July 7, 2014 (Monday) Paint-Out Donner Camp Picnic Area or Prosser Creek - Truckee

Date:          July 7, 2014 (Monday)
Time:          9:00 am
Meet at:      Donner Camp Picnic Area, near Truckee, CA
Places to Paint:   Right there, or, up the road to the river crossing at Prosser Creek if you want to do a river
Parking:      At both areas
Amenities:    Pit toilets and picnic tables are at Donner Camp Picnic Area only

Detailed Descriptions and Directions to meeting place:

Donner Camp Picnic Area:  This is where we will meet.  There is a large paved parking lot.
Directions:  From Reno, take I-80 to Truckee.
The second exit after you go through the Bug Station is 267/89.  Take this exit.
At the light at the end of the exit, TURN RIGHT.
You are now on 89 going north.  Travel only 1.7 miles.
(You will go around 2 round-abouts - but just keep going straight).
A sign will indicate the picnic area is on your RIGHT.

Here are some pictures of the easy and level loop trail there:

You can stay here and paint - as you can see, there is a little creek and marsh area, an open vista, forest scenes, open meadows and view of the (dry) Prosser Lake in the distance.  There are picnic tables in the shade of pine trees and pit toilets.

The other painting spot is PROSSER CREEK.
Directions:  It is just farther up 89 about 1.5 miles and on your RIGHT.

It is a dirt pull-out parking for a trailhead that connects with the Commemorative Emigrant Trail.  Parking is free and the spur trail follows Prosser Creek.  There are views of Prosser Creek to paint, as well as a meadow that opens up and has a vista of the mountains.  The picture above of the vista is similar so I will only show a picture of Prosser Creek here:

What to bring:

• camera
• painting gear
• artists umbrella (the altitude sun is intense)
• hat, sunglasses, sunscreen
• BUG SPRAY
• Allergy medication - pine pollen!
• Benedryl (it is a little early for yellow jackets - but if you are sensitive....)
• Drinking water, snack/lunch
• Cart or backpack or means to tote your gear
• folding chair if you wish.  Remember, higher altitude

Links:

http://www.amwest-travel.com/awt_donner_party.html

History of Donner Camp Picnic Area At this site on Alder Creek near Prosser Reservoir the George and Jacob Donner families were snowbound during the winter of 1846. The Donner Party had earlier decided to take a shortcut through the Wasatch Mountains in Utah, which Lansford Hastings had written about in his guidebook "Emigrants Guide to Oregon and California." The trail was rocky and portions were impassable for their wagons. The "Hasting's Cutoff" caused the Donner Party to become three weeks behind the rest of the wagon train they had originally started west with. When they finally reached Truckee Meadows (Reno), the party made the fatal mistake of resting for a week before going over the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The Donner families were forced to stay behind at what is now known as Donner Camps Day Use Area to repair a wagon axle while the others in the Donner Party went ahead. Both groups of emigrants were caught in early winter snows. The party that went ahead made it six miles farther to the site of the Donner Memorial State Historic Park before the snow stopped them.