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Going up to the 2nd floor (which is actually 3 floors up) we find a mezzanine wraps around the entire perimeter of the Head House. Again, notice the huge fir beams and posts. Six massive upright posts support the roof of the Head House (in this photo one of them is just to the left of the bright windows.) They are Ponderosa Pine, each hand cut from a single tree harvested from the local forest lower on the mountain. They were shaped by hand using a broadaxe and adz. On the 2nd floor the east and west wings contain guest rooms.
The mezzanine level has several of these writing nooks with hand made writing desks. (Writing desks for guest's use are a common feature in classic old hotels.) The lithograph on the wall is "The Fog Lifts" by Raymond Skolfield and while from the depression Era, it is not original to the Lodge. The alcove doorway is yet another variation on the Timberline Arch.
View across the mezzanine in early evening. Here you can see the Ram's Head Bar on the far side of the mezzanine. The bar is not original (the Lodge was designed without a bar) and is built into what was originally an observatory. (Similar to the one you can see with the orange curtains directly below it.) Late evening light reflecting on the snow creates the blue coloration in the windows behind the bar. Notice that no light is coming through the gaps in the curtains of the observatory below the bar on the 1st floor, because it is below the snow level.
Perhaps the coolest spot in the Timberline Lodge is the Mt Jefferson Alcove on the south side of the Mezzanine (2nd floor.) At night there is a bright light outside above the window than illuminates the snow. When the snow blows and swirls up in front of the glass it looks like a huge snow-globe. Add a warm cup of Timberline's famous hot chocolate and you're all set! (It is absolutely the best hot chocolate I've ever had.) The window tables are very popular, you may have to wait a while.
Timberline Hot Chocolate. It's even better than it looks!!
This is the daytime view from the Jefferson Alcove on the Mezzanine level (Ram's Head Bar) of Timberline Lodge. Mt. Jefferson is the mountain on the left side in the distance. The pole hanging down in the middle of the window is a buttress, it supports the center of the large pane of glass to keep it from breaking during storms. The severe weather on the exposed mountain-side means additional measures such as the buttressed windows are necessary. The original design for the lodge called for 3 side-by-side windows in this space, but they were switched to this single picture window after figuring out a way to keep it from breaking.
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