Great web link on Donner. I live just down the hill and have been up on the summit in the worst of storms for the last twenty years. Those Pacific storms funnel their furry on Donner in a most impressive way.
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My favorite story is from 1911, when the annual race from San Francisco to Truckee, for the first car to cross the summit (before the days of the snowplow and I-80) was held. The race began June 1 in SF, but they allowed our local boys from Grass Valley to start on June 2. They only had a Model-T, so the SF and Sacramento guys with Cadillacs, Packards and Mormons weren't worried.
The Grass Valley boys made it to Emigrant Gap the first night, where the snow began to block the way. They tied manila rope around the rear wheels to go the last few miles, before they walked to Cisco for dinner and a bed. They spent the next day digging to clear two miles of road to the 6,000' elevation.
In the morning the snow was frozen, so the light-weight T was able to drive on the surface of the snow halfway to Soda Springs. They were stopped by a washed out bridge over the Yuba River, but were prepared with block & tackle which they used with a small raft to get their rig across the river. See ya later, City boyz!
At 2am on June 10th they crossed Donner Summit where they hit high angle drifts, so out came the block & tackle again. They hoisted the car onto the top of the railroad snowshed (!) and drove for three miles until they could use the road again. A few hours later they were eating at the Donner Lake Hotel. Four hours later they claimed the Silver Cup as the first rig across the summit in 1911.
Next time it takes four hours to get from Truckee to Sacramento, remember that eight days was the winning time in 1911!
(courtesy of Sierra Heritage Magazine, 1997)