Episode 1 of 2

Early Snowfall Traps Party

When: November 1846
Where: Sierra Nevada mountains
Part of: Donner Party stranded by snow in the Sierra Nevada

In early November 1846, the Donner Party reached the Sierra Nevada but was trapped by heavy snow near Truckee Lake, forcing them to winter on the east side.

The party became trapped by an early, heavy snowfall near Truckee Lake (now Donner Lake). The pass was blocked by snow, preventing further travel. The severe winter of 1846–1847 contributed significantly to the disaster, isolating the group in the mountains.

Sources

Donner Party Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-05
Donner Pass Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-05

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.