Big Four Ice Caves 03-10-2019

AppleWatch Stats:  6.73 miles RT (includes the closed road mileage), 310 ft of elevation gain.

I decided to try out snowshoes for the first time today.  The road to the Ice Caves is closed just over 2 miles out, and everything is under snow.  I wasn't sure what the conditions would be like for the dogs, so I left the fuzzy adventurers at home.

I was amazed at how much snow was out there!  It was a gorgeous but icy drive, and luckily I got there before all the less considerate people parked all the way around the turnaround.... the one that says 'no parking after this sign.'  I mentioned it to a couple people that were still there, but not sure it did much good.

The road after that barricade is under a deceptively large quantity of snow.  The snowmobilers have packed it down nicely, so I did about a half mile on my snowshoes on the fluffy side of the road and then gave it up and just carried them the rest of the hike.

While learning about snowshoeing I heard about snow bombs - not something I had considered before, but looking up in the branches I could see that they could be a considerable danger if they fell on someone.  From small pumpkin sized chunks of snow, to larger armchair sized ones, they perched there, slowly melting and it's a good idea to keep an eye out when you're walking under branches to avoid going under them if possible.

Just over 2 miles and I reached the picnic area trail head.  This was such a gorgeous day!  The sky was super blue, the sun turned everything into jewels, and the trail was also hard packed by hikers and easy to follow.  Bless the forest service for leaving those bathrooms unlocked too!  If I had to leave the trail I would have been up to my armpits in snow.

As you walk along the trail you could see where people had stepped alongside the packed part and some of those postholes were over three feet deep.  I found that if I had to step off to let someone by, it was best to kind of stomp around in a wider area to pack the snow a little before I put my weight onto it.

When I got up to the ice caves (not that you could see any caves buried under that much white stuff!) it was so beautiful!  There was a very loud group of people unfortunately though that really detracted from the stunning view.  I did see one avalanche while I was up there.  Just a small one thank goodness.  You can't really get as close as you can normally, and that is a good thing.  That whole basin is a dangerous area to be in.  The cliffs covered with snow and silhouetted against the blue sky was heart-breakingly beautiful, and there were places that massive icicles had formed up high and shone with an aqua color that my camera sadly couldn't pick up.

There were a lot of birds singing, but I didn't get a great view of many of them.  At the old fireplace I noticed some orange birds fluttering around on the stones.  I had to wait until I got home and to my books to ID them - red crossbills!  Beautiful colors, but sure blended in with those stones!  Also I got to see a gorgeous raven doing some sort of call I had not noticed before in a tree along the road.  He was making kind of a loud, deep droplet sound.  I was glad I got a few pictures of his handsome self.

I only was passed by a few snowmobilers on the road, and they were polite, slowing and going to the side.  I hadn't been around snowmobiles before, so I wasn't sure what to expect.  It looked like there was potential to throw snow all over people next to them if they wanted.

Another positive thing about this hike... even with all that shining white deep snow, there were the starts of a few skunk cabbage buds!  Spring is on the way!  Definitely don't wait for spring to get out there though - get adventuring!