Summiting in snow!

Sunday was the first cold day in Reno (meaning I had to wear pants).

That morning I went to church then decided to go hiking. The peaks around Lake Tahoe have been calling my name for a while so I mapped out a section of the PCT near Donner Pass. Yep! It’s the same Donner Pass where in year 1846, members of the Donner Party resorted to cannibalism to make it through the winter. Of the 83 Donner pioneers only 45 survived the winter. The goal was to hike about 10 miles and summit Donner Peak (8019'), Mount Judah (8243'), and Anderson Peak (8683') before hoofing it back to the car.

I started out about 11:30am working up about a dozen switchbacks on the PCT before trailing off on a separate singletrack to bag Donner Peak. After an hour of hiking I started to notice the sky getting cloudy and the temperature dropping. Soon shimmering snowflakes began to wisp through the Douglas Fir. The snow was much different then back east. It consisted of dry, fine flakes; not like the clumping, packy snow of winter in Chicago. The temperature was still about 40F so I did not think much of the flurries. I soon hit a fork in the trail with one section leading off to Donner Peak while the other section headed west several miles towards Mount Judah. Since I didn’t really prepare for the cold (t-shirt, windbreaker, Nylon pants) I thought it best to take the shorter trail to summit Donner Peak and see what the rest of the Tahoe Basin looked like. After about a quarter mile I stepped out of the tall pines and made the final climb up the granite of Donner Peak. By now the snow had changed from small silver flakes to BB-sized frozen pellets of ice. On top of Donner I stopped to wolf down an apple and take in the scenery. Most of the Donner Lake region could be seen. To the east was Northstar Ski Resort and to the South was the ring of mountains that formed the rim of Lake Tahoe. In the valleys to the South and North the snow looked like it was coming down in like white sheets like rain. Hmm... This hiking was a little more then I expected!

While chomping away on the apple a couple of rock climbers appeared on the summit. They had the full gear with ropes, carabiners, etc. We immediately started talking about the 180 switch the weather had taken. One of the climbers mentioned that they were heading down because they didn't have tire chains in their car. This set off an immediate alarm for me. TIRE CHAINS?! I started thinking about all the "road closed" gates I had seen on the drive to Donner Pass. When the Sierra Nevadas get blizzard conditions salt and sand do next to nothing. The highways are simply shut down and you can't drive them. I started getting visions of spending the night in the car in my head!

Heeding the climber's sage advice I now began to gingerly work my way down the steep granite on the west slope of Donner Peak. Once back in the forest I noticed that the windblown snow had started to accumulate around the base of rocks and trees. It was definitely coming down harder and I followed suit and picked up my pace tromping down the damp trail. My hands were frozen red and the snow was filling up the creases in my windbreaker. Things were starting to get serious.

By the time I got back to the car there was probably a 1/2" of snow on the brim of my baseball hat. It was coming down so heavy that I could not see the peak of the mountain I just visited or for that matter, any of the surrounding peaks nearby. I hopped in the car and fired up the defroster. Time to drive down the tarmac switchbacks of Donner Pass. Luckily as I drove down the black pavement, warmed from earlier in the day, was doing a good job of melting the fresh snow. I feathered the breaks most of the way down and back to the highway.

My only regret is not having a camera to document the hike. I certainly have a new appreciation for alpine weather now!