The beauty of this area is unbelievable and epitomized by Big Four and the Ice Caves. This is the Yosemite Valley of Yosemite, so to speak. The magnificence of Big Four is the specific site that draws many folks up Mountain Loop Highway and drove the railroad tourist industry up the mountain. The Big Four Inn closed in the Great Depression, around the same time that the railway closed. It burned down about 20 years later.

Getting to the Ice Caves is a very easy 1 mile walk, with very little change in elevation (if any) and lots of resting spots. Like most of the other hikes around here that we have found, snow is an issue. We went there less than a week after the top of Mountain Loop Highway reopened, so we guessed what we were getting into. Previous to that, one had to walk along the closed highway for 2 miles then snowshoe to the caves.

Due to nearly constant avalanches, the Ice Caves are not accessible until summer time. They are formed by water running under permanent snowfields, or glaciers. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see an avalanche, but we heard a very loud and scary one. You can see the main avalanche zone on the left of the photo. Judging by the shapes of the snow, my guess is that it fell just before we were there.

The mountain has waterfalls dropping along it all over the place. Especially and a beautifully warm day between snowstorms.

Here is a view from one of the bridges crossing the Stilliguamish. By looking at a map when I got home, I figured that the mountain was probably Mt. Dickerman, but I am not sure about that.

One of the more dramatic things that I have witnessed here is a full fledged avalanche up close. They happen regularly and the avalanche zone is very clear, so it wasn't scary. It was a intense, though. Even just hearing the rumble creates a chill and it did mist me!

In late June, the avalanche season had been over for a while and the caves really started to form. This was taken in early July and is about 20 feet high. There were larger ones, but we didn't make it over to them.

Here is another neat view of the same cave.

Here are views from a scree slope above one side of the ice caves and the nearby part of the Stillaguamish Valley.