Marion's Blog

Snowshoeing Donner Camp Historic Site

Today we went snowshoeing with the group from Sierra Canyon. There were only six of us. We had a lot of fun and it was a beautiful day. 

There was about two feet of new snow and as we finished up it started snowing again. Duke brought some of the home made cookies he made Saturday to share.

We parked at the Donner Camp State Historic site which is just 2.9 miles north of interstate 80 on highway 89. This is where part of the Donner party camped and died.

We were on established trails about half the time and we were breaking trail in deep new snow the rest of the time. About a half a mile from the road it started snowing lightly. It was like a picture postcard of winter. If you would like to see all of my pictures from today they are available on Flickr here.

Snowshoeing to Matrimony Ridge

Last Monday Duke and I went with the Sierra Canyon Hiking and snowshoeing group to Matrimony ridge. It was a beautiful day and a great hike. You can see the pictures on Flickr here.

Snowshoeing at Donner Summit

Duke and I went snowshoeing with the Sierra Canyon hiking and snowshoeing group today. We parked at the snow-park at Donner pass off of Interstate 80 and hiked along the Pacific Crest Trail over towards highway 40.  It was a beautiful cold day. Most of the snow around here in Reno has melted but up at Donner Summit where we were snowshoeing there was still lots of snow. There were 14 people in the group so we got to see a lot of friends and meet a few new people. It was so good to be out. I am including a few of my pictures below. You can see the rest on Flickr here.

Below is a picture of me on the lake where we stopped for lunch.

Here you can see the whole group crossing a lake on the way back.

First Snowshoeing of the season

Duke and I went out with the Sierra Canyon Hiking Group today for our first snowshoeing trip of the season. We went to Tahoe Meadows. It was sunny and warm and we had a wonderful time. There was only about 8 inches of snow but the ground was well covered. The views of Lake Tahoe and the mountains were breathtaking. The lake looked like it was frozen there were swirls of fog that looked like blowing snow on ice but Lake Tahoe never freezes. I don't know when we will get to snowshoe again. the weather is supposed to be quite warm for the next several days and there is no more snow predicted. If you would like to see all of my pictures of the hike you can see them on Flickr here.

Lola Montez Lake to Upper Lola Montez Lake to Lily Pond to Buzzards Point with the Sierra Canyon Hiking Group

Thursday six of us fro the Sierra Canyon Hiking Group did an 11 mile hike. We exited interstate 80 at the Soda Springs/Norden exit and parked on the road just north at the Lola Montez trail head.

The trail to Lower Lola Montez Lake is relatively easy and about three miles long. From there we climbed to Upper Lola Montez Lake. There isn't a trail but someone has put rock cairns along the route and climbing up through the boulders to the lake wasn't too hard.


From Upper Lola Montez Lake we followed a jeep road and did a bit of cross country to get to Lily Pond. Half the group sat and enjoyed Lily Pond while Duke, Walt and I bushwhacked our way to the top of Buzzards Point. It was a tough slog but the view from the top was phenomenal. By the time we got back down to Lily Pond my pants were covered in thorns.


If you would like to see all of my pictures from the hike you can see them on Flickr here.