Donner

It cooled to the 40s last night and I slept well although I did need to take a couple ibuprofen for stiffness in the early morning. A day of hiking still leaves me sore. The Peter Grubb Hut is in one of those mountain meadows I mentioned yesterday. Here is what it looks like in the morning.

The trail can be ghostly at this hour. But in a peaceful way.

The Plan

The goal is to hike eight miles to where the trail intersects with Highway 40, where I will hitch into Truckee to buy food at the Safeway. From there I will take the bus out as far as it will take me toward the trail and hitch the rest of the way up to the Donner Ski Ranch which is close to the trail. There I will grab a room at the hostel and hike out south towards South Lake Tahoe – a four-day hike. It sounds doable, but you never know. It’s good that it is Saturday. Truckee people love the outdoors. People should be all over the road to Donner Pass for hiking, climbing and biking.

Early Trail

I have been trying to get a good picture of this fungus for days. The light was right this morning.

I see this pretty little lake as we near the I-80 westbound rest stop. Notice anything strange about it? Look closely. There’s something odd about it. If you see it, put it in the comments.

The trail passes under I-80 through two long long tunnels. Here is the tunnel under the westbound lanes. There are some hikers entering from the other end.

The trail is actually pretty beautiful up here above the interstate. When the Interstates were built, they cut a ragged path across many miles of wilderness. Today, they seem much less intrusive. Sure, some will disagree with me, but what would you suggest instead. Perhaps someday the intrusive aspects of development will be replaced with something less intrusive.

I like this photo.

Truckee

When Highway 40 is in view below the trail, I scramble down to it and stick my thumb out. It is Saturday and scads of people are everywhere up here. About a dozen cars go by when I hear a voice calling me from a nearby parking lot.

Bob is heading into town. Vincent is nine days from the rescue. He is super freindly and wants to ride in my lap. Luckily my pack is already there. Bob is super cool and takes me all the way to the Safeway for food.

The ride out is a combination of the city bus and two hitches. But I am at the Donner Ski Ranch were I will meet some very good friends. While I sit there I strike up a conversation with a German kid, Alex.

I could devote a whole post to him. At 31, he is a world traveler already. We spend the most time talking about his bicycle ride around Japan following the Buddhist pilgrim way. He show me an app called the Henro Helper that lays out the whole route. This sparks my imagination. Could this be for Doolittle next year?

Friends

You may remember from my first posts this year that I spent a night in Reno at the home of my hiking friends Jeremy and Shelley (Seven and Dealer). They were on the trail at the time, but now they are back. Jeremy made it all the way to the Sisters in Oregon this year. They came back because their bridge club is hosting a big tournament this weekend. They found a way to break from the action to visit me here at the ski ranch.

The ride is about 45 minutes. They brought me some Chapstick for my cracked lips.

I can’t tell you how pleasant it was to visit with them. They are such generous people and fun to talk with on many levels. Hiking can be hard sometimes, but when it produces lasting friendships like this, it is completely worth it.

Tonight is laundry and a bunk bed in the hostel at the ski ranch. Tomorrow I head for South Lake Tahoe, walking down the western side of Lake Tahoe. The weather is cooling, and I am feeling more normal. It should be a good time.

August 16, 2025

Miles hiked. 7.5