A visit to the old Donner railroad tunnels, up in Sierra snow country, proved colder and icier than we expected. I visited here once a long time ago and hiked through all the tunnels to the end. At the time I was blown away that the tunnels even existed, that people could walk through them, and that people took the time to make street art within them.  I wanted to visit again to share the place with my small son who was excited at the prospect of walking on railroad tracks without “worrying a train would come.”  I was also excited to share such a random find with all of you.

Well, it turned out the snow, slippery ice, and enormous icicles prevented us from going all the way without crampons, hard hats, and more courage. I’m glad I packed our snow gear “just in case.” At least what we could see was super cool and enhanced by the Bond Villian-esque icicles.

These old railroad caves/tunnels can be found off of the employee parking lot at the Donner Ski resort. They are such a cool and random place to visit. I’ll have to come back in the spring and update the post with some additional photos when we can actually make it through without risking broken ankles or the occasional hibernating bears!

It does not get prettier than this.

I never go to the Donner area without thinking of the ill fated party who tried to traverse this during the wrong season. It is unthinkable.

That is some serious icicle action!