Roughly 25.5 miles East of Granite Falls Washington on the Mountain Loop Highway is another popular hiking
gem of the Mount Baker Snoqualmie National Forest called the
Big Four Ice Caves.
The Big Four Ice Caves form at the north base of the Big Four Mountain, which rises 6,153 feet above
you. This popular hike to one of the lowest siting elevation glaciers in the United States had to be taken off-line
in November of 2006 due to major flooding in the area that knocked out the wooden bridge that took visitors across the Stillaguamish
river. Three years, $400,000+ and a new aluminum bridge later the trail re-opened to visitors in late June of 2009.
The trail head rests at the big four picnic area which has a great view of the mountain face you will soon visit up close and is
home to all that is left of the Big Four Inn, the brick chimney, that burned down September 7th of 1949. The 53 room inn was once taken
over by the United States Coast Guard as a rest area for active duty personel between assignments. Old interior and exterior photo's can
be seen at the Granite Falls Historical Museum in downtown Granite Falls.
A wooden boardwalk across a marsh area starts your 1 mile 200 foot elevation hike to the ice caves. Near the start is a paved section which
is some of the original sidewalks from the old site so your walking on a bit of history. The walk through the forest is easy enough for the
young and old members of your party. When I took the hike in August of 2009 shortly after the re-opening of the trail I even saw a couple pushing
two baby strollers up the hill. I probably would not suggest this as it's rocky at the top but to each their own.
Near the top is a rather impressive bit of work by mother nature. A rather large swath of trees taken out by what I
hear was a avalanche event in 07' and 08'. An avalanche of snow is my guess. It damaged a section of the trail itself and they have had to create a new section of the trail
in order to get you through this particular section of the trail.
By all accounts the caves themselves form in late July and August and are caused by heat vents under the ice field. The end of the trail drops
you at the doorstep of the ice field. It is not uncommon for you to see visitors scrambling around on the snow and creeping up to the entrances
of the tunnels but I do not suggest you enter the caves as the snow can give way at any time. I witnessed a man being carried back down
the trail by 2 friends after he slipped and fell on the ice and gashed open his leg really badly so use caution.
If you travel around to the west side of the field there is a rather large cave that has formed (August 2009) that is rather impressive to
see. I personally had never gone around the bend before so have been missing it all these years. There is also a lot of wild flowers growing on this side of the
snow field so that is something to photograph as well. The formal trail over to this side is a bit hard to follow in place so it can be rather entertaining just to watch all the people
trying different ways to make their way over there. Some go low across the snow field, others go high up along the hill. I go high up in order to get a great, and different, perspective of the snow fields.
As was mentioned earlier, due to a nasty flood in 2006 which wiped out the old wooden bridge near the start of the trail to get across the Stillaguamish River, the trail had been closed for three long years. It re-opened in late
June of 2009 after a new $400,000 plus aluminum bridge was put into place. It sits higher up then the old wooden bridge, and at 224 feet long is longer then the old bridge out of necessity due to flood waters
eroding away the banks of the river.
- Scott
