Mayhem at Mount Baker Lodge
I started this book once before and stopped, the idea was sound bringing a hotel that burned down in 1931 back to life so that I could kill someone in it. But the story I had wasn't meshing really so Mayhem at Mount Baker Lodge had sat there for months. While I was away though an idea for a new plot surfaced and I'm hopefully getting it written while pushing out some titles that have sat there too long waiting for publication.
Mount Baker Lodge was opened in 1927 after several years of the Bellingham locals and developers working to push it being built. The road was only finished in 1926. Bert Huntoon took many photos while advocating for the facilities. It only was in operation for 4 years before a fire started 1931 and within hours the lodge was no more. The annex remained and was still used as a hotel for some time after. Clark Gable and Loretta Young filmed Call of the Wild in Heather Meadows in 1935. I had seen photos of the lodge around Bellingham several times and I just had to bring it back to life so that someone could be killed there. The idea and research started before I found a book at the Mount Baker visitor center, The Grand Lady of Mount Baker by Michael Impero a local historian. He had pulled together all I had found, plus far more than I could imagine. After WW2 winter sports was pushed more and the ski hill opened, but there has never been another lodge in Heather Meadows.
