Pilgrim Firs Conference and Retreat Center

I spent last weekend (10÷23÷15 — 10÷25÷15) at Pilgrim Firs. This is such a pretty oasis for a weekend trip focused on advocacy, leadership, nonprofits, and spirituality. It definitely fits right into the scenic area of the light mountains just west of Seattle. Surrounded by tall fir trees and crisp air, with no reception, it’s truly a wonderful escape. I was there with an advocacy group, called RESULTS, and there was a Men’s Church Group there on a retreat, as well. This beautiful site includes 120 wooded acres of which 40 have been developed with cabins, lodges and outdoor recreation areas for guest use.
The log cabins are designed to hold 10 people. Each cabin is assigned a name (Mathers for example) and number (1 – 11). There’s a little porch on the front. Enter the cabin and there’s a medium sized common room with benches, a small table, and a tall shelf. The shelf in our cabin held extra blankets and below it were baskets for laundry upon departure. Each side of the cabin has 3 single beds and a bunk bed, so 10 total beds, and then its own bathroom. Each bathroom has two sinks, a good sized private shower, a toilet, and plenty of space to walk around. Behind the sink are nice wood window sills, with windows that could be wound open, and then a soap dispenser to the side. Each cabin side also has plenty of towels for each person and the beds have clean sheets, blankets, and a pillow on them. The towels could certainly be softer; they’re pretty rough, but the blankets and sheets were very soft and comfortable. The bed was surprisingly comfortable! What a quality mattress for a cabin. My only other complaint about the cabins is that the lighting is too rough. It’s very bright fluorescent lights on the ceiling. Incorporate some lamps and maybe even softer towels and the cabins would be perfect.
There are nice hiking trails all around the cabin and you can hear the sounds of birds rustling through the trees. It’s just beautiful. The Madison Lodge is right on Lake Flora. You can rent canoes or kayaks to go explore the lake. We didn’t have time for that, but it was so nice to see.
During the days, we spent time at the lodge. Breakfast was served from 8am to 9am. Really good breakfast! On the first day it was eggs, pancakes, sausage, and then there was cereal and oatmeal daily. The next day had delicious crispy bacon instead. Lunch was very good: sandwiches one day and burgers the next. Lunch and dinner always had salad and each meal also included a vegetarian option. Quite impressive! Marc managed the front lodge, Madison I believe, and the cooking crews. Really friendly guy and all very nice staff. During the course of the three days we were there, I was without any personal belongings since United had lost all of my stuff. Marc was incredibly kind and accommodating to ensure I had options for communication and brightened our long days with his friendly demeanor and good quality care.
In the evening, we enjoyed exploring a little. It’s a United Church of Christ location. So, there was a small chapel, but the chapel was more a room of expression with tiles and even chairs decorated to reflect causes, social justice, support of LGBT, inspirational quotes, and more. Next to the little Chapel room there was a phone room with an old red square phone with a long windy cord. Off of the main room there was also an Art/​Game room and a Rec room with a ping ping table. We just borrowed some card games from the Art room and really enjoyed those.
Great space. I was so glad that RESULTS took advantage of such a fantastic location to remove us from all chaos and just get down to talking about our issues: health, education, and alleviating poverty.