The Deadliest Shortcut

Lee Bergthold and three companions set out to retrace the infamous Hastings Cutoff. They trekked cross-country with backpacking gear on foot and with excerpts of crude maps to guide their way: Donner Springs, Utah, and westward to Battle Mountain, Nevada. This is a true account how four intrepid hikers sought out what might remain of the original Hastings Cutoff, a 350-mile, 35-day sojourn that would be an exploration of a portion of the Donner Party route—east to west—that the Donner's traveled. Experience the personal vulnerability and angst of being in a strange land as you discover a Donner Party wilderness. You begin to experience the hardship, which becomes survival.