Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
PCT 2002 - July 1st
Day 76: Monday 1st July Painted Rock trail – Interstate 80
I left fairly late in the morning since I was only intending to walk the 10 miles to
Donner Pass where I was going to spend the night with “Trail Angels” at Pooh Corner.
It was easy walking to Donner Pass, except for one spot where a big snow patch, crossed
the trail on a steep slope. By now the only patches remaining where in the shade and
they were hard and icy and difficult to cross.
At Roller Pass there was a plaque where the historical Truckee Trail crossed the
steep pass. The historical plaques in Northern California were normally attached to
sections of rail from the railroad. I then dropped down to Donner Pass, which was the
site of a disaster in the winter of 1846-1847 when George and Jacob Donner lost half of
a party of more than 80 immigrants when they tried to cross the Pass en route for the
Sacramento Valley. They were stranded by heavy snow and when their food ran out
some survived by eating the corpses of their fallen companions. As it was still only
11am when I got to Donner Pass I decided to go on to Interstate 80 before dropping off
the trail to “Pooh Corner”.
From the Rest Area on Interstate 80 I rang up “Pooh Bear”, Bill Person, and he
drove up to give me a lift to “Pooh Corner”. Bill had hiked the AT in 1997 and was with
a group of middle-aged ladies who threatened to give him a trail name if he hadn’t got
one by the evening. One of them had the book “The Tower of Pooh” with her and he
decided on the name “Pooh Bear”. I’m not sure what right an American has in taking
the name of such a famous British Bear. (But now that Disney has bought up the rights
to “Winnie the Pooh” perhaps they think they own the name.) “Pooh Corner” was a
holiday home on the south shore of Donner Lake. When Bill retired he sold his house
in San Francisco and now lives at “Pooh Corner”, when he and Molly are not touring in
their RV. The two-storey cabin is north facing so it must get very cold in winter. Inside
he had built a climbing wall and there were canoes and motorboats on the pontoon by
the lake. In the summer he opens his house to PCT hikers and feeds them as well as
offering showers, laundry and floorspace to sleep on. Molly had had an operation on her
knee a couple of weeks ago and was only just getting back on her feet, so their
daughter, Miriam and friend Charlotte were staying with them to help look after the
thru-hikers. I was greeted by a huge slice of salmon, with potato salad and chocolate
covered ice cream and as much fruit as I could eat. When I arrived at “Pooh Corner”,
Todd, Randy, “D-low”, and “Restless Wind” were already there as well as new faces
Leigh, who had walked the AT in 1996 and “Bonnie” and “Clyde”. “Purboy” and “Mags”
turned up later. “Bonnie and “Clyde” had given up at Mammoth having done about 900
miles. They had found the snow tough and didn’t like the mosquitoes. They seemed
more suited to the party scene than to the wilderness. The evening meal of chicken,
potato salad, green salad, pasta, mushrooms and green beans followed by ice cream and
more fruit was enough to satisfy even the hungriest thru-hiker. I learnt that “Kiwi”
had got halfway through Oregon, before returning to the High Sierra to do this section
with his New Zealand girlfriend. I spent the night sleeping on the deck by the lake since
the house was a bit crowded. It was quite warm at the lower altitude.
Day 76: 12.2 miles 4.36 hours Camp: “Pooh Corner”, Lake Donner
I left fairly late in the morning since I was only intending to walk the 10 miles to
Donner Pass where I was going to spend the night with “Trail Angels” at Pooh Corner.
It was easy walking to Donner Pass, except for one spot where a big snow patch, crossed
the trail on a steep slope. By now the only patches remaining where in the shade and
they were hard and icy and difficult to cross.
At Roller Pass there was a plaque where the historical Truckee Trail crossed the
steep pass. The historical plaques in Northern California were normally attached to
sections of rail from the railroad. I then dropped down to Donner Pass, which was the
site of a disaster in the winter of 1846-1847 when George and Jacob Donner lost half of
a party of more than 80 immigrants when they tried to cross the Pass en route for the
Sacramento Valley. They were stranded by heavy snow and when their food ran out
some survived by eating the corpses of their fallen companions. As it was still only
11am when I got to Donner Pass I decided to go on to Interstate 80 before dropping off
the trail to “Pooh Corner”.
From the Rest Area on Interstate 80 I rang up “Pooh Bear”, Bill Person, and he
drove up to give me a lift to “Pooh Corner”. Bill had hiked the AT in 1997 and was with
a group of middle-aged ladies who threatened to give him a trail name if he hadn’t got
one by the evening. One of them had the book “The Tower of Pooh” with her and he
decided on the name “Pooh Bear”. I’m not sure what right an American has in taking
the name of such a famous British Bear. (But now that Disney has bought up the rights
to “Winnie the Pooh” perhaps they think they own the name.) “Pooh Corner” was a
holiday home on the south shore of Donner Lake. When Bill retired he sold his house
in San Francisco and now lives at “Pooh Corner”, when he and Molly are not touring in
their RV. The two-storey cabin is north facing so it must get very cold in winter. Inside
he had built a climbing wall and there were canoes and motorboats on the pontoon by
the lake. In the summer he opens his house to PCT hikers and feeds them as well as
offering showers, laundry and floorspace to sleep on. Molly had had an operation on her
knee a couple of weeks ago and was only just getting back on her feet, so their
daughter, Miriam and friend Charlotte were staying with them to help look after the
thru-hikers. I was greeted by a huge slice of salmon, with potato salad and chocolate
covered ice cream and as much fruit as I could eat. When I arrived at “Pooh Corner”,
Todd, Randy, “D-low”, and “Restless Wind” were already there as well as new faces
Leigh, who had walked the AT in 1996 and “Bonnie” and “Clyde”. “Purboy” and “Mags”
turned up later. “Bonnie and “Clyde” had given up at Mammoth having done about 900
miles. They had found the snow tough and didn’t like the mosquitoes. They seemed
more suited to the party scene than to the wilderness. The evening meal of chicken,
potato salad, green salad, pasta, mushrooms and green beans followed by ice cream and
more fruit was enough to satisfy even the hungriest thru-hiker. I learnt that “Kiwi”
had got halfway through Oregon, before returning to the High Sierra to do this section
with his New Zealand girlfriend. I spent the night sleeping on the deck by the lake since
the house was a bit crowded. It was quite warm at the lower altitude.
Day 76: 12.2 miles 4.36 hours Camp: “Pooh Corner”, Lake Donner
Peak 8761
Outcrops, Anderson Peak
Plaque at Roller Pass
Donner Lake from
Donner Pass
Donner Pass
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