Cabin Fever and The Ol’ Wild West~

Oct24

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Okay, this is a big log cabin! The fireplace weighs 500 tons and is 85 feet tall.
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It is of course the six-story lobby of The Old Faithful Inn built in 1903-4.

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I have a fever for all kinds of cabins.
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They remind me of pioneers, fortitude and the American West.

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There seems to be living history you can feel in the real old ones that are still in use.
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Jim loves experiencing this too.
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We like to stay in cabins and imagine a simpler, more natural world.
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With fire for warmth, log walls for safety and wild animals as constant companions.
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At home in the wilderness…..
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Can you imagine what it was like to travel like a pioneer, stake out a claim, and build your cabin?
Okay, okay, there would be no wi-fi, no indoor plumbing, no grocery stores.
Can you imagine NO WIFI…..Ever????
I can bare knuckle it for 10 days max.
Cheers to you from the, almost wild, WiFi-west~

220 thoughts on “Cabin Fever and The Ol’ Wild West~”

  8. The one at Old Faithful is astonishing. Wow. I live in a log cabin…with WIFI. I love it (except for dusting the logs!) Needless to say, mine are dusty 🙂 Over the summer I was in Colorado and we visited a cabin that was only about 100 years old. It was tiny and about 6 people lived there. A hard life back then. Thanks for the great pics!

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    • Oh, yes the dusting. Now that you mention it, I have stayed in dusty-log, log cabins. I bet it would be difficult to try and dust. You would need a long handled swifter! And you’re right about the cramped quarters long ago, think of dug-outs with log faces and dirt floors AND no wifi! Ssheech!! We almost moved into a big log cabin in Oregon. I think dusting would be well worth it!

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  9. This looks like a great place to escape! I cannot believe they don’t have WiFi, Cindy. I would think that there would be business retreats held here where professionals would need to stay connected. Good luck with your fortitude! 🙂

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  11. Hi Cuz,
    Glad you included the pics of the Old Faithfull Inn. It really doesn’t look any different from the last time I saw it. It is a marvelous piece of rustic architecture, isn’t it ? Did you do the geyser basin and Morning Glory, maybe ? Or am I getting ahead of the plan here ? ….. 🙂 Ha!

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    • I was going to post yellowstone itself first before this, you are psychically in tune cuz. Of course we do geyser basin everytime. My visits to Morning Glory started at around age six, which was a couple of years ago, of course…..um hmmm… We did Yellowstone Lake Hotel, and Mammoth Springs too, both Hayden and Lamar Valley. We’ve got Yellowstone covered for you cuz! <3

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  13. A while ago, when Bill and I were young, we were “roughing it” in the old wild west. That was before cell phones and even before computers. Your post reminds me of those good days when we lived in cabins or shacks or A-frames. Now I miss those days and those places and have stories to tell. Wish there had been blogging then. 🙂

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    • You have mentioned living in the mountains in cabins, with a newborn at one point, limited facilities, while Bill was doing land surverying/land engineering work? You have written a little about it, but frankly I, and everyone else would like to hear more. It sounds incredible. Weren’t you in the Sierras at one point? Might you write more about it? You write so beautifully and I would love to hear about your experiences.

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  15. Hi Dear Cindy, I love Cabins to… I love Montana, and I love you site.. I had My own Cabin…it was a fine dining restaurant in the Chicago suburb. When I was I little girl Calamity Jane always made me want my own Cabin so I could fix it all up Like she did… I finally got. had it for 15 years..was a baby and took to a big big baby.. sold it.. just tired..
    Thanks for the memories…reblog..of course…lol
    hugs

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      • Cindy, I would love to. Thru my moves and I had a my house burn down in the 90’s so I lost a lot of the pictures ..but I think I have some in my computer left..and more info…not today but soon.. I am so trying to catch up with everything… Your so kind and so appreciated Cindy
        Huggs

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  17. That inn is a magnificent example log architecture on a grand scale. We don’t have many log buildings out here. Most of the historic buildings are adobe, brick or frame construction.

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    • I love the adobes though! But yes, I am not sure if The Old Faithful Inn is the largest log structure in the world, but it may be. It is an engineering and architectual marvel. Amazing that it has withstood all the seismic activity in the area. It was well built and designed.

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    • Hehehe! Your priorites and thinking process go just like mine. Amazing, I’m going. No wifi…..Yee Gods, what am I doing???? The first two photos were taken at The Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone. It has no wifi, but the adjacent Snow Lodge does. The other photos were taken in cabins on the border of Glacier National Park. I hope you do go. I want to see your photos!

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      • You’ll laugh at this. We took a cruise to Alaska and I purchased internet minutes for $1,000 for one week!! We were in the Tracy arm viewing that glacier and I was posting on Facebook! After being outside on the deck viewing of course. How ridiculous am I? I would love to go to Yellowstone and see this big beautiful country of ours! More than just the big cities. Good luck. Loool

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  19. Yes! I just love homes that are more naturally sourced! That’s my dream right there – just a tiny home in the woods somewhere. I am, of course, awestruck by the big log cabin. However, I don’t think I could keep up with all the housekeeping, plus the vastness would make me feel like I’m walking through Lord of the Ring’s MInes of Moria all the time! 😀 ~Lynn

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    • Yes, I get the Mines of Moria feeling. This vast log cabin of a hotel closes in the winter. I can well imagine Balrog and the evil goblins running rampant in the winter killing all that is good. No dice for me either. No evil goblins thank you. But I can see you in a cabin in the mountains, near a small town for supplies living quite happily, because quite honestly, I can see me doing the same thing. We tend to agree on things as you have noticed. <3

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  20. Beautiful post as always Cindy 😀
    I think that one week in those cabins would be enough for me.
    I have lived isolated in the mountains here in Spain without Wi-Fi for long time. When I bought Wi-Fi I committed to pay for at least one year. I lived there for a half year without electricity, only had a very expensive generator in use, so only electricity few hours a day.

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    • Whoa, that is intense! I genuinely would not do well without wifi for an extended period. We have connectivity issues at The Holler because we are in a isolated rural location. No electricity, expensive generator, and no wifi for a long time sounds like a major challenge though. You are tough! Your place is so beautiful though, I can see why you sacrifice for it. Incredible. I admire you and I am glad you told me.

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  22. No I cannot imagine traveling in a covered wagon it took 6 months to get anywhere and that was if you didn’t run into all sorts of Indians and outlaws! I love these cabins Cindy and that fireplace is amazing! 💜💜

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    • I have stayed in log cabins with dusty logs. Each log is like a ledge that captures dust. I really had never thought about this until she told me. And yep, we are now addicted to the digital world!

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  25. As you know, I lived in Northern Canada. Those cabins were cozy and warm, when the bitter wind chill brought the temperature to minus 45. There are times, when I long to feel that cold, but only for a few moments! 🙂

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    • You must have such amazing memories. The coldest I have been in was -50 below with wind chill factor. It was in the Grand Tetons. Interestingly, Jim was staying and skiing there at the same time, but we didn’t know each other. He remembers me on the lift the day they shut down the mountain because of the cold. -45 is sooooo cold, it is almost scary. Even breathing gets dangerous. I remember having oil heaters for the car and still it wouldn’t start. I am amazed you miss that kind of cold even for a second, but you lived with it and knew what you were doing. Coming from So Cal that kinda cold is just scary!

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  27. When I win the lottery I’m building myself a log cabin – catskill (design) – it’s a design I’ve always loved. But now I think I just might put in that chimney!

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    • Oh my God, if you can put in a chimney like that, you must post photos. It is so gorgeous. I am going to google the catskill design now. We stayed in Northern Quebec in the north woods once by a lake and people were buuilding gorgeous, big lake front cabins. I don’t know about the lotto, but I hope you build your cabin.

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    • They reflect the people who built them. Everything is not mass manafactured, like the two story old cabin. I bet the builder was Swiss because they have this style of cabin in the Alps. The animals would sleep on the bottom floor providing heat for upstairs and shelter for the animals.

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  33. They’re fabulous. I’ve often said that I would never have made it as a pioneer. I can’t imagine the hardships they endured. Then I had someone say, if the pioneers could have seen our challenges, they would have said the same thing about our time. I would imagine that’s a pretty accurate statement! HA! 😀

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  35. I would think I survive without connected to internet, phone and TV (especially with football season and my favorite TV shows). That would need a heavy rehab for me. I think I would need 14 steps (as opposed to typical 7 steps) 🙂 I still like to experience as short visit as these here. Nice pictures of the places.

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    • I love it! 14 Steps! I will have to help you come up with the additonal two and if we were both living permanently in a cabin with no wifi we would both need it! 😉 😉

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  36. Beautiful photos Cindy. I love the National Park lodges, they are so impressive. I’ve visited a few and I’ve stayed in Paradise Lodge a couple of times. You did a great job of capturing the feel of that structure.

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    • Yes these magnificent old park lodges and hotels are simply amazing, each one so individualistic and remarkable with these fascinating histories! People have been innundating them since they were first built. Many you have to book a year in advance, but it is worth it as you know.

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  41. These images of the Old Faithful Inn are impressive, Cindy! Beautiful cabins. We plan to revisit Wy next year. 🙂
    I always wonder how the pioneers traveled…

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  42. I think how “romantic” it would be in the wild west — getting to ride a horse everywhere and seeing the pristine wilderness. But then I think of my head cold I have and how nice it was to turn on the electric stove to make a cup of tea rather than going out to chop the wood to start the woodstove to heat the water I drew from the well to make the beverage from leaves I gathered in the woods. I’m exhausted just thinking about it. 😀

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  44. Love it. My husband’s grandmother traveled in a covered wagon to the Idaho when she was a girl and lived to see the first man on the moon…… amazing progress in one lifetime.
    Beautiful pictures. 😀

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    • Yes! Wonderful feeling of being warm and snug inside with the cold winter outside. I spent a fair amount of time thinking about it must have been like for the guests in 1904. They approached by sled after taking the train. They called the place Wonderland and it must have been just that, especially in the winter!

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  48. Charming cabins and superb photography!! I have often dreamed of living in a cozy log cabin! 🙂 In my recent post, you saw the little replica of a Conestoga wagon, Little House on the Prairie style!

    Have a lovely weekend!

    <3 carmen

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    • I think many of us have a sense of having lost something important by being dependent on civilization with all it’s discontents. Being able to be self sufficient in a cabin or conestoga I suspect was good for us in deeply spiritual/psychological way. It also would be very hard, but working 40 hours a week with someone you don’t like is probably much worse.

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  49. The hardest thing I feel about those times was just not surviving day to day but unless you had neighbors somewhat close, you would go months even years without talking or visiting anyone except those you brought with you. We humans tend to be social animals except for a few of us that love the solitude. Having no WiFi would isolate a modern human even more especially in this country.

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    • Yes, complete, long-term isolation would take a significant toll on anyone. That said, people vary significantly in their degree of introversion/extroversion. For an extrovert isolation would tend to be unpleasant to untenable depending on the degree. An introvert thrives in more isolated circumstances. We are social creatures to a degree, but we are not psychologically well adapted to crowding. Crime, violence and substance abuse rates go up in areas of residential crowding. Baldasarri did landmark studies on this that I remember from grad school. He wrote a book, “Residential Crowding in Urban America.” Something like that. Obviously it stuck with me all these years

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  51. Lovely photographs! I love log cabins too. I can’t imagine living in those times… not just the wi-fi, but the lack of connection to people and information. I would find that hard I think!

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  52. We stayed at The Old Faithful Inn last summer, nice to see the lobby and fireplace again. 🙂 All of your cabin photos are so cozy. But, I cannot imagine crossing the country in a covered wagon and building my home. No indoor plumbing is a deal breaker!

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  55. I love log cabins – you photos are display them perfectly. Awesome photos of the Old Faithful Inn. I was absolutely wowed when we visited it this fall – it is almost like it grew out of the ground! All that work that must have gone into building it is pretty amazing. We got a coffee each and just sat on one of those old chair admiring it for an hour! 🙂

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    • The architect, Robert Reamer was really young when he designed this. He also did the Yellowstone Lake Hotel where we stayed. I love both, but they couldn’t be more different. Y, Lake is sort a Rhode Island Victorian mansion style, and OF is rustic log cabin mansion. Reamer sent people all over the park collecting gnarled lodgepole pines to make those fascinating twisted log balcony rails. We’ve stayed here twice and this time we did the tour, seeing the really old rooms in the main building. I love all the old, original craftsman furniture too!

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        • Hey Michele,
          Wonderful to hear from you! And, yes there is life after social work! 😉 I am home now, but we leave in a week for Europe. Would love to meet you in Old Town when I get back. Hope is all is well with you my friend and look forward to seeing you. Be well! <3 <3

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  56. Oh, Cindy. Tom and I also both love log cabins and it’s only devine providence and the grace of God that kept us from buying a ‘modern if you will’ log cabin to be built on 3 acres of the most beautiful piece of forested land in the Blue Ridge Mountain area around 2000. I’d retired in Dec 1999 and I wanted away – as far away as I could get. I think Tom was thinking this would be just another adventure. I actually had to live in an equal or near equal log cabin that we would have [yes,tricked out with the latest] but what I realized with Tom’s advancing medical needs, it wasn’t going to happen in our lifetime. I’d come to the conclusion I couldn’t be further than 20 minutes away from major medical and then with the winter weather – well – that was out. We ended up in beautiful rolling hills of horse country, still away from people and our own piece of heaven. However, we continued our trips to gold mines where Tom followed his passion of gold panning and I savored the outdoors and whatever cabin was ours for the 10 days or so.
    You would have made a fiesty pioneer women. Imagine staking our claim to that initial 160 acres and having a house built within the first year. That’s the stock I come from. Always, your photos are exquisite and I always wonder what publication they will end up in. Do I get to say, I knew you when?

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    • “I’d retired in Dec 1999 and I wanted away – as far away as I could get.” No wonder we understand each other so well. We were in exactly the same space psychologically when we left our careers. I retired early in ’97 and I wanted to move to the boonies. As far away from civilization and it’s discontents as reasonably feasible. We were really close to closing on a 20 acre big, gorgeous log cabin outside of Medford Oregon made out of Montana pine for a song! The economy had just plummeted and properties were a steal. I decided against it because the kids were still in college and the commute to Medford via commuter plane would have limitied their visits. If I was making the decision now, I would be blogging from that cabin. Ah well, such is life! It did have tiny bathrooms and a tiny kitchen and I love to cook. I have lots of space at The Holler, but it was a gorgeous ponderosa log home in the pines!
      Thank you for your kind words Sherri. I cleared out photos a week ago from the WordPress media gallery, just to free up space, discarding photos I didn’t want to keep. Lo and behold this erased all the photos from 300 or so posts, 50% of my posts now have fractured links since I deleted them because they were missing photos. I’m not upset anymore. Life is impermanent and my photos are a hobby that I love to share with wonderful friends like you and Tom. This is a true joy for me! You are a true joy for me. <3

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      • Oh no – I’ve been working on a blog regarding the VA and was just ready to push the publish button when I realized my photo inserts were gone – but they are nothing and I mean nothing compared to the beauty and magnitizim we gain from the magic you bring us week after week. I don’t own a camera – Tom has many and he was taking so many photos when we met and still talking about tramping around with ‘Ansel’ as if it were an everyday occurrance – I wondered why I needed a camera. After all, the only thing i ever did was point and shoot. One of these days I’ll budget for an iPhone but at present am still using a trackphone and the price is right. I usually don’t know where it is. I still hate the sound of a ringing phone.
        Tom swears he doesn’t need an iPad but the problem being – he always has mine marking the photo blogs he wants to view together when I close my office for the night. You are always in the mix, my friend. He always finds one and sometimes two of places we’ve been together and even if his memories have been robbed by ECT, he’s beginning to share the few shadows that remain. He has my photo albums and spends hours going through them trying to put pieces together. This is a new activity for him. He’s never wanted to talk about what he didn’t remember before and that was oh so hard for me. I still have to sit on my tongue and not say, “Remember when.”
        We would have been neighbors had you purchased the log cabin in Medford – and it scares me to think we might have never met. My last assignment was at the Roseburg VA for a year. We’d thought of retiring along the coast of Oregon and then of course circumstances changed again and we went east. That year at the VA in Roseburg was 1 of the worst years of my career. The fraud and corruption was unbelievable and so many layers. It spilled over into the community and it was a dangerous place to be. That sleepy little town with the Umquah River flowing through it was deceiving in its looks. However, I loved living in a late 1800s reinavated farmhouse on the side of the mountain just below an old logging road with a small waterfall coming down into our backyard. The VA didn’t want me [obviously] and I was burned out. I didn’t have anything left to proove so I was content to sit on my big wrap-around pourch and have the deer walk across it while my little dog and I chatted about the wonders of how we had gotten to where we were. You’ll never know how many times I thought I should have gone to Bull Frog, Utah!

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      • “I still hate the sound of a ringing phone.”
        Man, we are so alike!
        It had to be our jobs, which we loved. But when we were gone. We were gone!
        The ringing phone maybe seems to us like another bad problem we are supposed to solve. I cringe everytime I hear it.
        Reminds of Dorothy Parker’s quote when a phone rang, “What fresh Hell is this?”
        BTW I read your most recent post about all the veterans who are dying waiting for a medical appointment.
        It does seem to me, when we say thank you for your service, we ought to have boots on the ground making sure that is not a lie. Making sure, for example, that they don’t die whilst waiting to see a doctor.

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  57. Peggy would live in a log house, given half the chance. And did in her pre-Curtis days, an 1800’s cabin if my memory serves me. I’ve always loved the grand old lodges built by the railroad companies to entice people to places like the Grand Canyon. –Curt

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    • Peggy sounds like a very wise woman. Did you know they called Yellowstone ‘Wonderland’ when OF first opened? Tourists came by train, and were picked up by sleds. They stayed in the winter. They still have these long iron corn poppers the guests used to pop corn in that massive fireplace. They had warmng huts all over the park. The people who came were wealthy and they came in droves. Fascinating history!

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      • Very wealthy, I’m sure. Hadn’t heard the Wonderland story, but it fits. Peggy actually spent the summer of 1969 working at Yellowstone as a waitress. She worked for a while in the Inn, but preferred working in the Lodge. She said the Boy Scouts tipped better than wealthy people did. 🙂 –Curt

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      • Peggy sounds so interesting. So she worked in Canyon Lodge I’m guessing? I believe the boy scouts were good tippers. They saved the Big Horn Sheep. They have always, as an orginization valued the wilderness, after all they trained scouts!

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  61. Think of the hard work it took to build that amazing chimney! Beautiful photos, but I think my pioneering days are behind me. I can’t even manage without wet-wipes…

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  62. I adore log cabins and rustic Inns, too! Yes, what can I imagine about life in past eras? I can imagine a lot, but there is no going backwards…. for most of us. 🙂

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    • Maybe we can move forward by looking backward though, getting away from cubicles, offices, living as nature based life as possible given the realities of our circumstances. Just spending time in the natural world is healing and necessary for us. We can all incorporate that. I want to see those photos of Lake Ontario and the black swans in the spring! <3 <3

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  63. I love that Old Faithful Inn. The thing that I would dread in Rustic times would be the clothes – they look so uncomfortable…the outhouse in the middle of the night…no hair drying…no showers…OK I think the only thing I would like is the horses.

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    • Getting around by horseback would be a plus. I haven’t ridden regularly since I was young. I agree the clothes and hygiene issues would be a major drawback. It would be fun to pop in with a time machine, and pop-back at bath time!! 😉

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    • Long bitter winters, drafty and cold does not sound fun to me either. A place with super fierce winters would be a deal breaker for me too unless it’s a ski-trip! 🙂

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  66. Interesting that you posted this Cindy with the pics and story of the cabins. My husband and I are presently at a wonderful log cabin up along our Cache Le Poudre River about 50 mi. northwest from Loveland, Co. where we live. we had reserved this cabin for two nights this weekend in advance to come up for the weekend and just have a couple of days relaxation. It is great and the cabin though modernized quite a bit is log and stylish and so comfortable. We’ve been hiking today and drove up the road further and over to our own mountain property for a while which is not as far, but we have no cabin or home on our own property, just our old Airstream travel trailer to use up there. But, we wanted to use this cabin here for a couple nights getaway and has been relaxing. We’re going home tomorrow. The Wi fi signal is not very good, pretty sporadic but manage to get on her on WordPress and Facebook to read and post a little. Took a lot of pics too today while hiking and driving around.

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  67. So you know just what I was feeling as I posted these photos, more than just the cabins, but really about the nature of our modern lives, what we do with our time, how much we have lost touch with the healing balm of the natural world.
    I only started to really figure this out when I retired early eight years ago and have now spent so much time in wild places, including the rural Holler where I live and am now typing this to you.
    You know I was a therapist and mental health director before I retired. I see my own former and too many other people’s lives enslaved to work, and I see how much our dependence on civilization, our mortgages, our purchased lives in cities, has harmed our souls and psyches. We all need to spend time in nature, to disconnect our dependence on civilization and it’s discontents, in order to fully understand who we are and what we really want. I know the feedback you receive in the cabin and your property. It is magic. It is the power of nature. Enjoy!

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  68. Fun post! There is such a special feeling to log cabins, even more so in those that are “in the wild” and well loved. I have always wanted to live in one. 🙂
    That first one is huge!

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  69. That lobby of the Inn is out of this world! The details are so incredible. And I love the cabins, inside and out. Especially that fireplace. Cheers to you, Cindy.

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    • Yes! Although it is no longer open in the winter. In the old days it would be putting out tons of BTU’s to protect guests from the intense Wyoming winters! It must have been awesome.

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  76. How could we survive with no phones, TV, WiFi, internet, etc. in the past? Nowadays people cannot. They are in panic if anything wrong with these things. Even people who lived all their life without them today are losing control of the situation if anything happens. Few years ago we lived in condo apartment and blackout has happened. It last for three days. We had some senior people beside and in the evening my wife decided to bring them hot tea. They were so glad and grateful but surprised at the same time: “Where did you get it?” People rely on these new technology and forgot how to survive. We have at home portable gas stove just in case and some other things which can helped in unexpected situations. This is why we still like the cabin life in the wild. Cindy, the first cabin in your set is impressive!

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    • It’s a tad difficult to photograph isn’t it, considering the height, darkness, narrowness and bright light from the windows. Still it is an architectual marvel!

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  81. That first cabin is something! …. I like periods of turning off the phone and staying away from the computer … but for me, it only happens when travelling outside the country.

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  86. Hi Cindy, what an experience, I often dream of what it was like to prospect for gold and live the adventure. It must have been tough eh? I’d still like to have a go now though!
    Best wishes, James 😀

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  93. What I can imagine, Cinty, is the closest I want to get to the real old west. Those lovely tourist cabins in your pictures were great. My dad used to love reading magazines about the real old west. He was an armchair cowboy. Good piece. 🙂 — Suzanne

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  94. I used to dream of living away from it all. I think I would’ve made good pioneering stock. But now I think of all the hardships those early pioneers lived through and I marvel at their tough spirits and on second thoughts I think I am truly grateful for being born in this day and age, with all its problems and difficulties it is “easy street” compared to 100 years ago.

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