Mt. Rainier and Lenticular Clouds - Dec. 2008 copyright: JMM

April 23, 2013

Timberline Lodge

I first saw Stanley Kubrick's interpretation of Stephen King's "The Shining" in the late 80s and loved it.  I was especially taken with the exterior shots of the batwing-style Overlook Hotel with a mountain right behind it.  (See the lenticular cloud?).  At some point I found out that the exterior shots were done at Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood in Oregon.  This is a screen shot from the movie.  

Here's an aerial shot, taken from the opening sequence of the movie, link HERE when Jack is driving up there for his interview.  I'd always hoped to see this place in person.  Every time I so much as think about Timberline Lodge, the Shining music that plays in the beginning of the music starts up in my head.  

I got the opportunity to see it in the fall of 2007!  The lodge is at the 6,000 feet up the side of Mt. Hood.  It stays open year round despite the average 20 feet of snow that falls.  Oh, and the drive up to the hotel is not at all what is featured in The Shining.  That is actually the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park, Montana.

A special snow shed entrance is erected over the stone entry way because the massive drifts make it impossible to access the doors on the first and second floors.

While the inside of the movie's Overlook Hotel was based upon the interior of the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite, seen below.....

.....the Timberline's interior is way more rustic and cozy.

I couldn't resist shooting a picture of this.  Fans of 'The Shining' will recall that it was the hotel/house controlling Jack and driving him insane.  For example, when Lloyd the bartender tells Jack that his money is no good there, he adds, '...orders from The House'.  So when I saw this 'house phone', I got a little creeped out.  

The first floor is a small museum and info center.

Beautiful wood carvings all over the place, especially near the stairs.

The second floor has all these cool writing and sitting nooks.

And Mt. Hood right behind it.

I'm glad I got to cross this one off my bucket list!

10 comments:

  1. I want to go!!!! Looks so cozy. I think I could get a lot of writing done there!
    Tina @ Life is Good
    Co-host, April 2013 A-Z Challenge Blog
    @TinaLifeisGood, #atozchallenge

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  2. Anonymous12:28 PM

    I used an entire roll of film going along the Road to the Sun Road!

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  3. Wow! Too cool. i'd love to stay there! Great pics as well!
    Shawn from Laughing at Life 2 & Reading Practice

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  4. JoJo , Thank you for stopping by my blog. It is always a pleasure to see you!
    I am glad you were not harmed physically in all that tragedy. Emotionally, I think you might be scarred for awhile. But my prayers are with you.
    Our nation this past week has suffered a lot of tragedy and evil doings.

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  5. Anonymous6:37 PM

    This is beautiful! Yes, I want to go too:)

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  6. So jealous!! I'm dying to go here!! Hopefully within the next few years.

    Hugs!

    Valerie Nunez and the Flying Platypi

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  7. Very cool... love the rustic feel... I started reading The Shining and got too scared and never finished it! Whenever the movie is on TV, I never seem to get to see it all... it's one of those movies I always seem to see the same scene from. One day I shall have to watch it beginning to end! (but not alone, or in the dark...)

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  8. Beautiful pictures accompanied by interesting details--I would really love to see all the wood carvings. You can almost feel urban stress melting away.

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  9. Very cool post. Up at Estes Park, Colorado near here, The Stanley Hotel hosted Stephen King, inspiring him to write The Shining. Parts of the tv mini-series version were filmed there. The hotel shows the The Shining movie on a continuous loop on Channel 42 on guest room televisions. I also liked your tribute to Boston and the photos from the Salish Sea are nice.

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  10. I learn a lot from your blog nowadays... I love The Shining, and this is awesome!

    Sonnia J. Kemmer

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