Remembering Mountain Loop Ice Caves, Monte Christo & More With Nephews Joey, Christopher and Jeremy

On this third Saturday of the 2025 version of August my email brought me a Microsoft OneDrive Memory from this Day, that I do remember, both what I am seeing in the photo, that, and the fact that this photo could not possibly have been taken in August.

On the left, in the red pants, is my nephew Jeremy, following his big brother, Christopher, to the Washington geological oddity known as the Ice Caves.

The Ice Caves are accessed by a short hiking trail off the Mountain Loop Highway, which runs from Granite Falls to Darrington, through a mountain wonderland that always sort of reminded me of Yosemite.

That I used to live such a short distance from such scenery seems like ancient history now. There were multiple locations I used to go to on the Mountain Loop Highway. Mountain biking on old logging roads. Cross country skiing on those same old logging roads, but in winter.

Here is a short blurb description of the Mountain Loop Highway one gets when on Googles...

The Mountain Loop Highway is a scenic 54-mile loop road in Washington State, primarily located in Snohomish County within the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. It connects Granite Falls to Darrington, passing through the Stillaguamish and Sauk River valleys. The route offers views of mountains, rivers, and waterfalls. 

Biking and hiking to the old ghost town of Monte Christo.

I think the last time I mountain biked to Monte Christo was with nephew Joey. 

Here is a short blurb description of Monte Christo one gets when one Googles...

Monte Cristo is a ghost town located northwest of Monte Cristo Peak in eastern Snohomish County, Washington. It was once a thriving mining town, active from 1889 to 1907, and later became a resort town until 1983. Today, it's a popular hiking destination known for its historical significance and scenic beauty. 

The aforementioned Ice Caves form every spring when the snow of winter starts melting. By the time the heat of summer arrives the Ice Caves become dangerous. When Chris and Jeremy took me to the Ice Caves it seemed safe for us to explore inside. Now that I am older and less adventurous, I don't think I would be up to exploring the Ice Caves.

I think I remember reading that a total prohibition of Ice Cave exploration had been enacted.

The last time I saw the Ice Caves was when I was being the guide of a group of kids my sister Michele was somehow in some sort of mentoring situation with. It was early summer. You had to stay several hundred feet from the Ice Caves.

The attraction at that point in time, which drew a large crowd, was sitting and watching big chunks of ice crash down from the mountain cliffs, making loud booms and big plumes of ice dust.

A popular hike on the Mountain Loop Highway I remember hiking only once, it one which takes you to the route of the train which ran along the Stillaguamish River to Monte Christo. Some of the railroad tracks remain. There are tunnels and scary bridges.

The river you are hiking next to is a wild one, leading to Granite Falls, the actual waterfall, not the town. The trail does not go that far. Eventually one reaches a point where one can go no further.

At times I sort of miss living a short distance from a natural wonderland. Where I lived in Washington, no matter which direction you went, you were soon at a natural wonderland....

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...