Mountain Loop Road

Daryl and I wanted to try hiking to the Big Four Ice Caves this weekend, so off we went on Saturday. It's a beautiful drive up Mountain Loop Highway so we were in for a treat! We had read the bridge on the trail was washed out, but logs were laying across the Stillaguamish River for crossing. 1/4 of the way into the hike we reach the river crossing. Daryl gets across carrying both of our cameras, I then let Storm off leash so he can swim across, next it's CJ's turn. Wouldn't you know, he won't cross! He's the one that swam in the pool all the time! He's the one that jumped into the pool off the waterfall! He's the one that would have to swim out for the toys because Storm was afraid to leave the pool steps. What happened???? We tried and tried, but the trail was getting busier so all hope was lost. We turned around and vowed to come back another day without the puppies.

The funniest story coming out of this though - Storm LOVES branches and sticks - he carries them around when we go hiking. During one of Storm's many swims back and forth across the river he found a rather large branch, grabbed it and swam with it all the way back to shore! I wish I had my camera...

So, since it was still early and we didn't want to head back home we decided to check out more of this Mountain Loop Highway; looking for great camping spots and future hiking trails. We stumbled across a scenic drive that made it all worthwhile. The mountain saddle had what looked like a glacier on top with streams running down the entire side of the mountain. It was beautiful! The pictures below don't even come close to doing this place justice.

How far from home you ask? Only an hour...................