TIMBERLINE LODGE on MT. HOOD in OREGON

Driving east on Highway 26 the visibility is great so we decided that it is time to travel up the mountain to Timberline Lodge for a tour!!

The snow melting from Timberline and above is gushing out from the sides of the mountain all along the highway. This snow feeds the rivers and consequently all of the falls that we showed you in a previous Blog. We also heard from other friends who winter with us in AZ, that it is quite different in the fall with most of the water dried up. So it is good that we are here this time of the year. We are finally getting some warmer and drier weather, but I'm not complaining!! We are so glad that the rain has slowed dramatically.

As we neared the 6000 foot elevation, the snow was still laying along the roadside. Much of it is very dirty though. The snow average at the Lodge is 21 feet.

However, the sun today made it pleasant enough to even have the window down, if needed, to take pictures.

Arriving at the Lodge, we looked out across the valley at Mt. Jefferson in the distance. A very beautiful view!!

The Lodge is at 6000 ft. elevation and the Summit is 11,245 ft.

The Lodge to Summit is 3.6 miles. Timberline to Mt. Jefferson is 46 miles.

Since we came to tour the Lodge and it's history, we enter to check out the hotel rooms, dining and meeting rooms, was well as the great three story lobby areas. The stone walls and massive hand hewn timber pillars were used to withstand the heavy winds and snows. The six sided beams were hand carved from fit and pine out of the nearby forests. European stonemasons taught Americans the craft of chiseling the volcanic stones from nearby canyons to fit into the three story chimney and the 92 foot fireplace.

In the awesome scenes of people skiing, visible from the dining room windows add much to the ambiance!!

We found the view and activity seen from the patio refreshing also. This snow on the back patio has dropped many feet in depth since the heaviest snows covering this mountain area, but it is still above window sill level.

It has a great history going back to it's early days as a recreational area when the road was nothing more than a glorified cow trail from the first climb in 1845. During the 1930's the Lodge as we see it now, was built under President Roosevelt's WPA and CCC programs that he started to put many back to work during the depression. This project provided jobs for over 500 men and women, many over the age of 55, all in desperate need of employment. Timberline boasts many original pieces of art work in paintings, mosaic glass, sculpted wood, stone and metal throughout. Enjoy the pictures!!

This was our guide. Doesn't he look like a part of the decor? This was a room for display.

This was the dining room where we had lunch from their buffet. We sure blew our diets that day, but it was worth it for a change. Just have to remember not to do that often!!

Note some tourists were in shorts for the day. It was lovely weather!! But most of the skiers were in their traditional dress. I did see one in shorts. Sure hope he did not take any spills!!