Inn Old Faithful

No, I'm not going to talk about being inside Old Faithful (though I have seen an interesting video where researchers did lower a camera into the geyser's mouth to study its plumbing), notice the extra "n".  When we planned our summer trip route through Yellowstone I thought of Old Faithful Inn.

I've loved the old National Park lodges for years.  My parents bought me a book about the park lodges (based off the PBS TV series).  It is a great coffee table book with many wonderful pictures and stories about the history of the lodges:

Stand amid soaring Douglas fir in the great hall of Glacier Park Lodge or sit in the setting sun and gaze into the Grand Canyon at El Tovar. This beautiful gift book will transport you to the majestic lodges of our national parks to relive the glory of past vacations or plan adventures anew. This book and the PBS television series of the same title (to air in spring 2002) take armchair travelers into these architectural wonders and explore the surrounding natural beauty of our national parks. Lodges, wildlife, and stunning vistas are showcased in 175 full-color and black-and-white photographs, along with historical documents from the PBS series. In his introduction, Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, offers a call to preserve this national heritage, and a portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book go toward the rehabilitation of these magnificent buildings.--from the book description on Amazon.com

Anyway, I really enjoy the National Park Lodges, especially Old Faithful Inn.  I've only seen pictures, but I would love to explore Disney's Wilderness Lodge (based on the same architectural style).  I soon discovered that you need to book your stay months (12-18 to be precise) in advance to get the reservations that you want.  Thankfully I was able to find a one-night reservation in Old Faithful Inn on the night that we were arriving in the park (June 8, 2012).  The opening I found was in the old part of the Inn with shared bathrooms.  We actually enjoyed this part of the building more than we would have the newer portions (I say newer, but they're all still decades old).  The room was dominated by wood and wood accents--it was everything that I thought it would be...and better!

A few years the rooms were all remodeled and sinks were added--or upgraded.  As you can see in the left-hand picture above the sinks resemble washbasins.  You get hot and cold running water, so you can always wash your hands or brush your teeth in the privacy of your room.  It was only a short walk down the hall to visit the bathroom--and it was very nicely decorated with stone and shiny metal features.  It looked very classy as well as old, in a good way--classic let's say.  None of my pictures really do the room justice (please pardon the unmade bed--I didn't think to take these pictures until we were leaving to check out.

Here is a video tour of the room, briefly done, again, right before we checked out.


The fixtures were all either old or they were reproductions designed to look old.

We also got to walk up a couple flights of stairs to our room and I enjoyed the walk each time.

At one point during the evening we checked into the Inn I had to run out to our car to get something.  I noticed that Old Faithful was erupting and grabbed a quick video with my iPhone.


The inn was built so that visitors driving or riding up to the front of the building would get a great view of the famous geyser.  The front porch features a large number of benches and the same great view.  I'd like to stay at the inn again sometime (for more than one day) and enjoy some time relaxing around the place.

Another reason to go back is to enjoy the fireplace.  During an earthquake in 1959 the massive central fireplace was damaged, and since then only one of the flues has been fully functional.  This summer the decision was made to refurbish the fireplace.  All of the interior bricks were taken out and the flues completely cleared.  For the first time in decades all four hearths will be able to be used.  Unfortunately our only views of the fireplace were behind plastic sheeting.

 Another area where I would like to relax (and perhaps do some writing) is the balcony areas where several old writing desks are available for use.  They look amazing and it would be fun to write letters or even jot down some notes for more blog entries from one of those chairs.

Tomorrow's post will reveal more pictures from the inside and outside of the inn along with much of its history!

~Matt