In the shadow of Yellowstone's steaming geysers rises a national treasure — the Old Faithful Inn.

Standing for more than a century, it's the grandfather of national park lodges.

"It has the distinction of being considered a benchmark of national park architecture," said Ruth Quinn, who has been giving guided tours of the inn for more than 30 years, pointing out secrets hiding in plain sight.

"The architect, Robert Reamer, sent a small group of men out looking for the 'freaks of the forest,' is what we call all the funny twisted pieces," she said.

Those freaks, cut from some 10,000 trees, became the bones of the lodge in 1904.

"When it opened, they advertised it as the largest log cabin in the world," Quinn said.

It's a log cabin that has welcomed presidents, royalty and millions of t

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