A little backed up here on new blog posts – but early summer my son and I did a short trip out to the Big Four Ice Caves on the Mountain Loop Highway. Sadly there is not much ice left out there as far as the caves go but it is a great short hike with lots of bird viewing to be had! There are so many excellent hikes and places to camp on the Mountain Loop, in fact later in summer I did another trip out there which I will be posting about soon. The Mountain Loop Highway is a scenic drive that connects Granite Falls with Darrington, there is a stretch that is gravel but it is mostly paved. If you’re ever in the PNW it is a great spot for a day trip from the city if you’re looking for some birding or for a day hike.
On this sunny day it was the day of the Rufous Hummingbird, they were in for the summer and were buzzing around us all afternoon. The Rufous photo’d here was putting on quite a mating display. I wish I had a good way to video them but they are so small and move too fast, but their courtship dive display is always something fun to see. They zoom up into the air, chirp, and zoom back down in a U shaped flight pattern and then just repeat it over and over.
If you’re just looking for birding you don’t need to go far on the Big 4 Ice Caves hike, just near the parking lot is a wonderful wetland area loaded with birds. The beginning of the trail takes you on boardwalks across the wetland and this is as far as you need to go for birding. If you continue along there is a river with a nice walking bridge a bit further up, and across the river takes you to the ice caves at the end of the trail. We saw Sapsucker’s, sparrows, wrens, and swallows as well.
It is a great beginners hike or hike for kids, there are plenty of warnings to not go near the ice caves as hikers in the past have died from falling ice so do take precaution. There did not seem to be enough ice there anymore on our trip so it maybe that the ice caves are no longer the attraction as they slowly melt away.
Useful Links and Info:
- Read our last post about birding near Napa Valley.
- Pick up a good PNW hiking book or some Green Trails Maps.
- Check out all our other birding and nature adventures here.
- We recommend a good long sleeve hiking shirt to protect against the sun that stays dry. Here are men’s and women’s options.
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- Most of these shots were taken with the Sony a7 along with the Sony FE 200-600mm lens.
- Always bring bug spray and sun screen when birding!
- In honor of our two pugs check out our sister site spoiledpugs.com where we post deals on pug stuff!
