The fountain entry

Kristin Janson, fountain manager, has the fountain stocked with a wide selection of T-shirts to commemorate your trip to Fallen Leaf Lake.

Colorful array of T-shirts

In line with our efforts to lessen our impact on the environment, we have a number of environmentally friendly T-shirts made from recycled material.  The shirts are comfortable and cute!

Design on an eco-friendly shirt made of 70% bamboo

If you are attending a meeting or event, we have fresh brewed coffee available all day.  For those who need a stronger dose of caffeine, you can purchase an espresso drink in the fountain.  We use locally roasted Alpen Sierra coffee to make our delicious, frothy pick-me-ups.

Barista Julie preparing a latte

If you need a cold beverage, the fountain has traditional sodas, bottled juices, sparking and bottled water.  During the evening, the fountain serves microbrew, domestic and imported beers plus an excellent selection of wine from Stanford-affiliated vineyards and wineries.  The fountain also sells snacks including candy and trail bars plus delicious, freshly popped popcorn.  Once you have your treat,  the fountain deck is a relaxing place to sit for a few minutes and enjoy the spectacular view.

Fallen Leaf Lake view from the fountain deck

Your group coordinator will designate hours of operation for the fountain during your conference or event.  If there is something special you would like to see in the fountain, please let us know!

Julie ready to serve fountain customers

Crawdad fishing

Some other lake wildlife are hoping to score some treats from the fishermen.

Ducklings

Dinner on summer Fridays is a BBQ in front of the lodge.

Kim Grabow, fountain assistant, bringing out wine for the Friday BBQ

You always want to save room for dessert when dining at Camp.  Lighting isn’t great on this shot, but you can still see the gorgeous chocolate cakes freshly made by Kurt, our wonderful Swiss pastry chef.

Chocolate tortes

Over the next couple of weeks, I will get out and capture more images of summer fun at Stanford Sierra Camp.

Barbie knitting on the deck with calm Fallen Leaf Lake in the background

Active options include getting out on the water in a kayak, peddle boat, row boat or sailboat from our boat dock.

Kayaking the calm waters of Fallen Leaf Lake

Schedule a few days, so you can also hike on one of many nearby trails.  Fall weather is usually very mild and a wonderful time to get out on the hiking trails.  Angora Lakes is an excellent destination where you can hike up one trail and down another.

During the fall, time your meeting to coincide with one of many special events in South Lake Tahoe.  For the active crowd, the Lake Tahoe Marathon Week has a number of competitions to choose from September 22nd through the 26th.  If beer drinking and braut-eating are more your style, Oktoberfest at Camp Richardson is October 2nd and 3rd just minutes from our conference center.  Just down the street from Camp Richardson, watch the Kokanee salmon on their arduous journey up Taylor Creek from Lake Tahoe  to Fallen Leaf Lake at the Kokanee Salmon Festival.  The first weekend in October visit the Taylor Creek Visitor Center for activities including the Salmon feed, 5K, 10K and 1/2 marathon trail runs.

For many of us Lake Tahoe locals, fall is our favorite season.  Check our availability calendar to choose dates for your fall retreat and experience the beauty of autumn at Fallen Leaf Lake.

The stairs leading up to the Snooper Chalet

The Snooper Chalet

The Snoopers have a fun, busy schedule during their week at Camp.  They visit the Fallen Leaf fire house, take pontoon boat cruises across the lake, and go on make-believe adventures to learn about the environment.

The Snooper version of Camp

The Chalet has an expansive deck with views of Fallen Leaf Lake.  A great place for some quiet time.  After all those adventures, the Snoopers need to rest!

The view of Fallen Leaf Lake from the Snooper Chalet

The Snoopers are a nice group of kids, and they’re happy to share the Chalet with others during summer camp.  Our talented yoga instructor leads classes daily on the deck.  It’s somewhat secluded, so a quiet, serene setting for the calming effects of yoga.  During conference season, the Snooper Chalet is a great spot for some private time or breakout sessions.

Look for the trailhead sign just before the parking lot

Once you find the trail head, it’s a short uphill walk to the pond.

The trail to Witch's Pond

It will only take you about a minute to get to the pond.

The view of Witch's Pond as you exit the wooded trail

There are a couple of benches to sit on, or we have a dock and normally set a couple of chairs on the dock.

If you need help finding the pond, ask at the office, our friendly staff will be happy to help you.  Set some time aside to visit Witch’s Pond and enjoy the serenity, fresh mountain air, crystal clear blue skies and inspiring view of Cathedral peak overhead.

Cathedral Peak

Jenny on an early spring hike into Desolation Wilderness

After a few days of orientation, Jenny jumped into work and realized the breadth of duties involved in “all purpose”.  Washing dishes after meals (commonly referred to as a “Hobart” shift) quickly became one of Jenny’s favorites.  On a Hobart shift, the staff working together often collaborate on costumes.  Jenny likes the fun and creativity of working in costume, plus the fast pace and challenge of turning piles of dirty dishes, pots and pans into a clean, organized kitchen with everything in its proper place.

Laine, Halie & Jenny sport their best 80s garb for Hobart

From washing dishes one day to crawdad fishing the next.  Jenny put her seven summers as a camp counselor to use during a few conferences who brought families along for kids’ programming.  Jenny lead the kids for crawdad fishing, crafts, nature walks and even wrapping Jenny in tape.

During free time, Jenny gets out on the hiking trails with friends and uses the paddle boards and kayaks at our boat dock on Fallen Leaf Lake.  Jenny is passionate about photography and some of her favorite spots in the area are the upper falls and Kiva beach.

Jenny discovered this squirrel (probably eating a stolen cookie)

Jenny is considering returning for the fall conference season as about half of each conference season’s staff normally do.  But the real world is calling with an offer from a charter school to head up their marketing and public relations right in her hometown of Salem, MA.  With her passion for work, friendly attitude and ever present smile, we hope to see Jenny back in the fall!

Marcia Stefanick, PhD leading a workshop in the Tallac Room

Another important and popular component of the retreat is fitness testing.  Exercise physiologists from Stanford measure and test participants’ body composition, muscle strength, flexibility and cardiovascular fitness.  Many attendees return annually, so the fitness test provides valuable feedback and results which they can compare from year to year.

Muscle strength testing

Afternoons are free for the attendees to join a guided hike, a crafts workshop or just relax in one of the many comfortable indoor or outdoor areas around Camp.

Afternoon crafts on the Old Lodge deck

The view of Taylor Creek and Mount Tallac

This year we shuttled a group of 20 to the Taylor Creek area for a walk with naturalist Debra Scolnick.  Debra led the group on an hour-long walk sharing interesting information on the flora and fauna in the area with just the right amount of humor.

Chef Dave puts together a spread of delicious healthy meals for the retreat.  Menus focused on fresh and when possible organic fruits and vegetables, whole grains and lean protein.

Fresh fruit on the lunch buffet

The Seventeenth annual Healthy Living Retreat for Women is scheduled for May 12-15, 2011 with the option to arrive on Wednesday, May 11.  Please contact us for more information on the retreat or about scheduling your health-focused event at our comfortable center on beautiful Fallen Leaf Lake.

The best outdoor activities at Camp are boating and hiking.  At our boat dock choose from kayaks, rowboats, peddle boats or sailboats.

Preparing to kayak Fallen Leaf Lake

And of course funyaks.  Our staff led activities for kids ages 5-12 including a paddle over to the beach for the older group.

Funyaks are stable boats for new paddlers

We also offer guided hikes for the adults in the faculty and staff group.

A guided hike on Angora ridge

At higher elevations in spring, snow is still covering trails, and it’s a great time to hike to see the melting snow rushing down our two nearby waterfalls.

The Lower Falls in spring

Saturday afternoon, Victor Babbit from Tahoe Fly Fishing Outfitters brought some fly rods and fellow guide Pete for a fly fishing demo for the group.  For many, this was the highlight of the weekend.

Casting on the boat dock

The kids were busy at “the Patch” our playground.

Wheeee!

Most attendees headed outside for an active weekend, others like Eleanor Laney took the time to relax, “I just sat, read and looked at the beautiful views.”

Fallen Leaf Lake

The attendees gave the weekend rave reviews with many requests to add a day for next year like Mary Hansen’s , “Since relaxing is a great part of the weekend, my only suggestion is to add another day”.  If you’re looking to get away from every day distractions and hold a meeting with free time to get outside or just relax, give us a call!

A fall wedding in front of the lodge

Hosting a number of wedding weekends over the years, we’ve learned what works well.  First, plan a site visit to walk through the lodge and cabins with us to plan the weekend events and envision set up.  During the planning process, make decisions, stick with them, then move on to the next issue.  For needed rental items, contact Eventmasters .  We can provide a list of suggested items that past weddings have used.

Use the bulletin board in the Stanford room to post pictures, your weekend schedule of events and any other information you want to share with your family and friends.

Encourage your guests to arrive Friday afternoon at 3pm to take full advantage of our boat dock, hiking trails and many comfortable places to just relax lakefront.

Kayaking the shore of Fallen Leaf Lake

Plan a buffet-style dinner a little later on Friday evening to allow for stragglers to join the group.  After dinner schedule a bonfire on Baby Beach and hire a musician for a sing-a-long.

Bonfire at Baby Beach

You have access to all 52 of our cabins and 12 lodge rooms to accommodate your guests.  We suggest housing families at the point cabins with less stairs for little one and surrounding our ‘Munchkin Patch’ playground.

Basketball, volleyball and the playground are surrounded by the point cabins

Assign your late night guests to the hill cabins including Juniper.  We’ve dubbed Juniper A, “the party cabin” due to it’s larger living room, four bedrooms and two bathrooms.

Hold your ceremony Saturday afternoon in front of the Old Lodge.  There are not many backdrops more beautiful than Fallen Leaf Lake and Angora Ridge.

A wedding arch on Fallen Leaf Lake

Finally, complete your planning prior to arrival, then hand off the responsibility of the weekend’s events to us and enjoy the weekend with your family and friends.

Lanie, Sam, Jan and Sherry - part of our spring '10 conference season crew

The staff are cleaning and polishing equipment, removing the last remaining piles of snow, and sweeping away the cobwebs and dust from winter.  The lodge is ready for guests!

From 6am-10pm you can get a fresh cup of coffee or tea in the Stanford Room

During your stay at our Lake Tahoe conference center, there are a number of places inside our out to relax with a book, talk with friends or colleagues or just enjoy the view of Fallen Leaf Lake.

Weather permitting, we keep a fire going in the Stanford Room fireplace

The Old Lodge is clean and ready for guests, complete with crackling fire!

Some snow still remains on the ground, but temperatures are warming up and the decks are clear for lunch or meeting outdoors.

The ski dock is ready for you!

Fallen Leaf Road is clear and open, and we are just about ready to end our winter hibernation and open our doors for spring conference season.  Call or email if you need a place to meet.  We have the comfortable accommodations and friendly staff to make your Lake Tahoe meeting a memorable and pleasant experience.