An adventure to the ice caves.

While still in WA, the weather was cooperating and so we set out for our adventure to see some ice caves. The drive took a little more than an hour to get there, and next thing we knew we were headed onto the trail. No big deal, mostly paved, beautiful scenery. Until we passed some people who had wet shoes, or the bottom of their pants or shorts were wet. No big deal, they probably just liked playing in freezing river water, right? Back at the beginning of the trail, we now remember seeing the small sign that read "Bridge is out". What bridge could they mean? There are actual several small bridges that go over small brooks, but they all seemed to be intact. Then we get to where there is no access to the bridge and you can hear the water rushing. We had to cross the river on foot. The bridge has been completed taken out by an avalanche of downed trees and snow, that has since melted. We survey the river for the shortest distance and least deep place to cross. My brother-in-law, Dave, rushes into the water to see if it's truly crossable, followed closely by my brother, Randy. I can see their shorts and pants getting wet (they have removed their shoes). My mom is not completely thrilled with the idea, but begins removing her shoes for the watery journey. I watch as others who are wearing "river" shoes traipse across in record time and realize that they knew the bridge was out. So we managed to make it across with only a few wet spots. We continued down the trail where we found many more trees that had been knocked down by the force of an assumed avalanche and then had to be cut just to keep the trail clear. We got closer to the back of the mountain when the ice caves came into view. They were amazing. The closer you got to the ice, the faster the temperature would drop. Here is my brother headed into the largest opening to go check things out...against my mother's better wishes. He couldn't go too far though because it became very dark inside. Here is my sister, Colleen Marie. You can't really tell until you get up close how large the caves are.
So after visiting the ice caves, we made our way back down the trail to head back. As we got closer to the river crossing we wanted to see if there was yet another shorter and less deep crossing. A fellow hiker pointed us farther up the river. We found a good spot to cross, but on the way down a steep incline my sister slipped and hurt her good arm. We tried to hurriedly make our way across the chilly river so we could enjoy the picnic lunch we brought. This last picture was actually taken before we started hiking. This is me, my mom, my brother, Randy, and my sister, Colleen Marie.