On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month... I rolled out of bed. Got to the big four ice caves picnic trailhead before 4 PM, the trail is generally in good condition--the 'accessibility' work (or whatever insanity it is) has removed all the steps on the trail, added a few new not-yet-open, bridges, and made a few sections much muddier than before. Oh, and a tree fell parallel to the trail, ripping out most of a short section. Snow is melted all the way out in some places, and the caves are enormous, the mini-crevasses numerous. The furthest cave is the most spectacular. Waterfalls are partly frozen, but were also breaking off in cascades of ice.

Weather good - little too chilly for shorts standing right in front of the caves though. Ice caves still there - mountains looked great. Trail a little muddy in places. Some great work been done on the board walk part of the trail - kudos to the people who have worked on it this summer. Lots of people ignoring the signs and going in. One small group inside trying to cause one to collapse - such a shame, spoiled the photographs of the best looking cave as well as putting themselves and others at risk.

Oh dear, trip number three this year for me up the strenuous big four ice caves trail. This time was the most crowded yet, it being a Saturday afternoon. The trail construction indicated earlier by signs at the base seems to be well under way--it appears that they're trying to make the whole trail wheelchair accessible, though it will still be quite a climb for a wheelchair. Lots of people around and in (!) the caves, I'd of love to have seen the look on people's faces when we heard the loud crack of something collapsing later in the day. (We were out of site of the main area at that time.)

Dry, unobstructed trails with high river views. Main cave was 5 feet tall with a good size stream emerging. Cascading waterfalls aplenty surrounding the glacier. Do not go in the caves! We were ticketed $5 for parking at the trailhead without a Trail Park Pass, but it was worth it.

Drove up towards Barlow Pass in search of the sun (clearly the grey skies have clouded my mind). Didn't find it, and the ice caves beckoned (come hither, where all is white...). Started out around 6PM from the basically empty picnic lot in the drizzle, encountered two other returning parties on the way up the wet but otherwise fine trail. Remarkably, on entering the basin, the rain stopped. What a spectacular site. Not much snow compared to last December, and no avalanches seen (may have heard one on the way up). There are ice caves a small child might be able to fit in if they ignored the forest service sign placed right at the snow's edge. Lots of waterfalls, birds, flowers. I counted at least 10 flower species, including lupine, bleeding heart, and some berries. After sitting for about half an hour, it started to drizzle again, and I returned to the road, itself lined with flowers, most notably foxglove.