Poster: Jerod
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Visting my sister in Arlington, we went to the Ice Caves at Big Four mountain on the south wall of the Stillaguarmish River Valley in Washington State. Washington was having record temps (over 100*) when we visited, and this particularly large cave pictured was like a giant shower head of cool water while inside. It was awesome!
"In the summer, however, streams flow down the same chutes and work their way through and beneath the debris cone. At first the streams bore very small channels in the ice. You could never explore one of these and if you tried you would be swimming in the ice-cold water. But warm air can get in. With each air current that passes through, the ice melts a bit. As its melts, more air can penetrate which then causes more melting, letting more air in. Thus, the process feeds itself. Eventually the caves are large and glorious as we see them."
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