Summit Valley Sierra Jewel

Map Key

A. Site of the Summit Valley Ice Co.
B. Site of the Lytton Hotel
C. Site of the sheep corrals
D. Remnants of the Emigrant Trail
E. Old sheepherder’s shack
F. G. H. I. Mortars and metates

Blue line is the old Dutch Flat Donner Lake Wagon Rd.
Red line shows the remants of the Emigrant Trail in the forest.

Pick up a copy of “Summit Valley an Introduction” at the Donner Summit Historical Society, The Summit Restaurant, the general store or on our brochures page.

"Besides the grueling work, the workers faced avalanches and heavy snows. The winter of 1866-67 had one of the highest snowfalls on record: 40 feet. Workers didn’t see daylight for days at a time as they moved from their living sheds to the work faces through tunnels dug into the snow. There were a total of 44 storms that winter with one multi-day storm dropping 10 feet of snow. One avalanche took away a cabin filled with Chinese workers who were not found until spring. There was so much snow the snow tunnel leading to Tunnel 6 had to be lengthened by fifty feet so the workers could still have access. The lowest temperature recorded that winter was 5.5 degrees.The cold also brought with it pneumonia and frostbite. Imagine the discomfort: living without seeing the sun in the continual cold, in un-insulated snow sheds and then the grueling labor, day after day after day."

Donner Summit Heirloom,
June, 2012