How to track the extreme athletes retracing Donner Party trails
DONNER SUMMIT, Calif. (News 4 & Fox 11) — You can now keep up with ultra-distance runners in real time as they set out to retrace the the trail of the Donner Party rescue missions in 1847.
The trek is happening this week from February 14-18, exactly 175 years after the infamous original missions. You can keep track of their progress, here.
There will be events open to the public tomorrow and Friday as the crew makes their way along the trails.
Two of the athletes, Bob Crowley and Time Twietmeyer, have spent about eight years researching the path of a Donner Party scape group known as the Forlorn Hope through the Sierra Nevada.
The group is hoping to create a historically accurate map that also reflects on the person lives of each of the relief members, including their histories and motivations.
The crew kicked off their journey Monday from Johnson Ranch near Wheatland, California. Their journey will end at Donner Memorial State Park at the Pioneer Monument on Friday, February 18.
The public can track the team's progress, here.
EVENTS:
Thursday, Feb. 17, Donner Ski Ranch, Donner Summit:
- The four athletes, taking on the personas of four of the rescuers and in period costume, will be part of a panel examining the tragedy at the high camps and the story of the relief efforts. The athletes will be portraying William Eddy, Reason “Dan” Tucker, John Pierce Rhodes and John Stark. Historians and other luminaries will play related characters.
Friday, Feb. 18, the Pioneer Monument and Museum at Donner Memorial State Park in Truckee, Calif.
- The four athletes, after having traveled on snowshoes, will arrive at the Pioneer Monument at noon, on the same day the original group reached the entrapped pioneers in 1847. Initial presentation at the Pioneer Monument is open to the public. A presentation/panel discussion with the athletes and historians is scheduled from 2 to 3:30 p.m., but has been sold out.
