Day 89 : Donner Pass

17th July 2013
Mile 1144 to mile 1170.5 : Granite Chief Mountain to White Rock Creek
Mileage : 26.5 + .5
Today was a fairly eventful day. My clifftop granite campsite faced due east so i was hit by the hot sun seemingly even before it had appeared in the sky. I had resolved to do another 30 miler today but it soon became apparent that this would be a big ask. The sun was back, and in a big way. I haven't felt heat like this since the miserable Tehachapi to Kennedy Meadows and i was filled with a sense of foreboding a i thought about the difficulty of covering hundreds of miles in heat like this. I consoled myself in the fact that i would at least have tree cover unlike in the desert and tried to put it all out of my mind as i thought about the upcoming day.
The main feature of the day was the Donner Pass, and several other geographical features such as Donner Lake and Donner Peak all owing their name to the ill fated Donner Party.
The Donner Party refers to a group of settlers, mostly consisting of several family groups and associated help, as well.was two native American guides, attempting to reach the valley area of central California in 1846. From the outside they ran into difficulties taking a supposed short-cut suggested to them almost certainly by individuals looking to profit from them taking a non standard route via seldom frequented trading posts. The party, so named after the nominated leader George Donner, set out late in the migratory season, and after the short-cut were another month behind schedule and were racing to get over the Sierra Nevadas before he first snows in the autumn. I hiked past the actual pass used by the settlers using this route into California at Roller Pass. At his point Wagons would be hauled up the 45 degree slope by double teams of oxen with all party members ferrying goods up and down the pass. The Donner Party took a wrong turn, missed Roller Pass and found themselves stranded below Donner Pass by the first the winter storms. Before long supplies were running low and groups set out to get help, with rescue only.coming in the spring of 1947. In the interim, a number of the party died, and in the case of the native American guides were killed, and eaten by the others in an effort to stay alive. Just over half of the 90 who set out survived. It was a sobering thought as i wound my way down the trail to the now busy Highway 80.
During my descent i bumped in trail angel Reno Dave and his daughter Holly, who gave me my first trail magic, a 7up, since Walker Pass almost 500 miles previously. I chatted with the pair for a few.minutes before heading down to the road, and was told to stock up on water at the nearby truck rest area on the highway as the next section. A little while later i was mistaken for a crazy homeless person by a non-english speaking trucker, who tried to give me some money. I could see him getting out his wallet, and as he proffered the note my instinctively was to decline insisting i was not homeless despite my dragged appearance. As i began my PCT routine, it became clear he didn't speak English and didn't know what i was on about. Quick as a flash i dived into my rucksack sending stuff flying everywhere while i got to the bottom of my clothes bag, found PCT bandana, and started gesticulating wildly with my hiking poles pointing first to the bandana and then to the surrounding hills. At this point he clearly thought i was both homeless and crazy, and retreated to the safety of his truck before driving off. After watching him depart, i reflected that his assessment of me was fairly accurate, at least glance, as i sat there at the truck stop with all my.possessions strewn about me, thin, bearded and haggard-looking drying my socks on the table next to me. I suppose i am homeless at present, and am probably a bit crazy to have decided to do what i am doing.
Afterputting off hiking in the afternoon heat for.long enough i headed back to the trail and climbed up the other side.of the pass into the surrounding mountains, managing another 12 miles before deciding to call an end to the day's hiking on the top of a low saddle. It had indeed been an eventful.day.

Reno Dave with Holly

Roller Pass, where the Donner PArty should have traversed the Sierra Nevada