MFI visited our friends Claudia Schlosser and Nick Fermor back in 2012 when they lived in Kirkland, WA near Seattle. During her visit, they took her to see the Big Four Mountain Ice Caves. As we departed our tour of Roozen Gaarde tulip farms, she asked me how far it was to the ice caves. When I advised it was only 66 miles, she exclaimed, “We’re definitely going.”
The drive from I-5 into the mountains was breathtaking, at least once we entered the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest and got onto the Mountain Loop Highway. Normally, this highway goes well into the western section of the Cascade Range; however, at this time of year, some of the passes were still blocked by snow. As a result, we drove to within 2.5 miles of the parking lot for the caves before encountering a closed and locked gate. Two bicyclists who had just returned from the caves confirmed the distance we had to hike was 7 miles round trip. To my shock, MFI (self-proclaimed hiking hater) agreed to the hike and persisted, “I must show you the ice caves.”
We saw beautiful mountain and South Fork Stillaquamish River scenery while driving to the locked gate.
MFI tightened her hiking boots and off we went. The scenery en route to the ice caves parking lot was equally remarkable, and of course, we were now within nature as opposed to whizzing through while comfortably seated inside Sid. As usual, I took more pictures and made a few videos to capture and share our experience.
We arrived at the parking lot in about an hour. There, we stood on the spot where long before the Mountain Loop Road existed, the Everett & Monte Cristo Railway brought celebrities and wealthy vacationers to The Big Four Inn. Brothers Wyatt and Bethel Rucker, well-to-do Everett area businessmen and outdoor enthusiasts, operated the railway and built the 3-story, 50-room inn for $150,000 in 1921. The brothers also constructed a 9-hole golf course, tennis courts, and created a hiking trail, which afforded the fittest guests a chance to go see the ice caves.
The Inn fell on hard times through the depression, but had a brief reprise with new ownership and replacement of the railway by the Mountain Loop Highway in 1936. Business declined again after the military finished using the Inn for training during World War II. Tragically, a vacant inn burned to the ground in 1949. The only part left standing was the once-grand masonry fireplace.
Fortunately, interest in the ice caves has stood the test of time. So much so, the Forest Service was given jurisdiction and made significant trail improvements; such as, providing boardwalks, an aluminum river crossing, wooden creek crossings, and lower-maintenance trails. They maintain and repair the trail annually. We were ready at last for the 2-mile round-trip hike and 200-feet elevation climb, so MFI could show me the ice caves.
The trail traversed a marshy area, passed through a light forest before crossing the South Fork Sittlaquamish River, then climbed through some dense old forest growth, finally opening onto the expansive base of the mountain.
The hike ended after a short distance across very deep snow, still left after months of avalanches. We were cautioned by a 4th set of warning signs to not continue any closer. At that point, we were over 3,000′ below the snowcapped mountain summit and much too close to even see above maybe 1000′.
The ice caves should have been straight in front of us at a distance of about 3 football fields. A waterfall was draining into the top rear of a gigantic field of piled snow. Beneath that pile, ice caves were still forming.
The waterfall responsible for creating the ice caves was just one of many pouring off the mountain. The volume of flowing water from melting snow was impressive, especially when considering how much snow was still high above us.
I suddenly heard a strange and different noise while taking pictures and videos. My eyes told me I was seeing a new volume of water falling parallel to that main waterfall. But as I started videoing it, I could hear and eventually see that it was actually the snow and ice of an avalanche. We were witnessing the very real danger behind all the warning signs. (My online research revealed ice cave deaths occurred in 1998, 2010, and 2015. In every instance, the hikers were struck by falling ice.)
MFI was disappointed we had come too early to see any ice caves, but I was thrilled by the overall experience. She subsequently pulled up the photos of her visit from June 2010. I had looked at these years earlier; however, I could now see and appreciate them with a proper context. I thanked her profusely for making the 7-mile hike to show me the ice caves.
