Journalist walks 90 miles in Sierra legend's (snow)shoes

Gunn, who works for the Nevada Appeal in Carson City, spent five days - traveling alone in mid-January - retracing Thompson's footsteps and ski tracks from Placerville, Calif., to Genoa.

He ran into a bitter storm as he crossed the Sierra Nevada, but still managed to hand-deliver a bag full of mail to grateful recipients - just as Thompson had done many times in the mid-1800s.

"I have a whole new respect for Snowshoe Thompson," Gunn said. "But the reality of climbing those mountains really struck home."

In December, Gunn and Marianna Gillilan, a fifth-grade teacher at Bordewich-Bray Elementary School in Carson City, came up with the plan to retrace one of Thompson's routes through the Sierras.

Gillilan's class wrote letters to fellow pupils at Sierra Accelerated School in Placerville. On Jan. 12, Gunn drove to Placerville, collected letters that the students there had written in response, and set off on foot for Genoa the next morning.

Gunn climbed out of Placerville, carrying supplies and equipment including telemark skis, a tent, camp stove, freeze-dried food and camera equipment, hiking about 20 miles to Jenkinson Lake at the base of Mormon Emigrant Trail. He was struck by the beauty of the wilderness - and equally struck by how sore his feet were getting.

"It felt like a small, long-toothed rodent burrowing into my feet," he said.

The next leg, from Pollock Pines eastward into the mountains, was supposed to be snow-covered. But it wasn't, and Gunn had to drag his gear in a sled for 15 miles along asphalt, climbing 3,000 vertical feet. He had to carry his skis 40 miles before hitting the snow line.

Gunn fell behind schedule, and cut back on the number of breaks he took. Near Silver Lake, he recognized the telltale signs of hypothermia and dehydration, pitched his tent for the night, sipped snow melt and tried to warm up.

"It was one of the most brutal days," he said.

By Jan. 16, Gunn said he felt broken and was close to giving up. With tears welling in his eyes, he said the only thing that kept him going was the pledge he made to the pupils.

"I just kept thinking of the kids and how disappointed they would be if I didn't show up," he said.

He called his girlfriend, Brenda Sweet, and his close friend, Taylor Flynn, met up with him to lend moral support.

"If it wasn't for Taylor and Brenda I wouldn't have made it," he said.

He wrapped up his fourth day in the mountains by skiing down Carson Spur, an avalanche area, into Kirkwood. There he stayed at a friend's cabin, where he showered, ate a hot meal and dressed his blistered feet.

He described Jan. 17, the final day of the trek, as "the day from hell."

He walked and skied from Carson Pass on Highway 88 to Red Lake, and from there hiked to Genoa - a 37-mile stretch that took until late at night.

The next morning, Monday, Jan. 18, he delivered his letters at Thompson's grave in the Genoa Cemetery.

Samantha Wells, 10, was one of several students who braved the wintry day to welcome Gunn.

"I think it was really courageous and really brave," she said. "I couldn't fall asleep last night thinking about him."

Matt McKinnie, 11, also in Gillilan's class, said he would have walked to Genoa to meet Gunn if he had to.

"It was just important to greet him, especially with all those blisters on his feet," he said.

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