Rediscover the Big Four ice caves near Verlot

VERLOT -- If you haven't hiked up to the beloved ice caves in a few years, you might be surprised at how much the glacier-like snowfield has receded. This is the first full summer since 2006 that tourists from around the world have been able to visit the caves.

The floods of November

2006 carved out a wider riverbed and washed away the trail bridge across the South Fork Stillaguamish River.

A new $425,000 bridge opened July 1 last year, allowing hikers access to one of the most popular sights in Snohomish County and arguably the best-used trail in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

The two-mile, round-trip hike is designated a National Recreation Trail, and it's one that is trodden by thousands of people every week.

The new aluminum bridge has supports that sit above the bridge deck, so if another flood comes crashing through, log and rock debris is less likely to take out the bridge. Funding for the repairs came from an emergency relief program for federally owned roads.

The upper end of the trail was damaged by heavy snow and avalanches during the winters of 2007 and 2008. More work is planned to complete repairs on the trail, but meanwhile it's fascinating to see all the timber that crashed when those avalanches hit.

This is the time of year when people try to climb up the ice mounds or walk into the caves.

Washington Trails Association officials caution hikers to never, ever, enter these ice caves, no matter how safe they might seem. That can be a tough message for some Snohomish County locals who ventured inside the caves when they were kids. Remember, though, people have been killed by falling ice at the Big Four caves.

That's the message for people who stop by the Darrington Ranger District's Verlot visitors center.

"Last summer, we had some bad accidents," said Camellia Kor, who works at the visitors center. "People didn't pay attention to our warnings not to go into the caves or climb on the piles of ice and snow."

A little more than a week ago, 21 middle school-age kids from the Alderwood and Edmonds Boys & Girls Clubs ate their lunches in the cool air rushing off the 4,000-foot north wall of the Big Four Mountain and out of the ice caves. Water running off the mountain top cascaded down the ice flow and caused leaks in the roof of the caves.

A group of boys standing near the opening of one of the smaller ice caves were startled when a chunk of ice abruptly and loudly broke off the roof of the cave.

Blake Stauffer, 12, an Alderwood Middle School student, was a returning visitor to the ice caves.

"I believe that all of these beautiful ice caves could be gone someday, and that would be very sad," Blake said. "I hope they never melt away."

His classmate Lacy Nguyen, also 12, said the caves might inspire an art project.

"The caves are unique and formed by nature. The texture in the caves is very cool," Lacy said.

Repeated winter and spring avalanches slam down the walls of the mountainside and pile tremendous amounts of snow at the base of Big Four. The low-elevation ice caves are formed by stream channels under the melting icy snowfield. In the summer many waterfalls also crash down those same mountain walls, helping to hollow out the caves.

Tourists have marveled at the ice caves for more than 100 years.

In the early part of the last century, people used to ride a train up to Big Four, where a grand hotel housed them while they golfed, dined, enjoyed the inspiring view of the 6,000-foot Big Four Mountain and, of course, walked up to the ice caves. All that remains of the hotel now is a big fireplace chimney. The resort grounds have reverted back to a meadow that has become a popular picnic stop along the Mountain Loop Highway.

One of the best things about the caves is that if it's a hot day, the cool breezes rushing out of the caves can thoroughly relieve a sweaty hiker.

That's one of the things the Blayney family from Nebraska likes most about their annual visit to Big Four. Earlier this month, 12 family members, ages 6 to 66, and four leashed dogs made the trek to the base of the mountain.

"I've been to the Rocky Mountains before," said Jordan Blayney, 15, of Lincoln, Neb. "But there's not anything like these ice caves. I love coming here."

When Jordan visits Snohomish County, he and his family stay with his aunt and uncle, Rhonda and John Rodgers of Arlington.

"I use to come up here as a kid," John Rodgers, 38, said. "It's a good hike for all ages and the reward is a look at a natural phenomenon that's different every year. The ice caves are very memorable."



Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427, gfiege@heraldnet.com.

Getting there

Located about 25 miles east of Granite Falls, the Big Four Mountain ice caves trail head and picnic area is along the Mountain Loop Highway at the site of what once was the Big Four Hotel.

For more information, call the Darrington Ranger District's Verlot visitors center at 360-691-7791 or go to www.fs.fed.us/r6/mbs/about/drd.shtml.