Mt Hood from Lookout Mountain

Vintage Photograph of Mt Hood from Lookout Mountain

“On Lookout Mountain with Mt Hood as a background.”

Not a lot has changed in the last 100 years once you hit the trail… well, maybe the clothing but we still get the same feeling of freedom when we stand on a place like this with Mt Hood as a background.

Lookout Mountain is on the east side of Mount Hood and was once the location of a fire look out. The look out building has been gone since 1966 but the foundation is still there.

Back when this photo was made there was no fire look out like we’re familiar with. There was most likely just the alidade, or triangulation device, and a log cabin in the field below.

You can get to there two ways. The hard way or the easy way. You can either catch a trail near Robinhood Campground on Highway 35 and hike about 6.5 miles with about a 3000 foot elevation gain, or you can drive up to High Prairie off of the old Dufur Road and walk a gentle old road for about a mile and a half.

And what a great view of Mount Hood you’ll get.

Lookout Mountain
Lookout Mountain

Reliance Mt Hood Stages
Reliance Mt Hood Stages – First Autos to Mount Hood Reliance Mt Hood Stages – In the early days of the

A signature of William “Billy” Welch from 1902

A Message from William “Billy” Welch from the grave.

A signature of William “Billy” Welch from 1902. This was prior to the establishment of Welches as a town. Billy seems to have been in a grim mood when he wrote this. Sadly his wife Mamie Kopper would die soon after.

“Salmon River

Jan 8, 1902

Think of me when this you see
Though in this world I may not be
But if my grave should be my bed
Remember me when I am dead.

Yours Truly

W. Welch”

I wonder if he really thought that people would be thinking of him over 100 years later? 

William Welch Epitaph Salmon Or 1902
William Welch Epitaph Salmon Or 1902 -A signature of William Welch from 1902

Mount Hood Timberline Lodge Tucker Sno-Cats

Classic Tucker Sno-Cats Vintage Postcards

Here’s a scene from the days before the Palmer Lift was installed of some classic Tucker Sno-Cats. The first two photos show a unique 20 passenger model 743 Transport Sno-Cat called “The Shoebox”. The third photo shows a traditional model 443 four track machine.

The shoebox carried multiple passengers up above the lodge past the Silcox Hut to Triangle Moraine and the Palmer Snowfield for Summer Ski before the Palmer Ski Lift was built.

Silcox Hut was the upper terminus for the original Magic Mile ski lift built in 1938. The Palmer Ski Lift was built in 1978.

The Tucker Snow-Cats have been used in some sort of capacity since the beginning of the ski industry on Mount Hood. They have a tradition on the mountain that is still celebrated in the form of a recently acquired meticulously restored Tucker Snow-Cat for display at the lodge.

Mount Hood Timberline Lodge Snowcats
Mount Hood Timberline Lodge Snowcats
Mount Hood Timberline Lodge Snowcats
Mount Hood Timberline Lodge Snowcats
Mount Hood Timberline Lodge Snowcats
Mount Hood Timberline Lodge Snowcats
Mount Hood Timberline Lodge Snowcats
Mount Hood Timberline Lodge Snowcats

Tucker Sno-Cat – Wikipedia
The Tucker Sno–Cat is a tracked vehicle or a family of tracked vehicles for snow conditions, manufactured in Medford, Oregon. Different models have been used …

The Rhododendron Inn

The Rhododendron Inn – In the early days in the communities on the south side of Mount Hood travelers on the old road to the mountain relied on the inns and roadhouses for a bed and a meal while they traveled through or played in the area. Continue reading The Rhododendron Inn