America 250: Heading Home along the Immigrant Trail

A view of a wide, open landscape featuring dry grass and some scattered rocks, with a distant road and mountain range under a partly cloudy sky. The overlay text reads 'Heading Home to Texas Along the Immigrant Trail'.

Welcome, dear friends, as we start this scenic journey back home from California to Texas via the Old Immigrant Trail! My whole trip and this series of posts spanned the course of 18 days, 4000+ miles driving solo, and plenty of adventures along the way! Let’s take this journey together…

Day 1 – Waking up at 3:00am

Nighttime view of a road illuminated by streetlights and traffic signals, captured from the perspective of a vehicle.

The day began pulling out of the Sacramento Valley at 4:00am, after quietly carrying all of my bags, pillow and lightweight travel blanket to the truck, saying goodbye to my MIL and SIL as she was just waking up. I drove off heading down Sunrise Blvd. towards HW 80 to drive back the way I came towards Reno, Nevada. Amazingly, I hit NO stoplights and there was no traffic to speak of.

All the rest of California was asleep this early on a Monday morning…

A nighttime view of a highway captured from the driver's perspective, featuring blurred lights and signs along the road.

After an hour of driving and climbing 5000 feet into the Sierra Nevada mountain range, signs of morning were just appearing on the distant horizon…

A view from inside a vehicle showing a road, mountains in the background, and a streetlight on the left at dusk.

The morning was crystal clear and a brisk 34 degrees F. (just 1 degree C.)!!! My thought for leaving so early was that I wanted to be up and over the summit before sunrise. Then I wouldn’t have to have the sun in my eyes the whole drive looking up and squinting on windy roads… Plus, it was Monday, and there would be rush hour traffic if I waited… 🙂

A scenic view of a roadway leading to a freeway entrance, with mountains and a clear sky in the background at dawn or dusk. — Donner Lake just below in the distance…

Dawn on Donner Summit

Okay, this is the REAL reason I wanted to be here… Sunrise is magical in the Sierras and there is nothing like sunrise and sitting up at the top of a mountain peak, drinking hot tea (which I had in my travel mug!) and feeling the cold of the morning all while listening to birds just waking up…

A quiet roadside scene at dusk, featuring tall pine trees and a rocky hillside under a gradient sky transitioning from blue to orange.

We begin our drive backwards towards home along the Immigrant Trail here at one of the most inhospitable spots for the Donner party of immigrants. They were traveling really late in the season because of breakdowns and just getting started late in their quest to reach California before winter… They were just beginning the climb into this mountainous area in late October/early November of 1846 when they were caught in early winter snowstorms…

Huge boulders and massive pine tree forests stood in their way, really slowing their journey to a crawl as they had to pull wagons up and over each steep hill, trying to find passible routes through.

By early November, the migrants had reached the Sierra Nevada [mountain range] but became trapped by an early, heavy snowfall near Truckee Lake (now Donner Lake) high in the mountains. Their food supplies ran dangerously low, and in mid-December some of the group set out on foot to obtain help. Rescuers from California attempted to reach the migrants, but the first relief party did not arrive until the middle of February 1847, almost four months after the wagon train became trapped. Of the 87 members of the party, 48 survived. Historians have described the episode as one of the most fascinating tragedies in California history and in the record of American westward migration

Donner Party, Wikipedia

After a quick stop at Donner Summit (and enjoying the warmth of the seat heater and the main cabin heater blasting away when I turned the car back on), I drove on towards Reno. But before that, I stopped at a McDonald’s in Truckee right in town.

A serene view of a river flowing through a lush landscape with tall trees and greenery on either side.

This has to be the best located McD’s ever!!! I shot this from just outside my truck in the parking lot, next to a set of guard rails. The fast food restaurant was about 50′ to my right with a pretty set of pines around its drive-thru. The highway exit ramp wound around slightly above the restaurant. Absolutely lovely…

Scenic view of mountains with snow-capped peaks under a cloudy sky, featuring a roadside billboard advertising free hot dogs.

A highway scene with a vast desert landscape and snow-capped mountains in the background under a partly cloudy sky.

A highway scene with two vehicles traveling towards snow-capped mountains under a partly cloudy sky. — Lovelock, Nevada

Next stop along the Immigrant Trail ~ Imlay, Nevada

Informational sign depicting the historical journey to California, featuring a colorful illustration of pioneers traveling with a wagon in a wide landscape.

Of course, we are working in reverse, but if I had thought about stopping along the way driving out, I would have. Wea would be seeing these in the correct order heading to California. 😉

Now some people definitley were going against the wagons heading west and those were the folks who went broke trying their luck at finding gold, gave up, and were traveling “back home.” Most of the wagon train pioneers were moving out west looking the opportunity for a better life for their families.

View of a informational sign displaying a map and text about the surrounding area, set in an open landscape with hills in the distance.

Sign for the California Trail with informational displays on a scenic landscape.

At Imlay, the signs showed a map which families could use to chart their journey’s progress across country. Plus here, there was plenty of room for kids to run around and get some energy out!

View of a vast landscape featuring rocky terrain and distant mountains under a blue sky with scattered clouds. A signpost with a sticker is visible in the foreground, alongside large rocks and sparse vegetation.

I took this photograph to include the sign posted on the shade gazebo’s iron upright. I believe there was a hiking trail here, too, but I wanted to be on the road so I didn’t go look around.

A barren landscape featuring two small trees near a gravel area, with mountains and cloudy sky in the background.

A landscape featuring mountains with snow-capped peaks, a sparse foreground with a few trees, and an industrial container visible in the distance under a partly cloudy sky.

Driving on through Battleground to Crescent City/Gravely Ford

View of a highway leading towards a bridge with 'Battle Mountain' sign and cyclists on it, surrounded by mountains and blue skies.

According to Google AI overview, in the 1850s there were a number of skirmishes between the Native Americans who lived in this area and prospectors who were mining, hence the name of the town which grew up around this mining community.

There is a mining museum in the city of Battleground, which would be a fun stop!

A historical plaque titled 'Gravely Ford' sits on a stone base, with a scenic view of a wide, open landscape and mountains in the background under a partly cloudy sky.

My next stop was in Crescent City, Nevada at what was known as Gravely Ford. According to this plaque, the pioneers would cross the Humboldt River a little south of this spot at Gravely Ford, on their way westward.

View of the California Trail sign with informational displays in a scenic outdoor area featuring open landscapes and a blue sky with clouds.

Now I know this photograph looks very much like the previous one with this Nevada state yoked up on a post, but it isn’t!

They each signify that we are on the Immigrant Trail and in what was then part of the enormous Nevada Territory, which I think encompassed Utah and parts of Colorado… It was enormous, that’s all I remember. 😀

Signboard displaying historical information about the Oregon Trail, featuring a watercolor illustration of a covered wagon and pioneers, with a scenic background.

Informational sign about the California Trail featuring a map and text inviting visitors to learn about the historical journey of emigrants.

A scenic view of a wide-open landscape featuring rolling hills, a cloudy blue sky, and a patch of grass in the foreground.

And there are the wagon wheel tracks on the right in this photograph, paralleling today’s modern highway. Makes for a really neat photograph!

The dirt became so compressed that little grows on these pathways, just grasses and wildflowers growing in between where the wheels rolled along…

Informational sign about the California Trail and its historical significance, detailing the journey from Missouri to California during the mid-1800s.

Lupine grows next to wagon wheel ruts made by wagon trains crossing the South Pass on the Oregon Trail. South Pass is the highest point in elevation... — **Oregon Trail ruts** courtesy **Getty Images.com**

I still would like to see the wheel ruts where pioneers headed up into Oregon ~ now those would be something to see! I have seen pictures and they are really embedded into the dirt and mud between rocks and such.

I have heard that travellers planted their rose clippings along the trail, slips they had carried from home, but eventually these women (most likely) didn’t think the wrapped up slips would survive much longer, especially with water so scarce, none could be spared for something as insignificant as a rose cutting… There were still too many miles to go. So a few were planted, hoping rain and travelers with more water would take care of them. Don’t know it that is true, but it sure makes a good story!

A vast landscape featuring rolling hills, a distant road, and a cloudy sky. The foreground includes dry grass and scattered debris.

Another last look at the only things left of people traveling by covered wagon some 175 years ago…

Rolling along towards Utah

A scenic highway stretching into the distance, lined with sparse vegetation, under a partly cloudy sky with snow-capped mountains in the background. — Elko, Nevada

A landscape featuring a small shed in the foreground, with mountains in the background under a cloudy sky. — Wendover, Nevada, is about 100 miles from the Utah border.

Each of these stops along the Immigrant Trail were every two hours or so and roughly 100+ miles apart. I was traveling all day, as you can see from the shadows now. It was about 5:00 or 6:00 in the evening of my first day heading east and I was ready to stop.

A yellow semi-truck parked on the side of the road with mountains and a blue sky in the background.

A scenic view of a salt flat with a picnic area in the foreground, featuring a circular stone table and benches, under a partly cloudy sky with distant mountains.

A cold north wind was blowing down from Canada and the Northwest on this Monday, May 18th, and the temps were dropping. It would be 34 degrees the next morning.

Loved seeing the salt flats beginning!

Weather update for Wendover showing 59°F temperature, feels like 50°F, clear visibility of 25 miles, and a waxing crescent moon with 7% illumination.

As I drove eastward into Utah, mirages formed along the horizon in front of me as I drove!

View from a window showing a multi-story building, outdoor seating area with chairs and tables, and a street with a parked truck. Mountains visible in the background under a cloudy sky.

A view of a temple with a prominent spire, illuminated against a dawn sky, surrounded by greenery and a road in the foreground.

I got to the Marriott in Orem, Utah, just as the sun was setting, about 8:00p.m. I drove some 700 miles that day. Long day, but beautiful!

A view of a large temple with a spire, surrounded by trees and mountains in the background, under a cloudy sky, along a highway.

Well, that’s the end of the Immigrant Trail for us, friends! In our next installment of this trip homeward, Day 2, we drive on to Albuquerque via Moab, Utah!!! Can’t wait to share those photos and what I did that day… 😉

Happy Juneteenth today!

Happy trails,