The guy camping next to us was from the Netherlands. He was finishing up three months on the Pacific crest Trail.
The boys were enthusiastic enough to get on the bikes and ride to Mountain Brew, the recently opened café on Deerfield. I bought our dutch friend a drip coffee when he walked by heading to the bus stop.
When we were done with our breakfast, the boys and I rode our bikes to the boat dock and then stopped at Donner Lake beach before we rode South Shore drive to Red Mountain drive. The stuff in southside Highlands neighborhood is all paved. We climbed up to Judah Drive and charted a route through the local forest paths to Lakeview Canyon up Devil’s Peak Drive.
At the end of Devils Peak Drive there is a mansion that was in the midst of construction at the time. Normally, I would explore the driveway to figure out if there’s an easier way through. However, we took the path that I know best there and we climbed up to the Lakeview drive spur. The climb up that path is steep. So, we got into a work process where the boys would push and I would steer.
Once we had climbed to the forest road above Devils Peak Drive, we took a rest and looked around. We found a machine which had been left behind by the foresters on the dirt road. We walked our bikes for a bit and caught our breath and I was able to identify an alternate path which descended back to the halfway completed mansion on Devils Peak Drive. I decided it had probably been abandoned or was possibly a deer trail. I got photographs of a township marker and returned to the bikes. From that point, the rest of the route to Donner Pass was dirt or gravel.
A short while later we had ridden to Lakeview Canyon Drive. From there we climbed to a branch of Lakeview Canyon Creek and continued until we got to the main branch of the creek, getting a little lost along the way. it was raining by the time we got to there. We pushed through to the Union Pacific right of way then, where we had the rest of our Gatorade and snack bars.
The ride along the old rail right of way from there is tedious – I had done it a few times – because it is gravel. We looked at tunnel 41 when we got up there in the rain before pushing onward to the rest of the abandoned tunnels.
I took a bunch of selfies at the entrance to the tunnel. I took in the view and the cloudy air. We got our flashlights on and entered the tunnels. The first four lengths were interesting and I took a lot of pictures. I especially took pictures of Donner Peak.
It was kinda hot and a little steamy after the rain had quit. I found the stretches of tunnel – I like to call them galleries – which I most enjoy. The boys were both enthusiastic at that point, and it was hard to keep up. We zoomed through the last length.
In the last tunnel, I bumped my leg and it hurt for the rest of the day. However, I didn’t have trouble getting through the last segments and getting photos of the entrance. At this point the air was hot and muggy and the boys were a little worn out and disspirited.
At Donner Ski Ranch Old 40 we had beverages and fries. I had a Ferrari and they had Mug Root Beer and an Orange Crush. They put dollars on the ceiling as is tradition. From there we climbed to Donner Pass on our bikes and our descent was so fast, I barely got photos.
It started raining seriously when we got to West Donner pub where we had a meal. I mostly ate salad. There was F1 racing on the televisions, and the boys were totally into it. When I asked them about it, they said it was not formula racing. It was something else. A family I had seen in the tunnels was sitting at a table adjacent to us.
I took the boys to Donner Lake Village after that and visited a ice cream franchise which we had also visited a day and a half before in Tahoe City. Once we were done, we quickly rode to South Shore to the campgrounds.
When the rain set in, it was a bit heavy but welcome because it was hot out. The other campers we had met that morning were at the site were there but there were additional campers too. As with most of the others the new people told us their stories about their progress along the Pacific Crest Trail. It turns out to be pretty common for through hikers to end their trip in Truckee because they have to attend events like weddings or otherwise.
I chatted while clearing out a dry spot on the bear box organizing our gear before winding down with the boys. It was pretty late as we settled in sleep at that point. It was dry in the boys tent but I was sleeping outside. However, I had a new blanket, which turned out to be pretty helpful. We were good after that but my leg hurt from the fall in the tunnel all night.
We got up at at 8:45. My sister let us know that she would meet us at Mountain Brew. So, we packed up and said bye to everyone at the site before riding to the coffee shop. I noted that all of that went really well. Once we got there and let my sister know I needed to pay for my reservation at the campground. I rode over to do that and when I got back, I noted that my brother-in-law had bought me a coffee.
Later we rode across Cold Canyon to meet them at the bike shop and drop off the bikes. The air was Petrichor. Once the bikes were squared away, we all went over to Olympic Valley to go on a hike.
I had wanted to go to Silver Campground and look at the bridge, but there was no parking. So, instead we went to the playground at the entrance to Olympic Canyon. The rain had actually gotten heavier. We ate sandwiches in the toy train. It was really cramped. There was only enough room for three adults and the boys crammed themselves into corners. I got a picture of it. It was actually pretty cute.
We walked up the bike path and I asked all of the cyclists along the trail about Access to the Deer Creek Trail (behind Silver Campground) but no one wanted to give me information. The boys ran away when I wanted to look at the rocks with them and my sister was really far ahead of us. I found them at the Alpine Meadows Bridge. There was a coffee shop there and everyone was inside. The rain was still happening, but it’s so periodic that it wasn’t really an issue.
My son asked how long until his ho cocoa would take. So, I went up to the front counter and asked. The lady didn’t know that I was part of the family. She had an Alaska shirt on and I asked her about it and her aunt had been the one who gave it to her. She was local though. There was also a sign that said “Free Beer Tomorrow” and everyone was amused by it.
When we were done with our meal, everyone except for one of my boys ran away from me again. At the 89 overpass we found them hiding from the rain. It was at that point that a bunch of cyclist came down the Western States Trail and I asked them about Deer Creek Access. Again, no one wanted to help me. My son stayed with me again on the walk until we got to the car.
I showed him tuff from the side of the trail as we walked. I noted that it is brittle. He said it doesn’t seem so tough and I thought that was really funny.
My sister and brother-in-law dropped us off at West River House (previously The Red Light Hostel). After we said goodbye, we went inside and we got our iPads out. Later on we went to Bar of America for salad and chicken tenders. I got sliders actually. We went back to the room and played iPad. The room had a full bed with a bunkbed against the far wall. The bunkbed was pretty cool. The boys loved it. There were trains all night.
This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.
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