceste u silnice a zdrimli jsme si asi na 4 hodinky. Rano jsme pak dojeli k vychozimu bodu k jezeru Caribou. Poslednich 17 mil bylo po spatne ceste s mnoha kameny a tak jsme jeli hodne pomalu - moje auto preci jen neni do terenu :-)
Prvni den naseho vyslapu jsme se museli vyskrabat asi 14.5 km z udoli k jezeru Caribou. Byla to pekna tura s nadhernymi vyhledy, dokonce i na horu Shastu. Nasli jsme pekne misto na kempovani, udelali veceri a ja jsem sla spat docela brzo (stale jsem se jeste dostavala z nemoci), Petra a Miro si jeste uzivali temer uplnkoveho vecera s mnoha hvezdickami.
Druhy den jsem si vzali jen jeden batoh s jidlem a vyskrabali jsme se pomalu na hreben nad jezerem a pak pozdeji na jeden s vrcholku na hrebeni. Nikam jsme nespechali a uzivali si nadhernych vyhledu kolem nas!
V nedeli jsme se vratili k autu a jeli zpet, jak uz jsem se zminila, cesta byla dlouha a s jednou prestavkou na veceri jsme dorazili domu kolem 1 v noci.
FOTKY

Mt. Shasta 20.-21.6.09

I was planning to climb Mt. Shasta for a while, unfortunately I couldn't find anybody to go with me :-(. I was giving up for this season, when my plans for the weekend were changed in a last minute and instead of backpacking in Yosemite I drove to climb Mt. Shasta with Pavel!
Mt. Shasta is at elevation 14,162 ft. - 4,317 meters. There are many different routes how to reach the top, but for the first time climbers is Avalanche Gulch the best. We started at trailhead Bunny Flat, the distance to the peak is about 6 miles (9,7 km) with elevation gain more than 7000 feet (2100 m). The first day we reached Helen Lake -popular campsite at 10,443 feet (3183 m). We build our tent and after dinner we went to bed around 8 pm.
The second day we got up (or at least tried to) really early. After quick breakfast we started to climb at 4.15 am to the top. The day was beautiful, it was cloudy in the lower elevations, but we had sunny weather! We summited around 9.45 am after fighting our hurting legs and lack of oxygen. The way down was little bit faster. We got back to the Helen lake around 1 pm, packed our tent and hiked down to the car.
PHOTOS

Planovala jsem vylezt na Mt. Shasta uz nejakou dobu, bohuzel jsem ale nemohla nikoho najit, kdo by jel se mnou :-(. Uz jsem se loucila s moznosti vystupu pro tento rok, kdyz se me plany na vikend zmenily na posledni chvili a misto vyletu do Yosemite jsem jela na Mt. Shasta s Pavlem.
Mt. Shasta je ve vysce 4,317 m - 14,162 ft. Je mnoho cest jak dosahnout vrcholu, ale pro lidi, co jdou poprve je nejlepsi Avalanch Gulch. My jsme vysli z Bunny Flat, vzdalenost na vrchol je asi 9,7 km (6 miles) s rozdilem v nadmorske vysce asi 2100 m (7000 feet). Prvni den jsme dosli k Hellen Lake - oblibene taboriste ve vysle 3183 m (10, 443 feet). Postavli jsme stan a po veceri jsem sli spat kolem 8 vecer.
Druhy den jsme vstali brzo (tedy alespon jsme se o to snazili). Po rychle snidani jsme vyrazili v 4.15 k vrcholu. Byl nadherny den, v nizsich polohach bylo zamraceno, ale my jsme meli slunicko. Na vrchol jsme dorazili kolem 9.45 po boji s bolavymi nohami a nedostatkem kysliku. Cesta dolu byla trochu rychlejsi. Dosli jsme zpet k Helen lake kolem 1 odpoledne, zabalili jsme stan a sesli zpet k autu.
FOTKY

Half Moon Bay 14.6.09

The original plan was to go to Arroyo Seco for "water" hike, but because of combination of different reasons we decide to postpone it a little bit. Then it looked that we won't do anything on Sunday, but luckily we ended up at Half Moon Bay for nice relaxing afternoon.
PHOTOS

Puvodni plan byl jet do Arroya Seco na "vodni" vylet, ale z ruznych duvodu jsme se nakonec rozhodli vylet prelozit a par tydnu. Pak to vypadalo, ze se v nedeli nebude delat vubec nic, ale nastesti jsme nakonec zkoncili v Half Moon Bay, kde jsme meli pekne odpocinkove odpoledne.
FOTKY

Redwood National Park 23. - 25.5. 09

Three-day weekend is always good chance to get out from the Bay area. This time we chose Redwood National Park, which is in North California = long drive! We - about 11 of us - left around 11 am on Saturday and since we were stopped by quite bad traffic on the way there, we arrived at Eureka KOA - camping, around 7 pm. The weather wasn't great, it was cloudy and cold. We build tents, made fire and dinner and since it started to rain, we went to sleep quite early. On Sunday we drove about 45 miles north to Redwood National Park. The hike we chose supposed to be about 16 miles long (of course we weren't planning on doing it all :-) ), but after quite short distance we got to a river without a bridge. We tried to cross it (some of us actually did), but because 4 people stayed behind, we decided to go back. It was still early so we drove to another nice and short hike - Fern Canyon and then we relaxed a little bit on a beach.
On Monday, little bit worried about the traffic on the way back, we stopped only at Humbold Redwood State park for short walk around big redwoods. Then we visited Confusion hill for walk through Gravity house and then drove through a tree. Traffic on the way back wasn't too bad, so we got home around 8 pm.
PHOTOS


Tridenni vikend je vzdy dobry dovod dostat se z Bay area. Tentokrat jsme si vybrali Redwood NP, ktery je v severni Kalifornii, takze daleka cesta! Jelo nas 11 a vyrazili jsme kolem 11 rano v sobotu a jelikoz jsme narazili na dopravni zacpu, tak jsme do kempu u Eureka dorazili kolem 7 vecer. Pocasi nebylo nic moc - pod mrakem a zima. Postavili jsme stany, udelali ohen a veceri a jelikoz zacalo i prset, sli jsme spat relativne brzo. V nedeli jsme jeli asi 45 mil severne do Redwood Narodniho parku. Vyslap, ktery jsme zvolili mel byt 16 mili dlouhy (samozrejme jsme neplanovali jej zvladnout cely :-) ), ale po kratke vzdalenosti jsme narazili na reku bez mostu. Zkusili jsme ji prebrodit (a nekdo to dokonce i zvladnul), ale protoze 4 lidi to nezvladli, rozhodli jsme se jit zpatky. Protoze bylo jeste brzo, jeli jsme na dalsi kratky vyslap do Fern Canyon a pak jsme relaxovali na plazi.
V pondeli, jsme se trochu bali jaka bude cesta zpatky, a tak jsme se zastavili jen v Humboldt Redwood SP na kratkou prochazku kolem vysokych redwoodu. Pak jsme jeste navstivili Confusion hill a prosli se domem, kde to vypadalo, ze gravitacni sila pusobi uplne jinak a nakonec jsme se projeli stromem. Doprava na ceste zpatky nebyla velka a tak jsme dorazili zpet kolem 8 vecer.
FOTKY

Rafting - North Fork American River 9. - 10.5. 09

This was the most difficult, but also the most exciting rafting I have ever been to. I managed to organize group of 12 friends and friends of friends to go for rafting to North Fork of American River. We left on Saturday and camped at the Whitewater Voyages campsite, which is nice place by the American River, about 40 miles pass Sacramento. The difficulty of the river was IV + and since the level of water was high we could expect some action! We had two rafts and in the first 10 minutes one of the rafts managed to flip. Nobody was hurt so now we can just laugh at all the pictures that was taken! The other excitement later was when different company flipped on different rapid and managed to loose everybody including the guide from the boat. We helped them to transfer some of their "swimmers" and collect paddles. After lunch the rest of the way was relatively calm. On the way back home (and actually on the way there too) we stopped at Czech Restaurant in Concord and had a few typical Czech meals, so great weekend over all!
PHOTOS



Tento rafting byl zatim nejobtiznejsi ale take nejvzrusujici ze vsech raftingu na kterych jsem byla. Podarilo se mi zorganizovat skupinu 12 kamaradu a kamaradu od kamaradu a vyjeli jsme na North Fork American River. Vyjeli jsme uz v sobotu a stanovali jsme v kampu Whitewater Voyages (spolecnost se kterou jsme jeli), coz je pekne misto u American River, asi 40 mil za Sacramentem. Obtiznost reky byla IV+ a s vysokou hladinou vody se dal ocekavat napinavy dej. Jeli jsme na dvou raftech a behem prvnich 10 minut se jeden z nasich raftu obratil. Nikdo nebyl zraneny a tak se muzeme ted uz jen smat nad fotkama. Dalsi vzruseni prislo kdyz se raft jine spolecnosti obratil a ztratil vsechny vcetne kormedilnika. Pomohli jsme jim vsechny lidi ve vode a padla posbirat. Po obede zbytek cesty byl relativne klidny. Na ceste zpatky (a vlastne i po ceste tam) jsme se zastavili v Ceske restauraci v Condordu a meli jsme nekolik typickych ceskych jidel (tlacenka, smazeny syr, ptacky, svickova), tak ze skvely vikend!
FOTKY