Big Four Ice Caves

What an amazing day! For someone who is overweight and not in the best physical shape, I have been determined to get my exercise this summer by taking up hiking. I was thrilled to hear about the Ice Caves from a friend and got a group of girls, including a 7 year old, together for this hike. What I saw today took my breath away. Granted this is the first time in a LONG time that I have been on a trail, I haven't seen such beauty in quite a while. I loved crossing over the river on the steel bridge as we entered the trail. Amazing trees, nursing logs, plants of all types, and the blue sky guided our way up to the Ice Caves. Simple tennis shoes did the trick for me but I'm very tempted to invest in some hiking boots which would have been helpful while crossing some "make shift" bridges or rocks to the caves.

I was under the impression that this was a flat hike so that took me by surprise. While the hike was easy enough, I am a beginner and the switchbacks and incline in the heat were a little tough and required me to stop a couple times just to catch my breath. I felt a little embarrassed as kids passed me by with no problem but everyone has to start somewhere, right :)

When we reached the ice caves I was blown away and it made the incline there worth every single step. Nothing is more refreshing than standing at the caves' entrance and feeling the gush of cold air whoosh across your entire body. Of course we took tons of pics and I'm still beaming with joy.

The hike down was awesome, isn't it always?! We made sure to hike down to the river for a little snack and water before hiking back to the car. My only downfall of the day was wiping my hand across a bunch of nettles within the first 5 minutes of our hike :)

This is a great hike, especially for beginners! I hope you have as much fun as I did!!