Well, we have gone, and arrived (arriven!?) back in one piece! AND to boot on top of that I didn't get sunburned! (For the first time this summer when I have gone outside. (Of course the SPF 30 sun block probably helped... =) ))

So it's PICTURE time. (Done "Story Style" like before)

Big 4: The trip

My primary goal here is to show off the pictures I took this trip. I'll highlight how it went, but won't go into detail unless there is a picture somehow involved. We all (Lisa, Malia, Dan, my brother and I) mat at our house before going and when everyone arrive (eventually =) ) we headed out. The trip up to Big 4 and the ice caves there went a lot quicker than Dan and I both remembered. (Maybe because we KNEW where we were going.) And in the spirit of getting a picture of the trip up we present this picture for your viewing enjoyment. (Suggested as a "cool" picture to take by my brother.)

So we stopped at Verlot again this time round (the discussion about how to say it running as rampant as ever) and picked up the parking pass needed to park at the park. Then we drove to the park, parked and started off. Dan wanted a "group" picture so while he was setting up his cool group picture I took a picture of him taking a picture of us. A funny side note here before we get truly started with my little slide show: Dan didn't have film in his camera until almost the very, very end. So when you see him snapping pictures, know that only the pictures I have of him taking pictures are the pictures that survived.

So after our group pic we started off. Dan who was taking another picture ran after us to catch up. The hike up to the ice caves is really pretty. But it there was a ton of knocked down trees and stuff knocked down onto the ground that shouldn't be in a normal forest atmosphere. It had defiantly felt the touch of humanity. (That was one sign, as well as the nice gravel path we followed most of the way up. =) ) Misc hike up picture.

At the end of trail is a sign that has a warning on it. Of course it seems the park service is out to get us.

So when we got to the end of the trail the ice was super bright and I wished I had my sunglasses. But we slipped and slid around and I got in a position to take several pictures. Like this one and this picture that shows off the size of the caves.

We stopped by the last cave to have a drink and a bit to eat. I also took that time to play the photographer that I wish I was and to take some pictures of Lisa and crew. Of course I also discovered that people change when you aim a camera at them.

It was kind of odd being in snow and ice in the middle of July. One second the air temp could be like 70+ and the next second the wind could come off the mountain and it would be like 45 degrees. Just because there was snow on the ground in July didn't mean that we still wouldn't play around in it.

After that we hiked back down the mountain, got in the car, and headed back to Verlot. We stopped at the same waterfall we stopped at last time and I got a chance to get some good pictures taken as we played around on the rocks. (Misc picture of Lisa. (Who was trying to dry off))

So after that we headed back to verlot, stopped at the general store, grabbed some snack-age for the way back and then we headed home. I think overall we all had a good time. I took a bunch of pictures and not all of them are here. If you see something you like and want it full size let me know.

Sorry for being so long-winded today. Maybe in the future I'll just list my pictures. =)

~B.