MLK weekend found me with a ride to Tahoe and a free place to stay. Nick and I left on Saturday morning to avoid the 3-day weekend traffic with a plan to explore a tunnel we’d visited late last Spring. What ensues is a chronological order of our trip through the first part of the tunnel. Needless to say, it was cold and there were elements to deal with. Above is Nick at the entrance, weighing our options for the afternoon.
Nick, just inside the mouth of the tunnel. We were off to a good start.
Nearly 100 yards into the tunnel we encountered this massive deposit of water and ice dangling from the roof (the rocks) 40 feet above us. We stopped for 20 minutes trying different things. Oddly enough, this is the only real photo I took of it. A few failed iPhone shots and this is what I get with one shot on the film.
The tunnel is an abandoned train tunnel, sans tracks, that cuts through the hills above Lake Tahoe. Portions of the tunnel protrude from the side of the mountains above and on one side there are occasional access doors. Many of which have since been left open, exposing parts of the tunnel to the elements.
We stopped just outside for a break and a view of Donner Lake.
Maybe 1.5miles into the tunnel and we had to turn back because we were about to start losing daylight. We wanted to hit the lake at Sunset so time was of the essence. This is where we stopped and turned around.
We caught the lake just in time to see some great light and headed home for some beers and Elk Burger. A good day.
TAGS: donner pass • film • hasselblad • lake tahoe • medium format • nick • tunnel