Northern California ultrarunners to retrace Sierra escape of Donner Party survivors pressdemocrat.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from pressdemocrat.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
4 Donner Party obsessed runners are retracing their Tahoe escape route
SCOTT SONNER, Associated Press
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RENO, Nev. (AP) A pair of backcountry endurance athletes who became obsessed with the Donner Party spent the last seven years researching and exploring the Sierra on foot to try to pinpoint the final 90-mile (145-kilometer) route survivors of the infamous tale of cannibalism finally cut through mountain snow drifts to safety in the winter of 1846-47.
Now, four veteran ultrarunners from Northern California are setting out on snowshoes to retrace the footsteps of the pioneers who braved the worst blizzard in a century to escape over the top of what’s now called Donner Pass through the Emigrant Gap northwest of Lake Tahoe.