Day 18, Friday, September 25, Samuel P Taylor State Park, California

September 25 — From Donner Lake to Samuel P. Taylor State Park

Annie and I left the Donner Lake area this morning and continued westward toward California’s settlements—the same general direction taken by the survivors and rescuers 180 years ago.

Before departing, I continued experimenting with the refrigerator and EcoFlow. Despite being without power for approximately twelve hours, the refrigerator had risen only from 34° to 37°, demonstrating how well it retains the cold when left closed. Once connected in the Grenadier, the refrigerator returned to 34°, while the EcoFlow slowly climbed to 9%. I also decided that frozen water bottles would provide useful backup refrigeration whenever electrical power becomes uncertain.

Traffic on Interstate 80 briefly came to a complete stop. The delay turned out to be only about ten minutes, apparently caused by lane work and a line of trucks waiting for a brake inspection. After so many days traveling through open country and imagining life along the emigrant trail, even that short encounter with modern congestion seemed unpleasant.

The principal historical stop of the day was Johnson’s Ranch near Wheatland. This was where the exhausted survivors of the Donner Party finally reached safety and where relief parties were organized to rescue those still trapped in the Sierra Nevada.

The Johnson’s Ranch memorial was excellent. An attendant named Austin at a Wheatland grocery store also told me about another emigrant-trail memorial nearby. With some supplemental directions from Chip, I found that monument as well. It commemorates the departure of the first rescue party from Johnson’s Ranch on February 5, 1847. Standing there made the entire Donner story seem remarkably interconnected—almost like Wagner’s Ring, with people, places and events introduced earlier returning later with greater significance.

After Johnson’s Ranch, I encountered another stretch of slow traffic while returning toward Interstate 80. The sudden return to congestion and urban California reminded me of Richard Collier in Somewhere in Time, abruptly pulled from the quieter and more appealing world of the past back into modern life.

In Sacramento, Annie and I stopped at Sutter’s Fort. Because I could not take her inside, we walked around the exterior for a few minutes and had someone take our picture. Even without entering, it was an appropriate final historical stop. Sutter’s Fort represented civilization and safety to the emigrants, and it was the destination the Donner Party had struggled so desperately to reach.

From Sacramento, we continued west and ended the day at Samuel P. Taylor State Park. In a single day, we had traveled from the site of the Donner Party’s imprisonment in the Sierra, through the place where its survivors first found help, and finally to Sutter’s Fort—the hoped-for destination at the end of their journey.

Although we drove for more than eight hours today, we arrived at this lovely park just as usual daylight was disappearing. Unfortunately, I got off to a late start. However, Annie probably appreciates the fact that I did not pitch the tent tonight because it’s obvious that she enjoys sleeping in the Grenadier more as for the park itself, it is in a redwood forest. I had forgotten why I considered this the best part that I’ve ever stayed in. It is absolutely superb. It is like being in a rainforest, only surrounded by redwoods. It is no wonder that it is difficult to get a reservation here. Although I had only intended to stay for two days, I just may stay for three.

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