Timberline Lodge

Timberline Lodge is located in Mt. Hood National Forest in Oregon. It was dedicated in September 1937 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt "as a monument to the skilled and faithful performance of workers on the roll of the Works Progress Administration" (usually referred to as WPA).

A park service summer volunteer told us 500 workers built the lodge in 18 months. Unskilled labor was paid 5o cents per hour and skilled masons from Italy were paid 75 cents per hour. Scaffolding and pulleys were used to hoist the large timbers into position. The wood used to construct the lodge is equivalent to the wood volume needed to build 300 3-bedroom homes.

Architects for the U. S. Park Service designed the lodge.

Skiing takes place year round at elevations above the lodge on the glacier snow and ice which is visible in the picture below. During winter, snow drifts pile deep against and around the lodge. We were told two climbers missing and assumed dead since early 2007 still haven't been found.

The next picture below shows a carving on the top of a post on a stairs hand rail.

The grueling annual relay run called Hood to Coast begins at this lodge and ends 197 miles on the Pacific coast at Portland.

My wife and I visited this majestic mountain and historic lodge while vacationing in Portland earlier this month.

Have a good week!