Donner Pass ~ Monday, July 27, 2020

On the way back from a family trip to Lake Tahoe (boating, biking, hiking, and lots more fun stuff) we took the original Donner Pass Road instead of Interstate 80, and stopped to see some historical sights here.

The oldest thing to see here are petroglyphs.

They are faint and hard to see; for enhanced versions see this Donner Summit Historical Society page.

Up above is the original right-of-way of the transcontinental railway (it now passes under this point by way of a newer tunnel). There is a long stone retaining wall called the China Wall after the laborers who originally built it (by hand).

On either end are snowsheds,

which lead into actual tunnels, blasted out of solid rock:

At one point there is a hole in the roof of a snowshed, which lets sunlight in. There's some interesting graffiti in there.

Donner Pass Road is an engineering feat itself too, with an impressive concrete-arch bridge, and some amazing views. But drive carefully!