Snowshoe Big Four Ice Caves

Monday April 15, 2013

Emily is finally getting to snowshoe.

Watch out for crazy asians in these Pacific Northwest parts. 

awww 

Before we begin group shot 

Let's do this. 

Foggy out but starting to make out a mountain face beyond as we hike along the closed portion of the Mountain Loop Highway. 

Wasn't a complete winter wonderland with snow covered trees, but this was a great beginner snowshoe trail. 

Big Four Mountain in the distance 

Our first indication that the snow is getting deeper. Notice its covering the gate into this rest stop. 

Snow angels! 

Big Four Mountain, here we come. 

Joe is either not happy it's misting or that Jackie keeps stopping to take pictures. 

Jackie & Joe 

Matt & Sunny

We made it to our turn off the road into the Big Four Picnic Area. 

Snacktime! 

Slowly we began to make out the profile of Big Four. 

Big Four Mountain's elevation is 6,134 feet or 1.87 miles.

My favorite shot from Big Four Picnic area with remnants of the burned down Big Four Inn fireplace. 

Joe stepped in some unpacked snow and sunk down to his waist in snow. 

Big Four 

Joe, Emily & Matt 

Jason sunk. 

Then when Jason attempted to jump off the sign into the snow, he fell backward. 

Attempt #2. 

I barely made it in the group shot. 

Second try Emily fell over trying to show off her snowshoes. 

We crossed over some elevated boardwalks crossing marshy area created by active beavers. 

The ice caves trail continues through the woods. 

First bridge crossing packed with snow up to the height of the railings. 

We crossed over the South Fork Stillaguamish River on a metal bridge. 

And then another wood bridge crossing 

Entering Avalanche Zone! 

Emily is about to take Chance out with her hiking pole 

This was a fun slide for the ladies, not so much for the guys 

Snow avalanches tumble down the mountain’s steep rock face and accumulate in the bowl-shaped cirque on its north flank. We never saw any but we sure could hear the thunderous roar of an avalanche crashing down As temperatures heat up, the melting snow works its way through the debris pile, creating small channels & allowing a way for warm air to flow. As more snow & ice melts & more warm air penetrates, eventually forming cave-like openings. At times the cave may become quite large.

Our camera batteries died at this point but we were still able to get a good group shot here. 

Matt & Sunny at Big Four 

Big Four Face 

This is one massive mountain face 

Jason & Emily at Big Four 

Jackie & Joe at Big Four 

Emily in snowshoes at Big Four 

Jason at Big Four 

As the guys took pictures, Joe and I were getting very nervous. We were standing in an active avalanche area, 2 days after 2 other snowshoers died in separate avalanches in the South Cascades area. Then we noticed the dark, dark clouds coming and rain beginning again. 

Time to go boys! 

And then we see lightning and very, very quickly after that LOUD thunder! Less than a mile from us! I’m trying to remain calm hoping that the sudden noise did not trigger an avalanche. I lead the snowshoe crew as fast as I can to get out of the avalanche zone. One of the boy scouts in the group wanted to wait out the thunderstorm on the last wood bridge, but that area scared me too much since no trees still had any tops left to them. It was obvious to see an avalanche had come through that area before. Why wait out the storm you ask? We have to cross an all metal bridge to get back home! We waited out the storm under a grouping of trees. It was a good thing the whole crowd had proper rain gear for the hike. Even though we didn’t see the ice caves, this still was a great snowshoe experience to see the massive mountain face.

After 15 minutes past with no thunder or lightning, we decided to cross the bridges. No stopping for pictures this time. Let’s just say it was a much quicker walk back to the car. We ate leftovers at the house while all our gear aired out for our 4 friends to pack up to take home back to North Carolina. It was yet again another great trip of adventures with Jason & Emily visiting. It was great to finally get to know Matt’s wife Sunny better & share our love for our current home with them.