Okay, this is a big log cabin! The fireplace weighs 500 tons and is 85 feet tall.
It is of course the six-story lobby of The Old Faithful Inn built in 1903-4.
I have a fever for all kinds of cabins.
They remind me of pioneers, fortitude and the American West.
There seems to be living history you can feel in the real old ones that are still in use.
Jim loves experiencing this too.
We like to stay in cabins and imagine a simpler, more natural world.
With fire for warmth, log walls for safety and wild animals as constant companions.
At home in the wilderness…..
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~
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!
I hear you! I would have trouble with the wifi, but not the isolation, but I was a shrink for 30 years! 😉 😉
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!
The lack of running water and outhouse is a deal breaker for me too, almost as bad as no wifi!!! 😉
Wow, that is a big cabin!
Yep. It may be the largest in the world. I am not sure though…..
Beautiful cabin, Cindy. The lack of wifi would try me most sorely, and would probably cause hubby to have a nervous breakdown. 🙂
I can relate perfectly with you both, especially your hubby!!! 🙂
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! 🙂
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!
You have passions and I like that. Hope you are having a good trip
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! ❤ ❤
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?
“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. ❤
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!
“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.
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
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!
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
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!
I find log cabins so romantic …just love them. Wonderful pictures, Cindy…you’ve captured them beautifully… 🙂
Ah, so kind and so appreciated. Cheers to you Maniparna and thank you too~ ❤
I built a dog house once but the the dog refused to go in it but my wife did put me in it on occasion.
cracking up……..
Hmm, I may have grown out of my cabin craving a few years back.
Well it’s good to be content where you are!
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…
Oh I didn’t even think of the lack of wet wipes…….that is pretty much a deal breaker, I’ll admit.
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. 🙂
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! ❤ ❤
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.
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!! 😉
Wow Cindy–you’ve given me another place to add to my “travel wish list!” The Old Faithful Inn. It looks awesome! thanks for all the cozy cabin pics.
Good! Travel lists are good for your psyche and they are even better when you start carrying them out! ❤
Oh, I have a long long travel list Cindy!! (but I need to retire before I can start working down it seriously!!) Love your incredibly photographed posts!
I lived in log cabins for years – drafty, cold, long bitter winters in them. “Over it!” 😉
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! 🙂
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.
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!
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!
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.
Those cabins are gorgeous, Cindy! I imagine the fireplace in the lobby of The Old Faithful Inn would put out a great deal of heat, huh?!
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.
Great photos, Cindy! The log cabin bedroom looks so cozy!
It was and I love your blog my friend! ❤
Thanks so much for reading my blog!
Woah this place looks freaking awesome 🙂 nice work 🙂
Well how nice of you and thank you very much!
no worries 🙂
Log cabins are so much fun! The first photos bring back wonderful memories of staying at the Old Faithful Inn years ago.
How nice to have such happy memories triggered. I suspect everyone who has been there left with some lasting memories. It is so impressive~
That is the most amazing fireplace!
Es impresionante esa chimenea de 500 toneladas. La cabaña resulta acogedora y su entorno es cálido. ¡Me encanta!
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!
I can imagine the life people lead in the West in olden times.
Good Pictures.
I am happy you can imagine this too! Imagination is good for you! Thank you and cheers~
Fun post Cindy. Giddy up!
Yeee Hawww! 🙂
Fun post, Cindy. I have been inside Old Faithful Inn, it is quite extraordinary — and you did a good job of capturing the immensity of it. 🙂
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!
Hi friend,
I love the cabin, put it lake with beautiful sunsets. Have a great day.
🙂
Yep, I can see it now! Be well & cheers to you~ ❤ ❤
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.
Yes, I like it too, but not for more than ten days!!
Now I didn’t know that a fever could be this spiritually fulfilling 🙂
Laughing, well there are religious fevers too……. Think of Joan of Arc for example~
The Old Faithful Inn is so spectacular looking!
It really is extraordinary. I wonder if we are regressing rather than evolving in this country. Can you see money being allocated to build something like this now?
No I can’t. My dad—just before his passing—felt we had stopped making progress. And I myself recently commented—in light of all the publicity surrounding the 30th anniversary of the film Back to the Future—that if we were to be around in 30 years we would probably see much the same thing.
Sadly, I agree.
It would be very hard, but what beauty, though.
Yes, it would be mind bending for us to see this country in a unspoiled state. I wonder what the pioneers would have to say about our modern world?
I am speechless when seeing Your wonderful photos. I am great fan of the “Old Wild West”. For example my favorite writer is Zane Grey.
Zane Grey is pretty wonderful and I am happy you like the stories of the old wild west too! Thank you~
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 😀
I would too! I would love to be a homesteader, not forever, but for a week or two! I can see you prospecting for gold. Of course you’d have to be fond of mules! 😉 😉
Ha ha yes! 😀
Cindy I think we’d go insane after two hours!! lol 😉 These pics were just amazing!! That fireplace!! Sharing these wonderful beauties now my dear!!! xoxo ❤
Yes, wifi withdrawal is not pretty! 😉 Thank you my awesome friends and cheers to you both~ ❤ ❤
That is one huge log cabin! I love its rustic style.
Yes, I do too. This one is complex rustic style! 😉
I love places like this 🙂
Represents a simpler, more naturally connected way of living~
Wow it’s like a trip back in time 🙂
Like a virtual time machine without any risk! Cheers to you~
Something ever so welcoming & cozy about a log cabin.
That enormous one though…
You’d have to chop a lot of wood to keep it warm! ):
You’d have to chop a lot of wood to keep this baby warm in winter!
Fo’ sho’
Lovely!
Mil grazie!
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
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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