Hastings Cutoff / Donner Party Trail - Utah West Desert 

very interesting channel... takes me to where I can no longer go... I am a fanatic about the Donner party history. thank you.

Thank you for sharing this location. Many of us know the story, but few of us can make it out there to see the cutoff. I always recall the words of fourteen-year-old Virginia Reed, a surviving Donner Party member, in an 1847 letter. “Don’t let this letter dishearten anybody and never take no cutoffs and hurry along as fast as you can.”

back at the top of the canyon, where you pulled off, talking about the sign that was just put down, (near the possible grave) if you followed that road off to the left, you could see the paths they dug into the hill side to make it easier on the wagons coming down it, the paths they cut are called Dug ways, and now you know how dugway got its name.

Thank you!! I’ve listened to endless hours of Donner party documentaries. I’ve always wondered what the Hastings cutoff actually looked like. Fantastic!!

Tyvm amazing video and great channel just found it

I live about 5 miles from where the Donner Party rejoined the regular trail along the Humboldt River.

Their fate was sealed not in those mountains, but in that desert.

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for getting me out on the road, however vicariously. I’ve been too depressed to do it for real. You seem like you’d be a fun road trip buddy.

I'm getting Red Dead Redemption vibes watching this. But in all seriousness it is a beautiful landscape, and it is a tragedy that so many of the Donner Party didn't make it.

The "plant" visible from the overlook is one of the toxic-waste incinerators built to take advantage of the clean air ("airshed") in the W salt desert. Even if the combustion is a tiny bit incomplete, it will still meet standards because of the huge area of non-polluted air.

CaC03 is used in drilling fluids in the oil industry and some underground mining equipment which uses drilling fluids.

Awesome video, amazing that they did it in wagons in much worse terrain and conditions

Very interesting video

Very cool!

one more thing... I like to see roads and trails on maps... maybe you could add something like that to your videos... show a little map of where exactly you were. Thx!!

Thank you.

💛...an updated, clean air version would be appreciated... great video...

I've been that way, a time or two, or three!👍

To think they got to this part of the route in September 🥴 it was probably very wet and the weather was hot in the day and freezing at night. Not fun.

That building in aragonite is a disposal facility for biohazards, haha, I’ve done my fair share of exploring out there, too!

What month of the year did they come through Hastings Pass?

cool video

10:37 pretty sure that’s the missile building plant. Could be wrong.

Watching a year later!! Still smoke in the air from wild fires..

that smoking plant in the distance is a Hazardous waste Incinerator .

Hastings Cutoff If they went their own way, they would not be in trouble

Calcium Carbonate

Kevin, I like your videos. They’re very informative. But dude, you gotta scan your camera less. I get sick watching your videos scan from right to left then from left to right and so on. Just hold it on an area so we can see details. Well, you know what I mean.

Seven months stay in snow hell at last eat human body

you re waving the camera around like a drunk! slooow down!