This picture was taken at the Donner Pass looking almost due east. Lake Tahoe is just beyond the ridge in the
background. The lake and the pass were named after the famed Donner Party, which was stranded here during
a very harsh October blizzard three years before the Gold Rush. Only a few survived to tell their grisly tale.
You can read more about this fateful trip at: http://www.vw.vccs.edu/vwhansd/HIS121/Donner.html