Ted's Hiking World Donner Summit Snowsheds
Tahoe National Forest

August 21, 2016

Needing to return my sister's camping equipment, I have arranged for an exchange between her home and mine, at the Rainbow Bridge just downhill from the old Donner Summit.  I had planned to follow up with a loop trip up Mount Judah, but it is so hazy from forest fire smoke that I will find something else to do.

Just around the corner from the bridge is a petroglyph site of sorts.  I say that because, although numerous glyphs are present, they are so well-worn that it is possible to walk right by them or even over them without noticing.

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The are lots of nice new signposts in the Donner Lake area    ⇔

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Some of the more prominent etchings

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Carved by the Martis Indians 2,000-4,000 years ago

Right behind this slab of ancient art is something that I inexplicably never have visited, despite having been a virtually lifelong nearby resident.  Above me are several old railroad tunnels and snow sheds — the first of their kind.  Constructed in the 1870s, the wooden sheds were mostly replaced by concrete structures in the 1980s before ultimately being abandoned in 1993.

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That's the so-called China Wall over there, built by you-know-who

The trail emerges onto the road bed right at what is believed to be the nation's first-ever overpass, built to allow auto traffic to cross underneath a railroad on the old Lincoln Highway.  This is what I find inside:

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From here I check out the tunnel just to the west, then head eastward through several tunnels and snow sheds, photographing all the graffiti as I go.  That's what this place is all about now.

NOTE: The following graphics are presented without regard to actual location; moreover, I don't explain them — I merely display them.

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A fire truck slowly emerges from the upper tunnel, then parks at the entrance to the next one near the top of a popular rock-climbing area; perhaps that has something to do with it.

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There is no fire; perhaps a rescue?

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I have a headlamp available, but it might not be needed

Of course, there is a lot of garbage on these walls; yet much of the artwork is pretty good.  It's a shame that there always must a moron around to trash it, as was done using blue paint below:

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Presently I reach a big side door.  Naturally, there are drawings on the outside of the shed as well.

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I am so busy taking photographs that I fail to notice the little bee sitting on my right hand.  It promptly stings me between two fingers, then flits off.  Oh, well, that's not going to keep me from my appointed rounds.

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Rainbow Bridge is just over there

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Wow!  Nobody has destroyed this one yet.    ⇔

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Tunnel entrance

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I am using two cameras today as a quality comparison.  The plan is to use one going in, and the other going out.  That is why the photos are not displayed in the order in which I encountered them.  More importantly, Camera-A is utilizing its flash most of the time in darker areas, while Camera-B, having a faster lens, is handling most situations with natural light.  The results should prove interesting.

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Up ahead, the light disappears completely, and so do the drawings, and I don't know how long this tunnel is.  I could break out my headlamp, but I believe I'll just turn back instead.  I do have an important four-o'clock dinner reservation down in the valley.

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End of the line

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Looking west at Donner Peak

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My entire route is in view now

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Castle Peak dominates the Donner Summit area

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I hear many voices approaching

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Surely enough, a group of about fifty high-school girls approaches from the other direction.  I had no idea that this place was so popular.

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My loop is complete

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Visitors are coming up the trail in droves

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Starting down

Just now, the fire truck and its three riders head back toward the west tunnel; of course, they must wait, because it's crowded in there.

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Pedestrians have the right of way here

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The climbers are still at it

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Now I can see yet another tunnel to the west of where I walked


§: Well, I certainly got more than I bargained for today.  I had no idea that this place was so well-known,, and that the array of graffiti was so extensive.  It seems that one could choose to hike up from the bottom, starting in the vicinity of Donner Lake State Park.  In any case, next time I will include the sheds and tunnels that were missed on both ends of the local string.

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Here's the guy that did all the painting!

Photographically speaking, there really were no surprises.  Using the flash washed out certain areas and created black borders around sharp surfaces.  I selected some of those photographs anyway, but only when there just wasn't enough natural light from which to process a reasonable image.  Better results could of course have been obtained in some instances by using a tripod and longer exposures.

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