Geo 1095: January 2, Day 732: Farewell, Timberline!

Heading back to the car after our sojourn at Timberline Lodge and the surrounding mountainside, this is the view back toward the lodge. Once again, you can see the chimney over the main guest lounge, and the use of the native andesite/dacite as the foundation stone. It's a gorgeous piece of architecture; the only  jarring note is the somewhat futuristic-looking tunnel over the entryway stairs. I don't know if that's present during the entire warm season. It looks as if it might be sectional for relatively easy removal and replacement. However, having been here a few times in mid-winter, I can confidently say it would be a nightmare to keep those stairs snow and ice free at that time of year, and a liability disaster if they weren't. I can put up with a bit of an esthetic "ouch" as the price of preventing a potentially crippling physical "ouch."

Followup: From the FlashEarth imagery, it looks as if that tunnel does indeed get removed for some portion of the summer. Keep in mind, this visit was in mid-October; winter storms could arrive at any time, and within two weeks, they had.

Photo unmodified. October 10, 2012. FlashEarth Location.