Forbidden Universe
Paranormal => The Paranormal & Ghost Society => Topic started by: AngelOfThyCosmos on August 21, 2018, 12:56:53 AM
-
Our Donner Pass Bigfoot Three Lakes Expedition Report - 7/29/18
Time and time again I continue to return to Donner Pass to discover all the beautiful little gems found within it. I have always had good results here whether I was chasing bigfoot or the ghosts that haunt this area where the Donner Party had fallen to their knees. Just as men died building the railroad tunnels when they were blasting through Donner Summit. The pass has a long standing history of tragedy and within it is also beauty like the lakes we were about to embark on too.
Its an amazing climb above Truckee and Donner Lake but when you get near the top of it there are areas you can pull off at. Some of those areas talk about the pioneers that came to the area and one of them is the historic Sugar Bowl Academy where we parked at. While most of the academy is gone some structures do remain tucked away in the woods. Not far from that is the ski resort and access to the Donner Pass Railroad Tunnels. In this case Jarrod and I would be journeying on the Pacific Crest Trail to get to where we had to go to.
This was an exciting trip it was Jarrod's first time adventuring in a long time a few months at least. Our expedition would focus on Lake Angela, Azalea and Flora. But we also would focus on some very primitive locations above the pass that contained hidden ponds and lakes. I generally try to find some of these unknown ponds and lakes in hopes that will come across a Bigfoot like creature or some good muddy tracks. It can get a bit tricky finding these locations because we would leave the trail and when you do that it all looks the same.
We also were trying to get away from all the smoke due to the fires. Its hard to think that the entire forest north of you is burning down meanwhile your hiking south of it in the wilderness. For the most part it was a very clear morning we could look down into the pass from above and you could see some haze but nothing like where we just came from leaving our home.But you could see some of the smoke settling over Donner Lake.
I always feel a bit of a grim feeling when I visit the pass I guess because what goes through my head is what happened when the Donner Party arrived here and were trapped in an October snowstorm. Most of the people in the party froze and starved to death. I can only imagine how painful it must had been to have to resort to cannibalism just to survive and huddle together as the snow was blustering through the pass. When you sit high above the pass and you look down in to it you think to yourself how much it had to suck to get caught at the bottom of the pass with a horse and wagon.
There was a shanty like structure near the parking area I guess it was dormitory for highway workers when the first plowing of the past transpired in the 1930's. The workers would spend a night or two here while trying to get the snow off the road and clear the pass for those traveling via auto. Also back in the day legislators from the government came to ski at the Auburn Ski Club which sparked an interest in keeping the roads clean of snow so people could get back to these resorts to enjoy winter sports.
We would grab our packs after reading some plaques about the academy. Their is some interesting historical pieces found at the top of the summit you can indulge in if your a history buff. You can hike in many different locations up to Stewart Peak and School Rock or you can take on off to the historic train tunnels and in our case we decided to journey off the trails explore a few hidden lakes. You can also check out the historic ski lodges and what is left of Sugar Bowl Academy. It was a center for ski instruction then eventually a private school.
Our journey would begin in the parking lot near the academy as a matter in fact the Pacific Crest Trail goes right through this parking lot and historic site. I love the PCT one of the best hiking trails on the west coast and yes it goes for over a 1000 miles through the entire range all the way into Canada. Over the years I have taking many different portions to this trail including the portion that breezes right past Lake Angela, Azalea and Flora Lakes.
Donner Pass Three Lakes Expedition
We crossed the road and begin to rock scramble the sun had just came up and some smoke had filled the past from the Carr fire. I was not sure how it would be once we had gotten over the ridge line within the pass but the skies did look much bluer at that point. But we would rock climb over the ridge till we were standing above the pass. We lost the trail because instead of continuing through the granite basin we climbed to a small summit which was great for photos. To the west in a nearby canyon afar you could see on some slopes ski lifts I was like oh boy because the last thing you want to do is hike under lifts I like to get away from the constrictions of man that includes anything manmade since afterall we are in the wilderness looking for nature and scenic wonders.
Its really easy to miss the PCT because its not labeled well here there is one sign with an arrow and when you climb rocks its easy to lose where your supposed to go. So we went higher above the PCT but that was okay for pictures and we also found an old air mail station and beacon. Of course all that was left of the station on top was a foundation made out of stone and brick. There was some smaller foundation remnants and a few iron anchors. I am sure climbers use the anchors to scale the rock. I thought that was school rock or Stewart peak but I was wrong we actually were on a smaller peak which was known as Signal Hill which provided up to date weather info, comms, traffic reports etc for planes dropping air mail in the pass.
We eventually rock climbed all the way down where the PCT goes right through this open granite basin sure some trees grow here but not many its very wide open often giving you great views of Castle Peak. I will climb Castle Peak next year probably so state tuned its not an easy hike to do because it is lengthy and most of it is uphill but I have had my eye on it and when my eye is on a peak I summit it eventually lol. But we crossed the basin with ease then I veered off to our left towards a place called Catfish Pond.
Catfish Pond was built in the mid 1800's by the Chinese working on the nearby railroad tunnels for the transcontinental railroad. They stocked it with catfish so that they would have a food subsistence kind of like raising chickens only catfish. For a 150 years catfish have existed in this pond and if you don't believe there is any just take a few pieces of bread throw them in the water. You will have a school of about 100 catfish come to the surface fighting for that piece of bread. I brought bread to show my son and he filmed it while I threw pieces in the water it was great. All six-inchers surfacing and fighting over the bread crumbs whiskers and all its super amazing. It reminded me of a feeding frenzy similar to how sharks act when you chum the waters lol.
The pond is man made there is no streams or channels that connect to it yet it never dries out. I heard people fish in it I would not do so because most of the fish are to small and id hate to see people wipe them out. There is not many lakes in the sierras that have catfish in them while this is not natural for an upper sierra lake these catfish have made this pond there home for decades. Even the harsh winters and 50' of snow each year has not wiped them out. They continue to thrive in this small pond which also has a beautiful backdrop of small cliffs, large trees and the pond reflects them both so its a gem. Their is this massive lone tree growing on top of the cliff towards the back of the pond just another unique feature.
The pond is a great site to go with our Chinese rail tunnels nearby we did a few years ago. Back in the day thousands of railroad workers came through here to find work but it was dangerous work. Many of them camped in the pass some probably camped up by this pond so they could catch a catfish or two then cook it for supper. Life was simple back then but the Chinese did what they had to do to survive. You did not have to many amenities but fish was a dietary food supplement for those workers. Those catfish continue to thrive so my son enjoyed our time at the pond.
I been working with the Donner Pass for awhile so to find the pond was awesome because we did other sites connected with it for example the railroad tunnels which are a marvel up on the summit which we could see in the distance. My son climbed the cliff behind the pond he is crazy hopped up on coffee I guess. On the other hand it was nice just to sit on a rock have a snack and relax. The granite basin that surrounds the pond carved out by glaciers is really gorgeous and the views of Castle Peak are also very rewarding in the distance.
Jarrod and I were not on any trail so we just had to cut east till we ran in to the PCT. I love making our own paths on my hiking trips better then being on trails because you never run into people. You have to bare in mind when I hike in the sierras my main objective is to find bigfoot evidence. I always have found most of my evidence by leaving the trail even though its risky because we deal with mountain lion, bear, possibly getting lost etc so it is dangerous trust me. But the sites we get to see are very phenomenal and very few people get to see them because of our will to explore.
We came out into this big basin overlooking Donner Lake in the distance on cliffs and a guy was trucking it on a mountain bike that is VERY risky. Donner Lake is awesome but it has grim history to I mean the Donner Party spent months on it while waiting out winter and ended up resorting to cannibalism. But it is a nice lake and it is a haunted one I have had friends live back near it and look out in there yard at night seeing ghost of pioneers. So when you are hiking that high up looking down on it you tend to think about the ghost stories that stem from the it. For all I know the forest around it is just as equally haunted. But for a portion of the hike we were high up on these cliffs with a nice view of the pass. There was some gorgeous rock formations and this young cute blonde hiked right past us what a cutie. How can you not love hiking here?
We eventually dropped down into the Tahoe National Forest its really untouched here fires have not hit this area so the trees are very old and large. Jarrod and I made our way to these two hidden lakes or ponds rather to search for tracks. I generally GPS hidden ponds by studying satellite maps. But the first pond was large had a grassy muddy shoreline but we did not find one single track not even deer. The second pond not far away hidden in the woods was nearly dried out perhaps a mud bowl same thing though no tracks. I found it weird I sometimes find animal or even bigfoot tracks at ponds like this but nothing.
I am a bit worried about ticks and lyme disease because we push through brush that is often dense. The grass was high along these ponds but you do not find any tracks unless your willing to get a bit muddy and dirty. Their is a new tick found or migrating north from Mexico and yes it can kill you. So for me its getting more difficult to go through dense forest because of knowing this. So you have to be vigilante check your legs, pull your socks up high enough, wear a hat to keep them out of your hair etc maybe even spray some repellant which helps.
We continue to descend sad thing is you can see in the distance the expressway and hear vehicles about two miles to the north when you leave the forest time to time. With that being said finding Bigfoot in an area like this may be rather difficult. Their was quite a few folks on the PCT some people were 70 years old just hiking alone others had no packs just a water bottle. Some people should not be hiking in the sierras not without taking enough fluids I mean afterall we were hitting 90 degrees by noon up here and it was brutally hotter then usual. I generally hike in the sierras because its cooler but not that day woo my son was getting sunburn.
Despite the heat many of the flowers were in full bloom along the PCT and we seen quite a few wild berries growing. Their is plenty of nature to be seen but the only thing we really seen is flowers no deer not even really any birds. Generally by this time of year flowers are all dead but this year has been an exception to the rule. There was hundreds of flowers along the trail and I made sure I stopped by some of them to capture some photos. It seems our viewers enjoy our nature albums we put together and I put a nice one together of this area.
We eventually continued in the forest and I could see the lake to our left on my maps but we had this massive cliff with no way really to get around it. So I had to hike past the lake then I cut to our left as we rock climbed and pushed through brush we came out onto a primitive path which descended right down to Azalea Lake. Its not a very big lake but the trail goes around it and its quite primitive. We seen a few people relaxing on the lake shore and a few hikers buzz past us. My son decided to go swimming here to cool off I cant say I blame in its like a giant pool with Castle Peak overshadowing it.
The lake had some areas where there was big granite rock formations gracing its shoreline but for the most part its fairly dense woods surrounding it. The lake was clear though I could see out quite a ways and noticed a giant tree was laying at the bottom. Its very small though I mean you could swim out in the middle probably in 30 seconds so with that being said the length of the lake is about 625 feet and maybe a couple hundred feet across. The lake shore was not very muddy mostly decomposed granite so finding bigfoot tracks here was a no go.But I did hear these god awful scream maybe a laugh it was very creepy we have no idea if it was human or animal. But it was just this weird sound starting off with a yelp followed by a sinister laugh. We never could find out who or what made it but it was somewhere in the woods near that lake so who knows.
If you continue to follow the lake south along the shore for 600' you will come across the next lake known as Flora Lake. I like Flora Lake a little more as a matter in fact I found it to be quite warm which is rare for a sierra lake. There is on the north end of the lake a small granite island you can swim out to and sit its pretty dang cool. This lake is about the same size as Azalea its a bit bigger probably 900' in length and about 450' across so almost double in size. We found a nice rocky flat area not to far from these two pretty ladies in there bikinis sunbathing and swimming. I decided we would have lunch here I mean why not right? I get to see a pretty lady with tattoos and my son gets to swim that is a win.
I had a fairly good lunch this pepperoni pizza with peppers on it with some pesto along with hard boiled eggs and granola. Lets just say we ate well and of course I opened an ice cold beer. I know how to keep my stuff in my pack ice cold and I do no matter how hot it is out. So I drank my brew my son went swimming this lake seems a bit deeper to but strangely its warmer then Azalea Lake. We had a nice lunch unfortunately my son panicked and almost drowned here. I guess he went to step down thought it was shallow could not feel the bottom so he sucked in water then starting freaking out. He did make it to shore but I almost had to drive in and rescue him. I still cant figure out how he could have drowned in a lake with no wind, currents and only 10' deep at most.
He rested for a half hour sunbathing and drying off I decided to take a dip myself what a nice lake this is. Its so clear you can see 8' to the bottom. We also saw dozens of trout but they were small when I say small were talking an inch in length so very young fish but there was schools of them. My guess is in a few years they will be worth catching and keeping for anyone who wants to camp on the lake. The shoreline is much more open then Azalea to and the trail goes all the way around the lake easy as pie to follow. Across the lake there was a woman sunbathing topless this lake seems to lure in quite a few cuties lol and so I am not going to complain. I mean really I can swim, eat good, hike, do my bigfoot research and spend time with my son while checking out beautiful women so its a win right?
Flora Lake is a gem across there is these cliffs with this giant stone slab and you can dive off it. I did not go on the other side of the lake though we just did not have much more time left before the sun would go down. I still had other locations to check out and my take was that tracks on these lakes are to hard to find since the shorelines are compressed rock and dirt. To many people hiking around the lake so any tracks easily get stomped on or with all the people wildlife has no interest in this place. Although on the south end of the lake I found a bunch of fallen logs and some deer tracks surrounding them. But the views of Castle Peak afar were great but we also noticed a thick hazy smoke from the fires in the region starting to settle so that made me feel a bit bummed out.
After that we were not on any trails for nearly a half of mile we went primitive. There was this area full of big rock formations, dense forest and even a few meadows. Jarrod and I visited at least six to seven smaller ponds. One of them I thought more so of as a lake it was fairly large in size with a beautiful scenic backdrop. Another pond we found had so much brush around it that we had to crawl under a fallen tree limb and push through thick brush where my son managed to get up on this rock looking down at the mud around it for tracks we only found some deer track impressions here.
If you happen to journey beyond Flora Lake in the woods it will remind of you of being in this prehistoric world with all the giant rocks and dense jungle like forest. I climbed down these cliffs with my son which led us to a small lake with a very green open meadow. I also found this other lake surrounded by granite rocks and cliffs. Places like these are tucked away from the eyes of men unless your willing to seek them out. I doubt very few folks lay eyes on these hidden lakes and ponds but they are so pretty. Sometimes you even see bullfrogs and turtles in them.
Sadly I did not see hardly any tracks no matter what pond or lake I found. Their was a possible bigfoot impression but it was old washed out and very hard to make a determination. Near one of the hidden ponds I found old wooden beams from maybe a cabin or they were railroad ties someone dumped here. But the wood was old, dry, split and you could tell you were looking at planks that dated back before the 1900's. I once seen a photo of a old cabin supposedly on Lake Angela but maybe the picture was actually where I found these wood beams on this other hidden body of water nearby who knows right?
I also found a den in some rocks and a marsh which was pretty awesome to explore. I also found numerous insulator couplings made out of ceramic that were broken in the woods. One of them was shattered on some rocks. I believe they were from the original power lines that ran through this area. When they put newer towers and lines in the insulators probably broke or fell off and the power company left them. The one I found was near a dry lake it was just a bowl you could see the water line but on the pile of rocks which should be partially submerged here the insulator was just sitting there.
I wish we had found more bigfoot evidence but this is a busy area skiing in the winter and hiking all summer. This place gets to much attention and the only time you can get alone up here is in the dead of winter but I would not brave the 25' snow drifts besides the avalanche risk up here are quite high with all the cliffs around here. Otherwise I would have mounted a winter expedition but when you are standing in a canyon or near a cliff which has enough snow to bury you that will put things into perspective. So my take on it is this is not a very high intense bigfoot area despite all the marshes, ponds, lakes and bodies of water this place let me down as far as bigfoot evidence goes.
That is the one thing about the work we do we can hike ten times out and only one maybe two places stand out from all the rest because of the evidence we find. I find that even though their are tales from miners about bigfoot being up in this region today this area has gotten so touristy. Their was quite a few hikers, campers and even swimmers when we explored the area. The only time we had gotten alone on this trip was when we went primitive. So back to where I was Jarrod and I explored multiple primitive ponds very few have seen them. These are not on the PCT and even if you went wandering its a hit or miss. The sierras have hundreds of lakes and thousands of ponds its intense.
As a matter in fact Jarrod and I rock climbed over various granite basins and down into more lusher ravines. Over ever rock wall was an other pond then we would cut through woods and hit another granite pond. Eventually after climbing out of the primitive zone we seen through the trees Lake Angela. My moms name was Angela kind of ironic to have came out of nowhere onto its shoreline. More or less this lake is a reservoir as a matter in fact it probably was just another pond but they dammed it off because its meant to provide drinking water to certain residents in the region and towns. Thus its easy to see tree stumps and the dam all the way across the south end when we came out onto this little grassy knoll.
Lake Angela is really pretty no less its surrounded by massive granite rocks, cliffs and the other half dense forest. In the distance you can see various peaks so as the sun goes down it gets real gorgeous up here. We had just left this area that looked like dinosaurs should have roamed and now we are standing on the opposite end of the dam. We took out the tripod had gotten a photo of us here just like with all the other major lakes and took a break. Every lake I smoked a bowl at and ate some awesome food. I always eat good on my hikes lots of protein to go with that hardcore exercising like rock climbing which we did almost all day long.
There are no trespassing signs all around the lake and in the woods. Do not let that deter you some folks take the trail around the lake then shoot off to Flora Lake. Its just very primitive and if you leave that narrow overgrown path you could get lost. When I was standing on granite rocks I would see one or two ponds then more rocks then more forest etc it all looks the same. Its like a jungle around Lake Angela lets leave it at that. But we were on its shoreline and well the paths only follow half of the lake the other one has cliffs, steep granite slabs and rock formations so its rugged you could end up falling in the water. We managed to find a series of paths along the lake actually their was three to four paths you could follow and they all kept intersecting with one another.
These two serious mountain bikers passed by us this is extreme when you see all the big rocks and tree roots. The one thing I think to myself is how do these guys not fall off the bike. You hit a root or rock wrong its game over. The paths were good in certain areas for a mountain bike but then all of sudden you would see two or three boulders with tree roots and I paid for it. I went to step down off one rock ankle gave out or went side ways. I went down hit the rocks and ground hard took me a few minutes to get back up my ankle was throbbing. I did not sprain it but I did twist it and I have to be careful. Last year ago I tore three tendons and needed a major reconstruction surgery. For a year if not more it hurt and was giving out just walking in my house. The Dr said it would not heal and that its grim but remarkably I recovered nicely with the exception that sometimes it can give out on me which is risky when rock climbing.
Their is no swimming, fishing or hunting in or around the lake that is because it serves 243 water customers in or around the Donner Summit area. Most of which are residential, commercial, lodging and resort users. They consider Lake Angela to be a part of the Three Lakes of Donner Summit along the PCT. Which were Azalea, Flora and finally Angela Lakes. Lake Angela is rather large it has some coves and a much longer shoreline. The skies were kind of pink and we stayed fairly close to the lake. I like this part of the hike because the forest is not as dense and there is so much open space. You have trees rising up from the granite rocks then shoreline then a granite slab or two which seems less reservoir like and more primitive. I read there are prairie dogs here hmmm? I did not see any but I suppose anything is possible.
Jarrod and I eventually hiked around to the other end of the lake to the spillway its very strange. You can stand right on the dam by climbing a ladder and walking on it. But if you stand near where the spillway begins you can stand there look over the wall and the water is level with your eyes lol. We followed the dam it goes a couple hundred feet. Its creepy kind of to walk under it as you know how much water resides behind it. In a storm dams like this break I had hoped that since the creek below was dry that this dam would hold even if I sat against it banging my shoulders and legs. This is a sturdy dam I really was looking for flowers below it but most were brown and dead so the area has been dry for awhile. They have this one plant that flowers and it only grows near lakes, ponds or areas that get water runoff so I was checking them out to one happened to end up between my legs and then my son snapped the photo lol.
Below the dam is this valve house my son was on the second story making faces at me trying to scare me. It did not work I know he likes to explore and so I went to check it out. I realized that you had to climb the walls to reach the second story but this was a very old wooden structure. I also seen a water tank, piping on the side of the road, utility shed or power house and a bunch of remnants just laying around. That is probably why they do not want folks wandering around here because some might decide to release the water from the dam who knows I hope not but people can be asshats.
But as we journeyed around below the dam we found a road that looped around below the valve house and then you could descend down to the ski lodges parking lot which was what we did. We followed Lake Angela Road then cut through the woods to get to the Donner Ski Lodges parking lot. We could see Donner Summit Road and our next step would be to backpack along it back to the truck. Like I said the pass is very historic I mean the first transcontinental road was built through here. We actually found a plaque near this abandoned old wood dilapidated garage along the side of the road as we were hiking now through the town of Norden on foot.
Imagine the pass is home to the first transcontinental railroad, highway and even airway. All in the same area you have the tunnels that go through Donner Summit which on the new rail line I had gotten lucky to spot a train. Then we have the air beacon station ruins of signal hill which guided planes through the high sierras and of course this scenic bypass which was at one time a major pioneer wagon route. Their is no much of the community that once was at the top of this pass but I was trying to find remnants so we stopped at the old garage which probably at one time had a model T in it or something. But the windows were all busted out a door was missing its old school. But in the pass are little stops along the way like these including some plaques on Rainbow Bridge or rather next to it that overlook all of Donner Lake.
We would eventually like a couple of hitchhiking fools with our packs reach the truck funny thing is I could have packed it up then just left but I decided to instead stay and do more adventuring. When we arrived there was plenty of cars some folks just hanging out. This parking lot is right on the PCT so quite a few people come here to hike, explore the tunnels, rock climb etc. Its a bustling place you can also hit a few trails from the parking lot some go to Donner Summit or Mount Judah other ones take you near the Sugar Bowl Academy of course not much remains but at the time it was marvel. It had an octagonal garage which collapsed due to snow and the other building sat up on pillars and looked more like a giant two story mansion.
I did not see the Sugar Bowl Academy really was not looking hard enough I was tired. But I did follow the trail towards Donner Summit then came across many other trails. I did not want to get to far so instead we took one of the other trails off the PCT back down to old Donner Summit Road which cuts through the parking lot where my truck is following just below Donner Summit. If you were to go left from the parking lot you can hike down to the Donner Summit Tunnels even an ancient Native American Petroglyph Site, Straight up to Donner Summit and to the right that old road through the forest which we ended up on. Along that road we found this really old two story homestead which had no windows and inside just debris such as wood boards, ladders and even metal bars.
I did explore the homestead a little and next to it was a newer cabin but the first floor was made of stone and you could tell was much older. I believe that whoever lived in these homesteads probably had some connection to the Sugar Bowl Academy perhaps they worked there maybe even did maintenance on the lifts or in the garages. Its hard to know but the fact is nearly a 100 years ago people lived in homesteads and cabins in the forest within the pass. Some of them today sure are long gone others may still stand like the ones we found and that is history. It was pretty creepy because when we found the homestead we went down these very weak wood stairs which led us to a nice shady woodsy cabin and the old wooden homestead is built into this hill.
I did not feel cozy actually I did not like it back here not sure what it was obviously the restored cabin was livable so who knows someone might now live here or this might be there summer home hard to know. There was debris everywhere I am thinking someone is working on restoring the property. I cut back through the woods and onto the road again. We were looking for remnants of the academy someone on one site said its all abandoned but we found nothing. I did see a house up on the hill in the woods there was also a screen or rather wrought iron door in the middle of this walkway kind of strange and well if someone wanted they could just walk around it.
We eventually made our way back to the sugar bowl parking area we were about a half mile away. Our hike was turning into a long expedition. When we arrived at the parking lot the sun had gone down behind the mountains skies were orange, purple and pink. There was a few hillbillies playing music near there pickup truck honestly I would not call them that but they were dressed with rags and kept staring at my son and I. Like literally for five minutes watching us walk to the truck and that is just rude. I hate when people stare at me like I am some alien yeah I realize my hair is long, nails black, tats and jewelry but come on now. They were trouble ill leave it at that or wanted to start shit with me if I wanted to I could have picked them apart they looked like four transient crackheads.
There was also some guy hanging out in the parking lot another trouble maker was trying to look in my truck then was standing behind me watching me. He then walked by real slow and I gave him a dirty look. I know the dude was snooping or hanging out there to bum cigarettes or money off people. I get leery with people like this hanging out transients because they target people, break into cars and sometimes even kill people. That is why people stop at these rest stops with restrooms and such out in this area then they are never found again. I am not saying all homeless or transients are criminals but this guy was wearing dirty overalls, hanging out in a parking lot and watching people which is quite frankly rude makes you look like your casing out peoples vehicles. If you think you wont get robbed in a trail head parking lot trust me it happens out in Cali so make sure you lock your shit up.
But I ended up hanging out for twenty minutes sat in my truck ate a few treats, dark chocolate and a Gatorade. I hung around because the parking lot emptied out and their was a young woman around 18 years old filling her water bottles. The man that was hanging in the parking lot walked over near her and just sat down. Honestly I know he was thinking of doing something he kept looking at me as I sat across from him and the girl as if he was getting yancy I would not leave. But I stayed for awhile to make sure he was not going to hurt her. Their was nobody at the parking lot I mean technically it was almost dark out people left for the day.
There is a bunch of benches and I did not realize it but after studying the old Sugar Bowl Academy the building in the parking lot was it all along. I just did not recognize it because the academy today has siding and has been renovated. Where the octagonal garage once stood is now a restaurant in its place called Summit Haus. But it appeared closed who knows according to their facebook page they are open till 6pm but I think on Sundays they are closed and well it was a Sunday. Otherwise who knows it might have been awesome to have a burger while enjoying views of Donner Summit.
The academy is right next to the restaurant along with the small shanty dormitory all in the same parking lot. How I missed it just baffles me here I was hiking on the trails behind the parking lot and down the old summit road never finding it then as I pulled out where the loiterer was hanging in front of turns out to be the academy of course I could not get a photo of it because he was just standing there staring at me. I know I cock blocked him but here you have this teenage girl with pigtails, plaid short skirt, little black blouse, gorgeous curvy legs and sitting near the water spicket filling her bottles while this guy is looking up her skirt. I mean who knows if she hiked out of there this creeper probably would have followed her and I might be wrong but we as civilians must and I mean MUST look out for our follow brothers and sisters.
After about twenty minutes I left I drove back up to the homestead parked my truck then walked down and once again looked inside of it. I also drove down the road because I wanted to see if I could find any other remnants of the past along old Donner Summit Road. I did not see anything new but I had to go back to the homestead to at least get some more photos. When I was standing in the clearing in the woods near the old wooden homestead and the stone one I heard something moving around in the woods. I heard something in the trees actually it sounded like a banging sound TREE BANGING which is often a very common practice of Sasquatch like creatures. They will bang on trees to communicate with one another and it just got really eerie I was alone son was tired stayed back at the truck for a bit while I went to get photos. I know what I heard I do think this was an experience only meant for me plus being alone really ups your percentage of an solid experience especially when it comes to an elusive beast such as bigfoot.
I took this road on up further told my son about the eerie experience as a matter in fact I was looking for the Sugar Bowl Academy but of course at the time I did not know it was where we parked. I thought it sat back down the road beyond the plaque which we followed. Funny thing is that it came out near Lake Mary which I could not park or get near. There was a locked gate at the time which was closed looks like if you take it down to the lake it leads to a couple of cabins. I tried to get out and get a photo very hard to see through the trees.
I even tried to drive around then turned off on Sugar Bowl Road which took me to a private gate and beyond it supposedly is the new ski resort, lodge, restaurants, village, campus etc. The old academy and the new one are actually separated by a few miles. At the gate I would have to turn around which is a bummer because I would have loved to drive around the college check out the cute snow bunny chicks and smoke a bowl on Lake Mary. But its all private back here real ritzy upper class shit where rich kids go and wealthy folks drink wine in the winter while enjoying a snow covered Donner Peak.
I ended up driving back to where we parked to check on the girl she was sitting at the picnic benches at the restaurant with this guy. But things seemed okay maybe the dude was to paranoid to do anything knowing that I kept driving past to keep an eye on her who knows. But when I felt comfortable enough with things I begin my journey home. Maybe I just care to much maybe I found the girl to be cute and did not want to see somebody hurt her. I am so tired of people hurting one another its why I go out in nature to get away from that and being out in these mountains is as pure as its going to get just to shed your stress from the daily grind with no boundaries just exploring wherever you want.
You get quite a few women that come to the Donner area to ski or hike the PCT some hike alone not a good idea folks trust me. People come from all over the world to hike the PCT some start here at Donner and hike north hundreds of miles. The problem is people also disappear and you have no idea where they vanished at because this is a 2,700 mile long trail that starts near the border of Mexico goes north through the sierras then the cascade mountain ranges eventually ending up in Canada. So along this trail is millions of acres of unforgiving wilderness.
My point is if someone starts in southern Cali they will eventually have to go through Oregon and Washington. That is plenty of wilderness to get lost or attacked by a bear or be a victim of foul play even bigfoot. Some folks have done the entire trail traveling on foot for months. I guess if you were on the trail and you seen the restaurant next to it a burger and cold drink might be heaven given the circumstances. This lady was not from around here so filling your bottles at a lonely parking lot with some dude wearing dirty clothes that are ripped hanging out may not be a good experience especially if your skirt is barely covering your ass.
But people generally who hike the trail travel light too maybe even dress it. Technically the Pacific Crest Trail is one of the wonders of the world it goes over rivers, streams, skirts lakes, over peaks, through canyons etc its amazing and if I could id take the entire trail myself. But if you want to enjoy the three lakes of Donner Summit the PCT is your gateway to them so we definitely had a great day of exploring which including some adventure yes but plenty of history also. The scenery up here is top notch gorgeous minus the power lines that cut through your hike when you get up near Lake Angela.
I did not get to climb school rock or Stewart Peak but I seen them on my way out. The drive was very tiring we had hiked about nine to ten miles half of the hike was rock climbing, pushing through brush, exploring marshes and primitive. We spent time on the PCT but I will say I did not like the parking lot at Sugar Bowl Academy there are some people up to no good there. I seen a homeless guy, some woman alone making friends with this guy that she has no idea who he is or if he is some wanted felon hanging out in the middle of nowhere, hillbillies getting drunk, druggies yeah I seen some crackers and kids partying. Honestly, I would have preferred to hike and park not seeing any people and maybe this is why we had limited bigfoot experiences but no less I did experience some tree knocking and that strange vocalization so who knows maybe we were onto something.
I do have some other locations we have to do near Donner Lake but they are primitive hikes so who knows we still may find more evidence that Bigfoot roams around Donner Summit. I once found a strange monster track near the train tunnels near the summit so I know besides the area being haunted by ghost something else roams these woods. We actually had gotten some good EVP in the tunnels which reside just below the academy so really this entire area is fascinating and Truckee is a really awesome historic railroading town which today is a preserved like stepping back in time. The river comes through town and Donner lake is amazing plus not far away is the royal gorge. I have some other bigfoot expeditions soon ill be releasing on our website just down the road from where we hiked so all of you are going to see some cool projects we did around the pass including this one.
I was sure glad to get home I watched Preacher and Tammy made an awesome dinner for us. She made London Broil with mashed potatoes and veggies. I was so glad to have a hot meal we busted our asses and my backpack weighs more then enough when you carry 60lbs of weight all day long rock climbing etc its not easy. I seen my son walk on a log nearly fall in 4' of water in the lake I was not happy told him that having that weight and trying to balance is rather risky. His backpack weighs almost as much as mine really. It was a long day we were tired the distance we covered was amazing but also we seen four lakes, five to six historic sites, a few major ponds, at least six smaller ponds and signal hill. So this was intense but we were glad to leave the smoke was filling the air and having that hot meal waiting for us was a nice end to a long journey.
My son and I we been doing bigfoot research in the sierras for years we continue to cover many regions some are more active bigfoot areas others not so much. One area you may find tracks another area nearby you may find nothing then the next area you might hear vocalizations or have an encounter. It just varies these creatures avoid the crowds but also with more intense winters lately they now do not have to go to the lower elevation to seek out water. So they can stay more primitive and they can remain elusive because many areas are granite basins so are the lakes thus whatever lurks here does not necessary leave tracks or evidence behind. Its hard to go home sometimes not finding solid evidence knowing you gave blood, sweet and tears.
The thing is we get to live the dream you see bigfoot shows which generally make it look like they are doing what we are doing but they are not we see things no show will ever cover and were definitely the real deal when it comes to our bigfoot research so we do our research honestly with real results but also passion for what we do as well as how we do it despite the risk. I would not pass this up for the world I wish more folks came out with us the sierras are breathtaking but also what matters is the memories you make. I have seen more then enough in my life of course their is always room to learn and see more. Its amazing what you find when you spend miles and work hard to explore. We seen so much in one day alone and I really cant describe it even in this report other then to say some of you should have just been there your missing out on years of solid memorable amazing journeys what ashamed.
So with that being said the search continues eventually I want to create a map and put a pin or tack in each location we had an encounter or found evidence. If you study such a map you can clearly see what regions these creatures are more prevalent at and usually locations where lots of water is present but also remoteness. This area has plenty of water even the river but as more resorts continue to grow and more folks are having homes built here such cryptids are being pushed further into the bush. This was a great adventure and I look forward to sharing it all with you in the future through our research, pictures, videos and hard work. It was a great way to finish of July totally three major Bigfoot expeditions in one month definitely a big improvement from last July when I was going through a bunch of hardships just to get out in nature and get back into my Bigfoot element never in my life felt so right! Plus it was my sons first journey in months due to some hardships so he was really gearing to go and he worked hard all day helping me film, take photos and explore.
Peace,
Lord Rick
PGS Founder