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

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

A View from The Roof of Cloud Cap Inn

A View from The Roof of Cloud Cap Inn – Circa 1900.

Cloud Cap Inn was built in 1889 and opened August 6th of the same year. It was built by William Ladd, a Portland banker and C.E.S. Wood a Portland attorney. It was Woods wife, Nannie, who named the hotel.

Cloud Cap Inn
Cloud Cap Inn

Prior to building the Inn they bought the road and created the Mt. Hood Stage Co. The road needed improvements before building could begin. Chinese laborers were employed in the project. A stretch of road referred to as “China Fill” was a 22-percent grade and was a challenge to the early automobiles attempting the trip. The original road didn’t follow today’s road. As you drive up to the Inn you can still see the old road intersect the new occasionally. It ran along the ridge between Evans Creek and Crystal Springs Creek.

Cloud Cap Inn
Cloud Cap Inn

The same architectural firm that designed Cloud Cap Inn designed the Forestry Building for the Lewis and Clark Exposition in Portland in 1905. All of the logs came from around the building site. Cables were used to hold the building down during high winds. Wind did end up blowing down one of the original chimneys in the early 1900’s. Water was supplied to the Inn from Tilly Jane Creek, 1200 feet away.

Business was slow in the beginning. The Inn closed down in 1890 and Ladd and Wood turned over operation of the Inn to James Langille’s wife, Sarah, nick named Tansana, in 1891. Sarah ran Cloud Cap at a much simpler level and was able to operate at a profit. Her two son’s Will and Doug worked at the Inn as mountain guides.

Cloud Cap Inn Cabins
Cloud Cap Inn Cabins. These cabins are no longer there but you can still see the steel cables that were used to anchor them down due to the strong winds.

A tradition was started where when a person made a summit ascent they were allowed to take their personal business card and thumbtack it to the ceiling. This was done by putting the tack through the card and backing it up with a silver dollar and throwing it up to the ceiling.

In 1894 Ladd brought telephone wire and equipment to install a phone system at the Inn. Will Langille installed the equipment and ran the wire.

Cloud Cap Inn
Cloud Cap Inn

Will left Oregon to join the Alaskan gold rush. Doug stayed on as guide until 1900 when he joined the U.S. Geological Survey. Sarah’s nephew, Horace Mecklem came to help out after her son’s left. Sarah then hired two European guides until 1903. Mark Weygant went to work for Sarah in 1904 and worked for her for several years. Sarah retired from operating the Inn successfully in 1907 and turned operation over to Horace Mecklem and his wife Olive.

The first automobile driven to Cloud Cap arrived in 1907. It was a one cylinder Cadillac. After the trip Mecklem used a Pierce Arrow as a stage from Hood River to the Inn, but the auto could only go to the China Fill, but it cut down the time from Hood River from 8 hours to 3.

Photographers Rock
Photographers Rock

Dorsey Smith assumed the operation of the Inn around 1910(?). Homer Rogers, who ran a lodge in Parkdale, bought the Inn in 1919 from Ladd for $5,000. And a long-term contract from the Forest Service was made.

In 1925 the government was planning the Mount Hood Loop Highway and considering building a newer and bigger inn, similar to Rainier’s Paradise Hotel. They pressured Rodgers to make improvements to the road or lose his permit. Homer ended up selling the Inn to a group of people headed by J.C. Ainsworth. They hired Dorsey Smith to operate the Inn until a new one was built.

A Lenticular Cloud over Cloud Cap Inn
A Lenticular Cloud over Cloud Cap Inn

The plans for a new Grand Lodge didn’t bring the funds needed by private investors. Enthusiasm for the project was briefly renewed when the Mt. Hood committee came up with plans for a tramway to the summit of Mount Hood. But opposition from the Mazama climbing club and groups concerned with the environmental affects and safety killed that project too.

In 1927 Dorsey Smith turned the Inn’s operation over to Noyes Tyrell, who operated the very successful Tyrell’s Tavern near Bonneville. He ran it until 1932 when it stood empty for about a year.

Cloud Cap Inn Interior
Cloud Cap Inn Interior contemporary image.

Boyd French Sr. leased it around 1934 until the war caused it to close its operation. The Mt. Hood Road and Wagon Company sold the Inn in 1942 to the Forest Service for $2,000. Dorsey Smith was the representative in the transaction, ending his long association with Cloud Cap. Boyd Smith used the Inn as a part time residence until after the war. Attempts to operate the Inn failed after that and in 1950 the Forest Service was considering tearing down the Inn, as it had fallen into disrepair.

The Crag Rats, a Hood River based climbing club, after a struggle with the government, secured permission to use the Inn as a clubhouse and a base for their snow surveys. The Crag Rats went to work repairing the old building and

The View From Cloud Cap Inn
The View From Cloud Cap Inn

maintain it to this day. In 1974 Cloud Cap Inn and Vista House were placed, by the state, on the list of historic places.

Cloud Cap Inn is accessible by car via a rough dirt road when it’s not closed due to snow. Hiking trails and camping are available in the area as well as majestic views of Mount Hood from the timber line at 6000′, the same elevation as Timberline Lodge on the opposite side of the mountain.

Cloud Cap Inn Visitors
Cloud Cap Inn Visitors
Cloud Cap Inn Flyer
Cloud Cap Inn Flyer

 

Cloud Cap Inn Flyer
Cloud Cap Inn Flyer
Cloud Cap – CragRats
The Crag Rats occupy and maintain historic Cloud Cap Inn, located at 6,000 feet on the north side of Mt Hood, under a special use permit from the US forest …

Welches Ranch, Welches Oregon

Here’s a great early view of the old Welches Ranch at Welches Oregon.

This view is after Sam had gone. You can see the store, post office, the dance hall and the white canvas tourist tents lined up along the road to the left of the Welch home. Billy’s cow pasture, which is now the golf course at the resort, is at the left side while his orchard can be seen on the right side of the photo.

When this photo was taken there was only a sign out at the Barlow Road, where the modern shopping center is presently located, directing people to turn south and drive to Welches Ranch one mile away.

Snowplow on Mt Hood Loop Highway

Snowplow on Mt Hood Loop Highway circa 1950-ish. The winters of 1949-1951 were big snow season’s on Mount Hood.

This scene is most likely on the road to Timberline Lodge.

Mt hood loop highway snowplow
Mt hood loop highway snowplow
Let’s Preserve the Old Mt. Hood Highway as a Trail, and Build 2 …
Aug 18, 2015 Parts of the long-abandoned Mt. Hood Loop Highway near Government Camp in Oregon should be preserved for both recreational and historic …

To Mount Hood – Through Oregon’s Lolo Pass Road

Ford Times August 1958 – To Mount Hood Through Oregon’s Lolo Pass

Here’s a great story from 1958 about driving through Oregon’s Lolo Pass Road back when it first opened. It tells about how, after it was determined that the area was not a part of the Bull Run Lake watershed, the road was built in 1955 opened to the public from Spring until Fall for fantastic views of  Mount Hood’s west side.

Ford Times August 1958
Ford Times August 1958

 

Ford Times August 1958
Ford Times August 1958

 

Ford Times August 1958
Ford Times August 1958

 

Ford Times August 1958
Ford Times August 1958
Lolo Pass, Mt Hood Oregon – AllTrips
Rugged, scenic Lolo Pass crosses visitors over Oregon’s Cascade Mountain Range near breathtaking Mt. Hood on a route once traversed by Oregon Trail …

Oneonta Bluff and Tunnel

Oneonta Bluff prior to The Construction of the Historic Columbia River Highway

Here’s a rare view of Oneonta Bluff and the old railway bed prior to the construction of the Historic Columbia River Highway.

Oneonta Bluff and Railroad Tracks
Oneonta Bluff and Railroad Tracks

Once construction of the road took place the construction of the tunnel allowed automobile passage through the basalt promontory. In time increased traffic and larger cars and trucks necessitated the relocation of the railroad and the highway to allow the cars to bypass the tunnel altogether. The tunnel was filled in 1948.

Oneonta Gorge Tunnel
Oneonta Gorge Tunnel

Covered up and virtually forgotten, many people would stand on the old bridge that seemed to direct traffic directly into a solid rock wall.

In 2009, as a part of the restoration of the remaining segments of the old road, the tunnel was excavated and restored, including the wooden cribbing and rock facades.

Today the old tunnel is a pedestrian passage and witness to the old Columbia River’s history.

Columbia River Highway at Oneonta Gorge
Columbia River Highway at Oneonta Gorge