Downtown Truckee

The night before we set off, Pika staff will meet your party at any number of locations in town, preferably at your choice of lodging or home, but we can make a coffee shop or restaurant work just as well. There, we’ll get acquainted, discuss the trip, weather concerns, and address any last minute concerns that arise. We’ll also distribute gear and sign any remaining paperwork. Then it’s off to bed early for a dawn patrol start to the trailhead on Donner Summit.

Paradise Lake We will meet in the morning for a light breakfast then then we’re off into the old-growth forests of the northern Sierra Nevada, and through undulating shaded single-track until the moderate Castle Pass. We’ll traipse through the classic Round Valley, up the west face of Basin Peak, and soon consider a break at one of the many year-round springs that flow along this section of trail. It won’t be long until we see the faded, cracked tree-marker pointing northwest to our destination, the granite-pocked Paradise Lake. Along the way, expect 100 mile views to the west, slope-side gardens of Wooly Mule’s Ears and lupine, and maybe a bear or two. (From a safe distance, of course.)

Mt LolaThe night before we set off, Pika staff will meet your party at any number of locations in town, preferably at your choice of lodging or home, but we can make a coffee shop or restaurant work just as well. There, we’ll get acquainted, discuss the trip, weather concerns, and address any last minute concerns that arise. We’ll also distribute gear and sign any remaining paperwork. Then it’s off to bed early for a dawn patrol start to the trailhead on Donner Summit.

Return HomeThe night before we set off, Pika staff will meet your party at any number of locations in town, preferably at your choice of lodging or home, but we can make a coffee shop or restaurant work just as well. There, we’ll get acquainted, discuss the trip, weather concerns, and address any last minute concerns that arise. We’ll also distribute gear and sign any remaining paperwork. Then it’s off to bed early for a dawn patrol start to the trailhead on Donner Summit.