Since it was raining pretty heavily Saturday, Karen, Larry and Rodger had to cancel their motorcycle ride up to the lodge. Mom and I decided it was a perfect day to head over to Reno for a bit of thrift store shopping. Reno has some of the best thrift stores!
We found some miscellaneous items that made the trip a success and went out to lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant. We were sad to see that the Mexican store we buy our Lime Salt at had closed. Now to find a new store for that great stuff.
After lunch, the weather kept getting colder and and more windy, so by 3:30 pm we decided it was time to head back home. As usual, we were talking all the way to Truckee. As soon as we passed through the border check, I noticed that the raindrops seemed to be a bit more solid and fluffy. By the time we reached Truckee, we were seeing large snowflakes, and lots of them.
Since the road looked pretty clear, I thought we would have no issues with the summit. My rule - take it slow in snowy weather and you will reach your destination. Boy was I wrong. At Donner Lake, the highway patrol had set up a road block and had stopped all traffic from continuing westward.
There were no chain monkeys out (due to the fact it was September 22nd) and I did not have my chains with me anyway. We headed back down to Truckee to get some coffee and decide on our next steps.
The Red Cherry Coffee Shop was just about to close (5:30 pm) and they were kind enough to supply us with free coffee. We filled up our cups and headed back to the truck. I tried to find the Cal Trans radio snow station - but that was not transmitting yet (ah - did I say it was September 22), so I searched for info on my cell phone.
I called Katie and she advised that it was raining buckets in Davis (and hailing and lightning and thunder), so I thought our chances of getting back to the lodge were getting slim. I suggested that she might need to ride up to the lodge (a 1 hour trip from Davis) and rescue Quincy. Then I decided to check to see if Mary Beth would like to drive up from Chico for the night. Mary Beth agreed (a 1 1/2 hour drive for her) so I canceled Katie's trek (she would have missed a birthday party).
We sat is the truck, deciding if we should get a hotel or wait to see if the storm would pass. about 1 1/2 hours later, Cal Trans opened the highway and took down the chain controls. The weather at Davis had headed south to I 50 so we had a moment's notice to get on the road and head over the pass.
Cal Trans was metering traffic and allowing about 20 cars over at a time. We all followed a Highway Patrol car and a snow blower up and over the pass. They left us at Yuba Gap, and we went the last 2 miles home without escort.
We actually beat Mary Beth to the lodge, found neighbors Art and Don had been stuck in the same highway shutdown (just on the reverse side of the pass). Quincy was really happy to see us and really hungry.
All and all a very eventful weekend at the Gap. Record rain and snow in the bay area and the northern sierra on September 22, 2013. Let's hope it is an early Jack Frost warning for a wet and snowy winter for us!
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