Clair Tappan Lodge

I returned a few days ago from Sierra Club’s Clair Tappaan Lodge located at about 7200 feet elelvation above sea level in the Donner Pass/ Truckee/ Soda Springs/ Norden area of northern California’s High Sierras.

Part 1: Flight there

I left NJ from Newark Airport on the first flight out on Dec 26th. In spite of the fact that it was a 6am flight for which (and presumably everyone else on board) had to be at the airport at 4am to comply with current FAA security rules, it was a full flight.

My airline was United Airlines and I was travelling non-stop btn Newark, NJ and San Fransisco, CA on an economy-class frequent-flier award ticket. A business class upgrade would have been nice since this was a 6 hour, cross-country flight, but as far as I could tell no upgrades were available.

I was too excited to sleep much the night before and so I actually arrived at the airport before 4am, but was not too thrilled to have arrived so early only to have to stand in line at the check-in counter for nearly an hour before a staff of airline representative took positions at the check in counter. I will say I was impressed by the efficiency of electronic check in and baggage check and the fact that the plane departed on time. Contary to a rumour I had heard from a fellow skier, there is NOT a surcharge on skis as checked baggage as long as the skis are one of the two allowed free checked bags.

The planned itinerary was to arrive in San Francisco and travel by automobile up to the mountains, a trip of about 3.5 hours. I was hoping my mid-morning PST arrival would cleverly avoid any morning SF traffic gridlock; additionally, the 26th (Tuesday) was during a holiday period. The traffic in SF was not bad, however I hadnt counted on the day-after-Christmas shopping crowds, so there were some slow downs along shopping corridors futher out of town as I headed northeast up along I-80.

The flight arrived on time and baggage arrived in a timely manner. Baggage claim for United at SFO was a short walk from the arrival gate down one level.

2. Ground Trip there

Next task was to acquire my rental auto so I set about that.

I had made a reservation for a 4wd SUV on the advice of friends who said that CHP often closes 1-80 in the Sierras to all but 4wd and 2wd with tire chains in snowy weather. The rental car companies do not allow the use of chains.

There are not really any public transportation options to Clair Tappaan. It is in a secluded wilderness area and is really only accessible by automobile, 4wd if possible.

Reportedly there is an Amtrak train that stops in Truckee, CA but what do you do once you get there? Clair Tappaan is a good 20 minutes from Truckee and Truckee is a small town, not exactly overrun with cabs and rental car services one might find in a largewr metro area.

My auto rental reservation was made with “Hertz”: http://www.hertz.com for me to pick up at SFO. Rental for the 4wd which ended up being a Toyota RAV4 came to about $75 per day. I waived the full insurance option since it is a feature of my credit card, otherwise it would have been an additional aprox. $25 per day.

At SFO you take a train to the car rental office, which was a little awkward as I had to schlep the ski bag and personal bag up and down several escalators, but I made do and soon I was on the road.

SFO is 13 miles south of San Francisco on Rt 101. Easy to read roadway signage leads you out of the airport to major highways, which in my case, was Rt. 101 North to I-80 East, over the Bay Bridge, thru Oakland and around the Napa Valley, where the countryside turns more into farm fields stretching for miles as you pass Vacaville and head into the Sacramento area. After you pass thru the Sacramento area you gradually begin your ascent into the Sierra Mountains.

Here is the entire driving route- pretty simple, actually!

3. Arrival and Stay at Clair Tappaan Lodge

Check-in was very easy and the staff at Clair Tappaan was very accommadating my entire stay.

I had originally chosen Clair Tappaan Lodge for the obvious reason of its location high in snow country, but also the lodging plan and affordability (see the Clair Tappaan website for current rates)- while there are are private rooms and cubicle bed spaces available, the men’s and women’s dorms with bunk beds are most readily available and most affordable accommadations. Since my stay was short (4 days) I was willing to try out the hostel-style dorm, which, in the end, worked out just fine.

A stay at Clair Tappaan is a bit like going to camp, staying at a youth hostel and living at a commune all rolled together.

To keep operating expenses and in turn, lodging rates, low, the staff at Clair Tappaan is intentionally small and lodgers are expected to perform one chore per day to help out.

The tasks overall are related cleanup after meals and general day-to-day maintenence of the lodge, such as helping with kitchen and dining hall cleanup after meals and other general maintenence chores such as bathroom cleanup and picking up around hallways and making sure trashcans are emptied.

One of the features of the lodging plan at Clair Tappaan is the inclusion of 3 meals per day.

Breakfast and dinner are prepared hot and fresh by the staff and served family-style in the dining room. Before breakfast in the morning each day, a brown-bag lunch buffet is laid out in the main lodge where one can prepare sandwiches to his/her liking to take with on their chosen excursion for the day.

The idea is to leave you many options as to what you do with your day and with so many outdoor activities available close by, it makes little sense for the lodge to prepare a sit-down lunch.

The social situation at Clair Tappan was very diverse, overall very sociable. There were lots of families with children, as well as singles and college kids. A considerable number of people I met had been coming to the lodge annually for many years.

The lodge has cross country ski trails right out the back door of the lodge and there are shuttles that stop at the lodge regularly during the day that go to any number of ski resorts in the area, coss country and downhill alike. And dont forget, you probably drove there so you can go where you want in your auto rental.

Be reminded, Clair Tappan Lodge as well as many of the available activity opportunities in the area are located at a high altitude and the air is very thin and dry, at least for a back-east, near-sea-level-dwelling person like myself.

Some symptoms of being un-adapted in a high altitude situation that I encountered were lack of breath, dryness of sinuses and fast general overall fatigue.

(to be continued)

I am booked to go out to Claire Tappaan Lodge at Donner Pass, Lake Tahoe:

http://www.sierraclub.org/outings/lodges/ctl/

http://www.hostelz.com/hostel/29694-Clair-Tappaan-Lodge

btn Christmas and New Year’s to go cross country skiing.

Tried to go Thanksgiving but they didnt have snow yet, so I cancelled/postponed. It all worked out very well:

Claire Tappan did not charge a cancellation fee as there was no snow and they were slow, its not like I had kept someone else that wanted to go from doing so. Normally, since I waited, pending weather, till a few days before my arrival date, there would have been a 25% cancellation fee.

I am making the trip using frequent flier miles, when I cancelled, since I rescheduled and the rescheduled departure daye is more than 15 days beyond the original reservation, United Airlines did not charge a rebooking fee. Sweet!

Claire Tappan is an exceptional value anyway, since I am only staying three nights, I made my reservation to stay in the bunkhouse at the lodge, nightly rate INCLUDING 3 MEALS A DAY is $60. Try and beat that!

The most expensive part of the trip will be the 4wd I will rent at SFO for the drive up into the Sierras from San Francisco. The roads get closed often to all but 4wd so in order to keep from potentially having wait out road reopenings it seems well worth the expense.

There is a shuttle van based at Claire Tappaan that stops at 4 world class cross country ski facilities in the area that includes Royal Gorge and Sugar Bowl.

I’ll give report of my trip upon my return.

RH