There are book discussions, bridge games, conversations, family beach games, an egg toss, a sandcastle contest, campfires, a disco bingo night, talent shows, slide shows, an improv night, a children’s carnival, a parade, a mythic Capture the Flag competition, and finally, an egg drop contest that lures all the techie geniuses in residence to out-do each other. ![]() If you are willing to rise at 5:45, you can go sculling on the pristine, mirrored surface of this exquisite lake. If you are not really a “boat person” you can still go out on the ponderous “boatster” for a nature or photographic cruise. There is hiking, biking, tennis, beach volleyball, pickleball, basketball, and every kind of boating you would want: sailing, waterskiing, paddle boards, canoes, kayaks, “fun yaks”. Two professors are in residence every week and they each give a lecture and an informal talk to the adults. Over 60 Stanford students spend the summer there, creating marvelous activities for all of the children. In the center is a main lodge, where the staff provides wonderful meals and evening programs. No one ever willingly stops going, but eventually we are “timed out”. There is now a multi-year waiting list for these spots. There are 55 cabins which alumni can rent for one week, and they are guaranteed this cabin again for the same week, year after year. In the 1950’s, Stanford bought 20 acres of lake front property and created the quintessential summer camp for alumni families, dubbing it Stanford Sierra Camp. And I grew up to share her love of this place. My grandmother remembered those summers as the best of her life, this lake as the most beautiful on earth. It took two days and was worth the effort. From Palo Alto, they packed luggage for a summer-cooking equipment, bedding, cots, tents, clothing, emergency supplies, food-and took the train to San Francisco, crossed the Bay in a ferry boat, took another train to Truckee, took a smaller train to Tahoe City, crossed Lake Tahoe in a ferry, took wagons overland to the edge of Fallen Leaf Lake, and crossed that lake in a barge. In those days, the journey was so arduous that they stayed all summer. Fallen Leaf was evacuated last week-the week that we would have been there.Ī hundred and twenty-one years ago, my great grandfather and other Stanford professors first took their families to Fallen Leaf every year. All of South Shore Lake Tahoe-further from the fire-is under mandatory evacuation. It has now passed Lake Lucille and is approaching Grass Lake and Glen Alpine-all places we have hiked to from Fallen Leaf. I have my phone set on “Caldor Fire Hourly Updates”, and I watch helplessly as it moves closer and closer. Many people love Lake Tahoe, but those that get to see Fallen Leaf forever recalibrate their sense of beauty.Īnd now it is in the inexorable path of the Caldor Fire. The lake is the bluest of blues, surrounded by magnificent mountains and a glorious forest. ![]() It is just southwest of Lake Tahoe, but far enough removed to be quiet, pristine, absent of tourists.
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