Growing up on top of the world: South Lake Tahoe, CA

Whenever I tell people I’m from South Lake Tahoe, I inevitably receive one of three distinct reactions. 1) Oh! I (my family, my friend, my neighbor, my extended in-law twice removed) own a cabin up there. 2) People actually live there? 3) Where?

For anyone who has ever looked at a map of the United States, South Lake Tahoe is nestled in the middle of the Sierra Nevadas in the sharp bend of California. Located at roughly 6,200 feet above sea level, Tahoe is home to 20,000 residents and the nearest decently sized town is a 45 minute drive down a mountain.

Basically, South Lake Tahoe is a little divot in the Sierra Nevadas where a few thousand people decided to isolate themselves from all other signs of humanity and dig themselves homes in several feet of snow. To some this seems crazy and somewhat claustrophobic- why would you choose to live two hours from the nearest airport, 45 minutes from the nearest Costco, and perched on top of a mountain? To those people, I can’t tell you, it is crazy.

But to others, the isolated small town that is Tahoe is romantic and quaint. And with a view like this one you can’t really complain.

Best of both weather worlds

It is home to some of the most beautiful world class ski resorts and it is dotted in millions of pine trees. The lake itself is one of the largest fresh water lakes in North America and the hombre of blue that travels down the beaches in the summer is unbelievable. The town is either covered in upwards of five feet of snow in the winter or coated in warm mountain sun in the summer. The picture on the right is of my six foot tall brother standing in the street. Tahoe is serious about its snowfall.

Small town Tahoe

Despite all of its incredible beauty, South Lake Tahoe has more than its fair share of pure insanity. One of the main culprits of the crazy that ensues in this town is that everyone knows each other. You can’t actually go anywhere without seeing your second grade teacher or your best friend’s ex-boyfriend or your little league baseball coach. We all know each other we all know every bone in every skeleton in everyone’s closet. It is literally impossible to do anything without running into someone you love and someone you hate in this miniature town.

Tahoe tourists

Tahoe may be home to only 20,000 residents but every weekend the town swells to nearly twice that size with tourists. Every weekend, visitors flock to the city to hike, bike, swim, ski, snow shoe, snow mobile, sled, jet ski, boat, parasail, rock climb, camp, off-road, or do anything remotely outdoorsy and adventurous. This is great for the economy but it’s awful for the roads and all of the Tahoians who despise civilization. During the week, high traffic levels occur when you come into contact with more than five cars on the roadway. During the weekend, there is a never ending line of cars on our one land roads and 90 per cent of locals refuse to leave their homes out of fear of the people.

Don’t feed the bears

Bears roam freely in Tahoe and it isn’t entirely uncommon to have one literally pounding on your front door. Even a stick of gum left in your car will attract a momma bear, resulting in a three door car the next morning. Bears are so common in every neighborhood that each neighborhood knows their bear by name. Our bear was in an accident many years ago and has three legs, thus the neighborhood knows her fondly as Tripod. The picture below was taken by my brother who watched the bears frequent a nearby stream for salmon.

High school antics

With only one high school in South Lake Tahoe and graduating classes of about three to four hundred, choices of friends are slim and choices of boyfriends/girlfriends are even slimmer. It’s common for people to date multiple people in high school and then live next door to their ex for the rest of their lives. The other thing about our one high school is that it is our one and only ticket out of Tahoe. If you don’t take your high school diploma and run out of town you get permanently trapped in the snow and ice. Many people stay in Tahoe and transfer their high school cliques and enemies onto the next generation with their children.

Our beloved Ta-home

Tahoe is also a weird place to live because it really is isolated. While we do have neighbors, many of them are temporary vacation rentals so most of the time the atmosphere is eerily quiet and the homes are spread out. Many of us do in fact live in wooden homes or “cabins” but we never call them that. We also have practically no chain stores or restaurants. There is no Costco, no Target, no Best Buy, no Cheesecake Factory, and we only have two Starbucks in the entire city. Most restaurants or stores are small and family owned and operated. It is like a whole different world, perched at one of California’s highest points, where nature and small town antics run rampant, making Tahoe a crazy place to live, but a loving area full of heart.