MAN HONORS DONNER SPIRIT : 900-MILE TREK GIVES HIKER NEW RESPECT FOR DOOMED MIGRATION.

Byline: Martin Griffith Associated Press 

A man and his dog braved wintry weather to end a 900-mile trek across desert and mountain trails traversed by the tragic Donner Party.

Bill Pugsley, 52, of Reno, Nev., arrived at Donner Memorial State Park on Thursday - 150 years to the day the covered-wagon pioneers became stranded by heavy snow at the same spot.

As Pugsley walked the final steps, the sun poked through thick clouds after a series of storms left more than a foot of snow in the Sierra above Donner Lake. Only patches of light snow covered the Donner camp area. The temperature hovered around 40.

``It's an awesome feeling to be standing under this,'' Pugsley said at the base of the park's Pioneer Monument. ``But I'm glad it's over and I'm glad I decided not to hike on to Sacramento. I feel whipped and spent.''

Dozens of party members starved to death in the Truckee area over the winter of 1846-47, and their emaciated remains sustained the survivors. Forty-two of the group's 89 members died.

Pugsley, who is married and has three grown children, said he made the three-month hike across Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and California because he's fascinated by the tragedy and wanted to observe its sesquicentennial.

He and his 35-pound harrier, Samantha, set out July 17 from Farson, Wyo., near where the Donner Party decided to take a ``shortcut'' that set the stage for the greatest tragedy of the Western migration.

He reached Reno on Oct. 6, two weeks ahead of the party's schedule, and resumed the trek Monday for the final 50-mile stretch to Donner Lake.

No sooner did he reach the Sierra than it began to snow, causing him to get a taste for what the earlier travelers encountered.

``Hiking in storms makes you feel very small,'' he said. ``People today can't imagine what the Donner Party went through that winter.''

Like the pioneers, Pugsley battled heat, dust, fatigue and loneliness on the deserts of Nevada and Utah. He nearly quit a half dozen times.

``It's a hard trail,'' he said. ``It whipped me and beat me up. It's very demanding terrain and it'll bite you if you screw up.''

Pugsley followed the group's route as much as possible with the help of trail historians. Much of the Donner trail has vanished, but he managed to hit unspoiled portions in all four states.

He averaged about 15 miles a day and camped on federal lands, ranches and Indian colonies. He carried more than 70 pounds of supplies and water in a backpack.

Like the pioneers, he experienced demoralizing setbacks.

Two days into the hike, a truck driven by a drunken driver destroyed a golf pull-cart he was using to help carry supplies. He had to use a wheelbarrow to carry some supplies into Fort Bridger, Wyo.

He then acquired a 35-year-old horse to help haul supplies, but the animal went lame near Elko, Nev., forcing Pugsley off the trail for about a week.

``There are so many unforeseen problems that keep popping up,'' he said. ``You're under such pressure on the trail that you can't think clearly. That must have been why the Donner Party made so many bad decisions.''

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Photo: Bill Pugsley paid tribute to the 150th anniversary of the Donner tragedy by retracing the settlers' steps.

Associated Press