About Lake Tahoe

"…I ascended today the highest peak… from which we had a beautiful view of a mountain lake at our feet, about 15 miles in length, and so nearly surrounded by mountains that we could not discover an outlet." So wrote John C. Fremont, on the clear, sunny morning of February 14, 1844.

The discovery was accidental: Fremont was searching for the mythical "Buenaventura River" described to the area by some early geographers, and shown variously on regional maps as flowing into the Gulf of Mexico or San Francisco Bay.

Winter was not an auspicious time of year to travel the Sierra and Fremont's party had suffered severe hardships. Washoe Indian guides warned that no man had ever crossed the barrier in winter, and described the range simply but eloquently as consisting of "Rock on rock…snow on snow".

The discovery was a great morale-booster for the exploration party of 36 men, now in extremely bad physical shape and without a single sound pack animal. Just the night before, Fremont had written in his journal, "We had tonight an extraordinary meal…pea soup, mule and dog". From his first vantage point at the 10,000-foot level of what was probably either Steven's or Red Lake Peak, Fremont turned his eyes to the west, and there saw the sought-after pass. In his excitement at locating a way across the forbidding heights, Fremont neglected to name the magnificent lake he had discovered, but struck on with his exhausted party through the pass and down the south fork canyon of the American River to Sutter's Fort. The rigors of the journey can be better understood by considering the loss of all but 33 of his 67 pack animals, and though he did not lose a single man, two lapsed into insanity, unable to accept the monumental deprivation.

After his arrival at Stutter's Fort on March 8, Fremont wrote (as follows) of the 16-day journey from Carson Pass. "A more forlorn and pitiable (sight) than they presented cannot well be imagined. They were all on foot, each man weak and emaciated, leading a horse or mule as weak and emaciated as themselves. They had experienced great difficulty in descending the mountains, made slippery by rains and snows, and many horses fell over precipices and were killed…out of 67 animals with which we commenced crossing the Sierra, only 33 reached the valley out of the Sacramento, and they only in a condition to be led along."

Fremont left it to Mark Twain to wax lyrical on the subject of the lake's startling beauty, but he did rectify his earlier omission and designated it "Lake Bonpland" on his post-exploration maps of the region. (The name was bestowed in honor of the famed French explorer and botanist, Alme' J. Alexander Bonpland, who accompanied Baron Alex von Homboldt on his North American expedition.) Bonpland never came into general usage, however, nor did the other name, "Mountain Lake", also attributed to Fremont and shown on a few of his regional charts. By 1853 the lake's location was well enough established to enable the new State of California's official mapmaker to locate it with certain accuracy and name it…for some unknown reason…"Lake Bigler" in honor of the third governor of California, John Bigler. Both California and Nevada adopted the name, at least officially, but it rested uneasily on the crown jewel of the Sierra and in 1861 an attempt was made to change the name again, this time to the somewhat fanciful title "Tula Tulia". For better or worse, the effort failed and "Lake Bigler" remained in general use until late in 1862 when William Henry Knight, an early and wholehearted admirer of the basin, left the name Bigler off geological survey maps of the region he was preparing, and began a crusade to adopt the name Tahoe, the Indian name then most commonly accepted. As Knight explained, "I remarked (to many) that people had expressed dissatisfaction with the name "Bigler", bestowed in honor of a man who had not distinguished himself by any single achievement, and I thought now would be a good time to select an appropriate name and fix it forever on that beautiful sheet of water". And so it was that "Tahoe" appeared for the first time, at Knight's request, on federal maps issued from the Land Office in Washington, D.C. in 1862.

TAHOE GOLF

TAHOE SKIING

For those of you that recognize the superb value offered by spring skiing, ski season ended on June 1/91, May 10/92, July 4/93, May 15/94, July 23/95, June 10/96, May 15/97, July 4/98, July 4/99, May 24/00, and May 10/01. From early April on, spring skiers, golfers and summer enthusiasts get six to twelve weeks of great condo rates, zero lift lines, and bikini weather.

One of the things that we enjoy about skiing at Tahoe is the absence of crowds. The typical Tahoe ski lineup is less than one minute long. Lineups sometimes appear, but only at certain times and on certain lifts. 

HIKING & RIDING

Tahoe is a Mecca for cyclists and mountain bikers. Roller blade enthusiasts share the dozens of miles of paved routes such as the Truckee River Trail. At higher altitude, the forest service has prepared loose-surface biking trails with a variety of difficulty levels. There are also competitive racing courses such as the 100-mile "California Death Ride" over four local mountain passes. Pictured below are four bikers on the famous "Flume Trail" at the northeast corner of the lake. Personally, I'm much happier as a couch potato!


Rental shops and service locations mean that you don't have to bring your own equipment. 

For those of you living more than a few hours drive from Tahoe, the following information may be useful.

The jet airport in South Lake Tahoe (TVL) is only ten miles from Stateline but it is small, poorly serviced by the major carriers, and subject to snow closures during ski season. The next closest jet airport is Reno/Tahoe International (RNO) in Reno, Nevada (57 miles - 75 minutes by road). It is a full-service airport and very reliable with few weather closures. Both of these airports are on our ski map and our golf map pages in this web site. In order of increasing driving distance are the jetports at Sacramento (SMF - 2 hours), Oakland (OAK - 3.5 hours), San Francisco (SFO - 200 miles - 4 hours), San Jose (SJC - 4.5 hours), and Los Angeles (LAX - 9 hours). All the US domestic carriers each service some or all of these airports. Virtually all international carriers service San Francisco and you can drive or take a commuter flight to Reno. In other words, you have lots of choices for airline service. Personally, I normally fly to Tahoe via Reno, Sacramento, or San Francisco and then drive.

Some tips about airline prices: currently, the major carriers have repeating "air-wars" producing low-priced seats in and out of cities along the west coast. If you cannot get the airfare that you want today, be patient. These pricing skirmishes have been hitting regularly! These discount periods sometimes last only a few days or weeks so watch the papers and call the airlines regularly. With patience, you will get reasonable prices. Some airlines now provide an incentive (discounts or frequent flyer points) to book through their web site on line.

If you are not yet a "frequent flyer", become one now! Its free! Most airlines also offer an "affinity credit card" that earns frequent flyer points with each purchase. You will be amazed at how fast those points pile up even if you fly infrequently! Most of the airlines have now moved to "permanent point" system - i.e. your points do not expire if unused in a given time period! You can also donate your points to selected charities with some airlines. Just ask your airline about joining: they will sign you up fast! Some airlines even give out points just for booking a seat through their web site! Naturally, we expect you to use ALL of your points to come back to Tahoe!

After you make your airline reservation, book a car or van with unlimited mileage for your arrival. In ski season, we recommend front-wheel or four-wheel drive. You can earn frequent flyer points with your car rental as well - add your frequent flyer number to the file when booking your vehicle.