Photo by: Keith Brauneis
Californians – and all comers to Lake Tahoe – can thank (or curse) the late Alex Cushing for crowning a mountain with as delightful a surprise as High Camp Lagoon & Spa.
The Squaw Valley ski-area founder, who died in 2006 at age 92, envisioned building a veritable resort in the sky, complete with 500-room hotel, nine-hole golf course and tennis courts.
The hotel and golf course never came to fruition. But the old High Camp lodge was expanded in 1989, and the addition of what was long known as High Camp Bath and Tennis Club brought summer business to a resort with much to offer during the green season.
Today, use the Squaw Valley USA Cable Car to reach the facilities at High Camp, elevation 8,200 feet, include an expansive pool and hot tub, changing rooms and lockers, an open-air, Olympic-size ice rink (converted this summer to roller skating), a museum devoted to the 1960 Olympic Games and two newly resurfaced tennis courts.
The trip up the mountain in Tahoe’s only stand-up cable car (bench seating is available around the edges) easily ranks as the most dramatically scenic ride at the lake. What makes it so are not just the lake views, which are spectacular, but the squeezed granite formations over which the conveyance passes during the course of its 2,000-foot ascent. They look like something a giant might have made while dribbling sand from a humongous hand.
The pool complex at the top, now dubbed High Camp Lagoon & Spa, is a sparkling turquoise gem in a setting that stays emerald well into September. It’s cool up here, no matter what the temperature below, and the heated water feels great on knees gone achy from hiking.
About those tennis courts: Play is free if you bring your own racket, but you’ll need weighted balls to compensate for the extra bounce delivered at this altitude. You can buy them – and rent rackets – at the mountaintop sports shop.
Swimming, sunning and skating aside, most visitors make the trip to High Camp at least in part to hike. Options range from a gentle loop around a wildflower-filled meadow to strenuous traverses up the shoulders of surrounding peaks. Hikers willing to sacrifice the cable-car ride down can travel the distance on foot via a gently graded fire road or the more strenuous Shirley Canyon trail.
Special events remaining this summer include guided sunset hikes scheduled for Friday and Saturday, and a mountaintop campout timed to coincide with the peak of the annual Perseid meteor shower on Aug. 16. Another special event sure to draw the fun crowd is Friday Funk night, featuring disco roller skating at the Olympic Ice Pavilion on Aug. 15. Dress in disco duds and get $5 off your cable-car/skate ticket.
And have fun: The last cable cars down in August don’t leave until 9:40 p.m.
One last note: Leashed dogs are welcome on the cable car and hiking trails, but not in the pool or restaurant areas. If you bring your pet and want to swim before or after you hike, go to the back corner of the pool area, where there’s a gate. You can tie your dog to the fence and use the opening to handle clean-up and watering chores. Full article
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