Mt. Tallac- Lake Tahoe

This time it was five of us doing a roadtrip to Lake Tahoe- Juri, me, Frank, Alex and Colby. I was the driver so I had the best seat in the car and Colby and Juri were taking turns next to me mostly because of navigating. We woke up at 7am picked up the car 2 blocks away from our hotel and left San Francisco.

On our way we picked up Colby in Oakland (that´s where he lives) and went to Safeway and SportsAuthority so we could buy everything needed. We spent almost 2 hours in the malls so when we finally hit the road to Lake Tahoe it was almost 10.30am but we didn´t plan any hikes for today anyways.

When we got to the Tahoe at first we went to the Visitor Centre where a lovely lady gave us a map with all campsites and hikes near the lake. We picked the closest camp to the most difficult hike in Tahoe- Mt. Tallac hike. There were two different ways to get up to the top- easier but longer one or more difficult but a little shorter. We decided to make the choice the next day.

We chose the Fallen Leaf campsite because it was very close to the lake Fallen Leaf where we could swim before it got dark. We parked at our spot, changed our clothes into bathing suits, put all the food in the bearbox and went to the lake. It was kinda cold at first but after some time rather refreshing. Only me, Juri and Frand dared to swim- Colby and Alex were just sitting on the rocks in the water. It felt amazing to take a swim after so long and what was the best- surrounded by beautiful nature.

After the lake we got back to our camp, set a fire and prepared everything for the dinner. We bought some sausages (for me and Colby the vegetarian ones), vegetables, fruits, snacks, chips, many beers, three bottles of wine... It was plenty of food for the whole bear family :))) After the dinner we sqeezed into our sleeping bags near the fire talking and watching the stars.

In the morning we decided to go the more difficult way up to the top of Mt. Tallac. We just made one huge mistake- we didn´t take enough of water for the five of us so if was very difficult to finish the hike and get down to our car again. At first we started all together but after some time we found out that me, Juri and Frank have the same tempo so it was more like the three of us heading first and Alex and Colby behind us. (That was pretty interesting to find out- I get tired more easily when I go slovly rather than fast)

We had enough food but not at all enough water so in the heat we had to take many breaks (especially me- I got dizzy very easily because of the dehydration).

After we reached the top we took a short break, had some fruits and snacks and took some pictures together as a proovement that we did it!

The way down was suposed to be easier but for us it wasn´t at all because of the dehydration. I felt dizzy most of the time and was really scared about fainting. On our way down we dipped in the lake that was near the trail but we couldn´t drink the water so it was more against the heat than the dehydration. 

After 2 hours and 30 minutes we finally got into our car where unfortunatelly wasn´t even a drop of water- only beers. I drank almost one whole beer before I realised that I am the driver. We didn´t even wait for Colby and Alex and drove to the Visitor Centre which was only about 5 minutes away. There were the water fountains where we could hydrate ourselves and fill up the bottles for guys when they finish the hike.

It all ended allright. everybody is okay, no permanent "mark" on us. Only for Colby it was kinda shock- it was his first real hike in life! (He is from Florida that´s why)

That was kinda preparation for me Juri and Frank for Half Dome that we plan to climb in September :)

Hitch-hiking. Surfing. Camping.

On Wednesday we finally had a day off so we agreed to go to the beach and to our "second home" - Muir Woods- Bootjack campsite. Frank (our friend from Czech Republic), Juri and I woke up at 6am because we wanted to be at the beach as soon as possible. We took a bus to the Mill Valley and then we were supposed to take another bus to the Stinson beach. Unfortunatelly we were waiting on the wrong side of the road so we were watching our bus passing us by. Next bus goes in more than 2 hours so we decided to hitch-hike- we made a banner from a cardboard that we found near the road. It sais: STINSON  BEACH adn Juri was holding the sign ME TOO so many people who passed us by was laughing at us.
We were lucky after about 15 minutes with a reporter for L.A. Post who was just driving to Stinson Beach to make some interviews about the drought in California. Unfortunatelly it was at the time when Juri decided to pee but because he wad trying to be heroic ("When a car stops, leave the banners on the road for me and go") we just went. :D It was kinda long way to the beach and all the time we were thinking about Juri and how will he get to the beach.
Then we got there we went to the local grocery store to buy some sweets, water and wine and decided to go to our spot on the beach to wait for Juri. It was the est surprise when we saw him already on the beach waving and smiling at us. He stopped another car only about 5 minutes later after we left! It was awesome!

Afer an hour or so sleeping on the beach we went to the local store to rent surfs and wetsuits. I almost died when I was carrying the board on the beach :D My first time surfing and the waves were soooo big!
After few (many) "drinks" from the ocean I finally was able to get myself and my surf behind the biggest waves and try to balance and the board and later even try to actually surf. Juri and Frank have already  done this before so they gave me some advice how to do that so the only thing left was try, try and try. It was fun!!! Few time I´ve had a feeling that I am drowning but I guess it belongs to it :)) The best thing about the whole surfing was that all the time there was few dolphins and sea lions swimming with us! It was adorable (and sometime even scarry at the same time)

After several hours of surfing we had to return the surfs and the wetsuit back but it was the hardest thing to do! The shop was only few minutes away from the beach but after few hours of serfing we were so tired that we barely can lift them up. It was real struggle and it was even worse when we realised that we have to hike up the hill to the campsite and there was just no energy left for that. We decided to try our luck again with hitch-hiking and guess what! The second car stopped for us! We couldn´t believe! So instead of 2 hours hiking in the forest up the hill we spent 15 minutes in a car with a beautiful local girl. :)

In the campsite we paid the fee for the camping spot (25dollars) and set a fire so we could prepare the food that we brought- best dinner ever! After that we lay down on the ground and watched the night sky- there were milions of stars- we saw few shooting stars which was super awesome and it gave the moment even more special atmosfere.

Since we were super tired from the whole day we went to sleep super early- no tent- just sleeping bags, grass and the night sky. Poetic. (Well it was poetic for me and Frank because Juri was stupid and forgot his sleeping bag at home so he had to sleep on the ground :D.)

After the night we hitch-hiked another car back to the Mill Valey so we could catch our bus back to San Francisco. It was awesome day off!!!

P.S. Unfortunatelly we don´t have any photos from the day- we were just too busy being excited about the surfing that we completely forgot about the camera :))