John Guilford's Hikes

Big Four Ice Caves on 2026-10-20b

Date: 2026-10-20b

Location: Big Four Ice Caves

People: (including myself): Happy Hikers

			Alt.	Miles
Trailhead:	2:30	1715	0
Ice Caves:	3:15	2150	1.4
Trailhead:	4:00	1715	2.8

We had time after we hiked Perry Creek, and decided to take a quick jaunt out to the ice caves. The ice caves were no longer a cave, as the top had collapsed so it was now just blocks of snowy ice in a pile.

It was warm at the trailhead, but some folks who were coming out told us that it got colder. That was good advice as I hadn't planned on taking my jacket, and I ended up wearing it.

We parked in the picnic lot (the NW one). The trail goes in on some boardwalks where little ponds provided some great reflection photos.

We found it soon became much cooler than it had been at the parking lot, and layers went on. I thought this was due to our entering the area shadowed by the mountain, but that didn't really explain things. Surprisingly, as we got within about 500 feet of the snow caves, things warmed up considerably. We took some photos and left. At the same place where it had warmed up, we noticed it cooling back down on the way out.