Last Thursday the Sierra Canyon hiking group hiked up to the railroad snow sheds over Donner Pass. We didn't have flash lights so we didn't go in very far. Today we decided to go to the other end of the snow sheds and hike all the way through them. We started at the top of Donner Pass right down the road from Squaw Valley ski resort and ended at the spot overlooking Donner Lake where we had lunch last Thursday.
You can see that the weather was a lot grayer and colder today.
The snow sheds used to protect the trains from the big snow load over Donner Pass. About 15 years ago a new train tunnel was opened that goes through Mount Judah. The snow sheds were abandoned. The rails were removed and they now make a fascinating hike. In this picture you can see some of the sheds we hiked through. You can also see that there is a lot more snow up there than there was last Thursday.
And here is a picture inside one of the sheds. If you would like to see all the pictures from this hike they are available here.
Driving home we could see people skiing at Boreal. They just opened this weekend..
How long does it take to hike to the sheds from Truckee? I'm trying to snowshoe tomorrow, but can't find any maps or info on exactly where I get the trail just North of Squaw. Any help would be awesome!
Posted by: Kaitlin | January 26, 2009 at 10:17 PM