Big Four Ice Caves — Sunday, May. 10, 2015

North Cascades > Mountain Loop Highway

The Big 4 Ice Caves is an easy day hike, a short ways from Seattle. The trail head is an easy drive up Mountain Loop Highway and is clearly marked and easy to find. At the trail head, there is ample parking in addition to a picnic area and well maintained camping style toilets. There was no obstacles to the trail and the trail itself presented only a minor increase in elevation. However, the trail was fairly crowded, so I would recommend arriving in the morning or evening or planning to share the trail. The path presented gorgeous mountain views, old growth forest, a crystal clear river and spectacular water fall. A number of wildflowers were currently blooming including both white and purple trilliums, small lupine, violets, salmon berries and bleeding hearts. At the summit the ice cave itself was still quite large, but is showing active signs of deterioration. There was an a small collapse towards the entrance of the cave, making the dangers of entering the cave obvious. Although rocky, the summit was easy to explore and offered numerous large boulders to sit on to have a snack and enjoy the view.