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 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2010 1:35 am |
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Local News 
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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. |
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COMMENTS
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I took this hike ealier this summer. It's really nice and there's a good path all the way.
It costs $5 to park at the trailhead since it's in a national forest. Passes can be bought at the Lynnwood Visitors Center or REI.
You can see some of my pictures here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/garryd40/sets/72157624495873844/show/
Garry Klouzal | Jul 26, 2010 7:01 am | 3 replies | Request removal
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Wow, those are some fantastic shots. Nice work.
Jacques Klahaya | Jul 26, 2010 5:38 pm | Request removal
Thank you for the positive and helpful message. Your pictures are fantastic!
Think Twice | Jul 27, 2010 9:02 am | Request removal
Great pictures Gary thanks for sharing.
J P | Jul 31, 2010 8:31 am | Request removal
Very cool bridge....a meth tweakys dream....i know there gotta be some tweakies trying to figure out how to steal it !
kyle somes | Jul 26, 2010 8:24 am | 1 replies | Request removal
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Thank you for the humorous spin! Hope the "scrappers" keep their claws off!!
whizdumb None | Jul 28, 2010 12:29 pm | Request removal
I've been following the Herald online for a little over a year, and it is so disheartening that, no matter how positive a story may be, comments usually tend towards negativity.
Yes, the bridge cost money to replace: everything is our society costs money. If you know a way to replace a bridge for free, let the folks responsible for our national parks know.
The young boy who is quoted is expressing his awe at nature's power, yet you have to tear him down? Would you feel differently if that boy were your own son/grandson?
There is a lot to be upset about these days. Why not a read a story like this and just be glad there are people out there who make preserving the natural beauty of Washington, and preserving its accessibility, a priority.
SBR | Jul 26, 2010 3:16 pm | 7 replies | Request removal
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"The young boy who is quoted is expressing his awe at nature's power, yet you have to tear him down? Would you feel differently if that boy were your own son/grandson?"
The boy was not being "torn down", get a grip. Read it again. His words were the reflection of his programing, he didn't reach that conclusion on his own. And if he were my son or grandson i would have him in a school that was not run by militant environmentalist Chicken Littles.
The youngster was simply repeating what he has been propagandized by his teachers to believe; an inordinate hysterical fear of a mythical man-caused catastrophic glacial melt.
I'm all for "preserving nature" but not at the cost of filling young skulls full of mush with anti-capitalist anti-American leftist eco-fascism posing as (specious) science.
Blake, i feel for ya little brother, your teachers are lieing to you, the Big 4 Ice Caves will be there for many more thousands of years.
Bob Dodge | Jul 26, 2010 4:24 pm | Request removal
"I'm all for "preserving nature" but not at the cost of filling young skulls full of mush with anti-capitalist anti-American leftist eco-fascism posing as (specious) science."
Anti-American to love American and all of its beauty? I don't think so. You sir are no daisy at all. I hope you can find something beautiful to enjoy in life someday. If not, please leave the rest of us the hell alone.
H White | Jul 26, 2010 10:24 pm | Request removal
"Anti-American to love American and all of its beauty? I don't think so. You sir are no daisy at all. I hope you can find something beautiful to enjoy in life someday. If not, please leave the rest of us the hell alone."
No daisy? I'll take that as a compliment, i think...though i would have preferred huckleberry.
"...find something beautiful to enjoy in life..."?
Would you allow me to enjoy the Ice Caves? I mean, of course, until they melt and all we have left up there is a pile of rocks.
Get a grip. Read it again.
Cordially,
Nature Lover Bob.
Bob Dodge | Jul 27, 2010 9:06 am | Request removal
Please, Bob, I invite you to correct me if I'm wrong. Doesn't the boy say "I hope they never melt away." He is not saying anything to debunk or support a Global Warming theory. He's just saying he hopes they are there forever. In addition, the first pargraph of the story talks about how the snowfield has receded in the past few years. To a twelve-year-old boy, that may be the only noticeable change in his lifetime, which would lead him to think the caves are melting.
People need to learn to listen to and observe what others say before leaping to conclusions.
A school's responsibility is to expose kids to various types of thinking and to allow them to make up their own minds; that is real learning. Maybe some adults need to follow that same example. Listen to others, observe different cultures and ways of thinking before making any judgments.
SBR | Jul 27, 2010 3:17 pm | Request removal
"...boy say "I hope they never melt away." He is not saying anything to debunk or support a Global Warming theory. He's just saying he hopes they are there forever..."
Okay, maybe he came up with that on his own but with the state of public education these days and the amount of PC indoctrination that has replaced true education the odds favor that he simply repeated what he has been preached to about glacier melt.
"...school's responsibility is to expose kids to various types of thinking and to allow them to make up their own minds..."
Would that include requiring children to view Al Gore's debunked eco-propaganda film? And let Al Gore make up their minds for them?
How convinient.
"Listen to others, observe different cultures and ways of thinking before making any judgments."
In other words, if one's opinion differs with thou's then one must not have listened to others, observed different cultures and ways of thinking before "judging"?
How convinient for thou.
When did you become in charge of the rules?
Bob Dodge | Jul 27, 2010 5:10 pm | Request removal
Clearly you are OBSESSED with your Tea Party politics. Take them some place else, THANKS!
George BushCheney | Jul 27, 2010 8:05 pm | Request removal
Tea Party?
And here all this time i thought we were discussing elitist Al Gore's fantastical eco-fascist world view, glacial melt, the Big 4 Ice Caves' imminent doom and PC indoctrination in government run schools.
Tea Party? That was a good one, George. Yer killin' us here.
Bob Dodge | Jul 28, 2010 9:58 am | Request removal
Wow, what is everyone's problem? It's just a good story about a fun place to hike too!
The Bachelorette | Jul 27, 2010 9:52 pm | 0 replies | Request removal
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It sure would've been nice if you had quoted your source, the WTA page...
http://www.wta.org/trail-news/news/big-four-ice-caves-trail-reopens
It isn't carbon copy plagiarism, but gimme a break, they wrote the bulk of this article for you, all you did was swap a few words out.
R N | Jul 25, 2010 5:25 pm | 1 replies | Request removal
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It is understandable that concrete facts contained in the press release at the link above would be the same facts reported in the story. They should be the same; as reported above, the Washington Trails Association was one of the primary sources for the story.
The Herald regrets any confusion the story may have caused some of our readers.
Robert Frank
City editor
Robert Frank | Jul 26, 2010 4:09 pm | Request removal
I am glad the trail is reopened. It is a very nice hike.. But did you catch this "Funding for the repairs came from an emergency relief program for federally owned roads."
Ever wonder why our roads are never fixed? Ever wonder why our state dept is in the 100s of millions, Ever wonder why our federal dept is in the trillions of dollars? Creative funding.. It is nice the trail is fixed but it is theft and fraud to use this money for the trail..... Spendocrats are in charge.. vote them out.
Gene Simmons | Jul 25, 2010 4:53 pm | 1 replies | Request removal
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oh please. A trail which which carries thousands of foot traffic every year deserves just as much funding rights as the roads do which take people there. There is no "fraud" here, except in your politically corrupt state of mind.
cme everett | Jul 26, 2010 1:07 pm | Request removal
"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."
Can't read, can't write, can't arithmetic but boy howdy i'll bet dollars to doughnuts this young skull full of mush can recite the New Age Social-Democrat Hope & Change Mother Gaia Earth In The Lurch American Capitalism Is Melting The Glaciers Pledge of Allegiance, backwards and forwards.
Bob Dodge | Jul 25, 2010 9:56 pm | 2 replies | Request removal
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Wow Bob, way to go! Let's pick on a 12 year old who is excited about enjoying nature and all of its beauty. Glaciers ARE melting, that's a FACT, not a left wing conspiracy. It's WHY they are melting that is in debate. Turn your attention to some real news for a change. No doubt it took a village of idiots to raise a curmudgeon like you.
H White | Jul 26, 2010 7:45 am | Request removal
"Glaciers ARE melting, that's a FACT, not a left wing conspiracy. It's WHY they are melting that is in debate."
I thought the "debate" had been settled, it was Al Gore's hot breath that was the cause.
Bob Dodge | Jul 26, 2010 9:21 am | Request removal