Uncle Jeremy & Papa Christopher Take Me Ice Cave Spelunking

What you see here showed up, this morning, in my Microsoft OneDrive Memories from this Day email.

What we see here might have happened in February, of a long-ago year, likely the early 1990s.

But, more likely it was in late March, or early April. The Ice Caves do not form til the ice begins to thaw as the world warms up heading toward summer.

The snow formation is known as the Ice Caves. One finds the Ice Caves between Granite Falls and Darrington, on what is known as the Mountain Loop Highway.

One does not venture into the Ice Caves when the temperature is above freezing. With the temperature above freezing large chunks of ice can come crashing down.

If I recollect correctly there has been an accident, or two, over the years. So, more care is taken to restrict access when melting renders the Ice Caves dangerous.

The Ice Caves form from snow sliding off Big Four Mountain. The snow compacts into solid ice, and then somehow four caves are formed.

My last time at the Ice Caves I led a group that my sister Michele was somehow in charge of.

About 10 kids, if I remember correctly.

That time at the Ice Caves was definitely late Spring, or maybe even early Summer. Because you stayed a distance away from the Ice Caves and instead of spelunking, you sat on big rocks and watched huge chunks of ice come loose, crashing down on the Ice Caves.

I remember it as loud, and some of the kids unsettled by the spectacle.

If you are ever touristing in Washington, the Mountain Loop Highway is a scenic excursion, that to me, reminds me of Yosemite. There are a lot of hiking trails. The Monte Christo ghost town. The walk down the trail to see Granite Falls is easy, and the falls are worth the walk.

Logging roads off the Mountain Loop Highway were a frequent cross country skiing location when I lived in the neighborhood.

I remember taking Jeremy and Christopher sledding on one of those roads.

Another time, in one of what became known as Nephews in Danger incidents, I, and Jeremy and Christopher's cousin, Joey, who is my second oldest nephew and the proud papa of Hank Frank, pedaled our mountain bikes up the road from the Mountain Loop Highway to the Monte Christo ghost town. Then after we coasted back to my bike carrying pickup.

Seeing that that road was not too busy, I asked Joey if he wanted to go on a long coast down the hill, that I would follow and pick him up when the coasting ended.

And so, Joey did so. I was a bit mortified when Joey's coasting speed went over 40 mph.

Thinking about the Mountain Loop Highway, and Nephews in Danger, I recollect another time at that location, with Joey. We joined a huge throng of hikers accessing a trail made from the railroad bed of tracks that led to Monte Christo, to carry in goods and people, and haul out gold.

Well, that trail, along the Stillaguamish River, a few miles before it goes over Granite Falls, was a bit treacherous in places, the trail seeming precarious above the fast moving rapids of the river. And the trail went through several tunnels, which was a bit spooky.

But, the most disturbing moment on that hike was when it got its most difficult, when suddenly a pair of kayakers shot by. Did they know Granite Falls was a short distance downriver? I assume such, and that their exit point from the river was before the falls.

I am sort of enjoying these Microsoft OneDrive Memory things causing me to remember things I have not thought of in a long long time...

Remembering Ice Caves & Nephew Jeremy's Treacherous Mount Baker Suspension Bridge

Two days in a row I remember all the memories Microsoft's OneDrive sent to my email. The first set of memories obviously occurred in winter, maybe even in February.

But the second set of memories could not have happened in winter, those happened in August.

In the first collection of memories, those are my favorite nephews, Christopher and Jeremy, currently residing in Arizona, but, at the point in time the pictures were taken CJ and JR were still Washingtonians.

What you are looking at in these memories, other than CJ and JR is what is known as the Ice Caves. This is an attraction one can hike to from the Mountain Loop highway, between Granite Falls and Darrington.

I do not know if access is still allowed into the Ice Caves. There were incidents of injuries due to ice falling from the Ice Cave ceiling. 

In the next set of memories Jeremy is a couple years older.

All but one of the above memories are photos of a hike up the south side of Mount Baker, via what is known as the Schreiber's Meadow Trail. 

On this trail you come to a spot where you have to cross a stream of fast moving glacier melt. It can be a tad treacherous. We got to that spot and Jeremy did not like the look of it. In the picture at the upper right, Jeremy's Aunt Michele is trying to convince Jeremy it is safe to cross the suspension bridge.

Michele can be quite persuasive. Jeremy agreed to cross the bridge, if there was a guard stationed at each end. By the time Jeremy got to the middle of the bridge, all fear had disappeared, which caused Jeremy to make the dramatic pose you see in the top left photo.

The other two photos on the right document Jeremy's crossing of the bridge, before his triumphant moment.

The lower left photo is also Jeremy and Christopher, a couple years later, on the north side of Mount Baker, sitting on top of Tabletop Mountain, with Mount Shuksan behind them. Microsoft is sharing the thumbnail version of this photo. Let me see if I can find the better version.

There you have it, a collection of memories I actually remember...

Hiking & Biking In Washington With Jeremy & My Other Nephews

You are looking at my nephew Jeremy, aka JR, sometime in August, back in the previous century, on a suspension bridge across a glacier melt creek, on the Schrieber's Meadow trail up Mount Baker, in my old home state of Washington.

Jeremy and several others were taking me on a hike for my birthday. I don't quite remember how that came about, because this is a rather difficult hike and most of these people were not hikers.

When we reached the suspension bridge Jeremy balked. It took a lot of convincing to get him to cross it. In the picture you are looking at Jeremy's triumphant crossing on the way back down the trail. Obviously he had conquered his fear.

As you can see it was a very foggy hiking day. We only made it to the base of Mount Baker, did not make it as far as the Railroad Grade, that being the moraine carved out by a glacier. If Jeremy had a problem with that suspension bridge he really would have hated the Railroad Grade.

That would be me sitting on a log going through my backpack, with my little sister on the left.

I had a lot of mountain fun with Jeremy and my other nephews when I lived in Washington. I remember a cross country skiing adventure with Jeremy's older brother, Christopher, on the east side of Mount Baker, we got high up on some logging roads and had a very adventurous descent.

A time or two I took my nephews on adventures where I think I may have been not exhibiting good uncle judgment. Like one time nephew Joey and I hiked to the top of Sauk Mountain in the Skagit Valley in a snowstorm. It was very icy. Anyone reading this who knows Sauk Mountain is likely cringing at the idea.

I remember just recently Joey's mom emailed me pictures of herself at the top of Sauk Mountain. She told me Joey told her he and I had done that hike. I told her not to ask Joey about the details of that hike because it'd likely lead to me getting scolded, even though the statute of limitations had run out.

My nephew adventures became known as Nephews In Danger after I made a Christmas calendar using pictures of our adventures and called it Nephews In Danger.

In the picture where Christopher and Jeremy are holding chunks of ice, we'd hiked to the Ice Caves, which you can see behind the nephews. This is a yearly phenomenon that you access from the Mountain Loop Highway north of Granite Falls. The snow melts and forms these big caves. There are enter with caution signs. I think entry may now be banned due to there having been a death or two due to falling ice. But, if it's way below freezing, the danger is minimal. So, we explored the Ice Caves.

The best adventure I ever had with Jeremy and his brother took place in September. The snow had melted off the parking lot at the end of the road that leads past the Mount Baker Ski Area. From that parking lot you can easily walk out on Mount Baker. Or climb to the top of Tabletop Mountain. Or hike a number of other trails.

We hiked to the top of Tabletop Mountain, where I took my all-time favorite picture, the original of which I have been unable to find, which perplexes me very much.

That is Mount Shuksan behind Jeremy and Christopher. Christopher is looking south towards Mount Baker. Jeremy is contemplating throwing a snowball at me.

You get to the top of Tabletop Mountain via a series of switchbacks. As a kid I had a memory of seeing this and it looking so strange, seeing people walking up this mountain.

As the years passed I would think of this and think it was something I had imagined. And then, well after I was on my own, I was back at Mount Baker. And there I saw what was what I thought had been an imagined thing, but it was real.

Hiking to the top of Tabletop Mountain, with Jeremy and Christopher, was the first time I had done so. As you might guess from the name, the top is very flat. At the western side it slopes down and is covered with ice, also known as a glacier, or at least very heavy snow.

That is Jeremy watching his brother go over the edge of the ice/snow/glacier. Christopher had not anticipated, nor had I, how fast that slope would shoot him down the slope.

He asked me about 10 times if he should do it. I saw no real danger. When he shot out so fast and went so far, I was a bit worried.

But then it looked fun. So Jeremy and I followed his brother, with Jeremy first and me following down the glacier. That is Mount Baker that Jeremy is body skiing towards.

When I lived in Washington Jeremy also went bike riding with me frequently. I remember one fun time when Jeremy and his cousin, my nephew Joey, rode our bikes from Tracey Owen Park at the south end of Lake Washington, on the continuation of the Burke-Gilman Trail, all the way to the St. Michelle Winery. Where we locked up our bikes and took the tour.

Another memorable bike ride with Jeremy and his brother was from Larrabee State Park on Chuckanut Drive, pedaling the Interurban trail into Bellingham. This bike trail is an old train route. It is adventurous in a couple places. Jeremy balked. But then un-balked. This trail ends at the Alaskan Ferry Terminal in Fairhaven.

As we were leaving the ferry terminal, a cop pulled us over.

We were given free ice cream tickets to reward us for wearing our bike helmets. So, we went to the ice cream shop in Fairhaven and had ice cream cones.

I really do miss Washington sometimes. Like now. And. I miss my nephews sometimes. Like now.

I remember when I moved to Texas my sister telling me she thought it might be hard on Jeremy not to have me to call up, to come down, and do stuff with him or talk to about what's on his mind.

I remember my mom and dad being here in Texas, October of 2001. The Afghan Invasion was underway. We were driving along and for some reason we called Phoenix, where by then my nephew and his brother and parental units had moved. Jeremy answered, he was home alone. This was being the first time in his living memory his country had gone into war mode. It made him understandably nervous.

I did not see Jeremy again in person until February of 2004. And then again in April of 2006.

I need to go to Phoenix.