CWU's Nick Zentner learns from Gary Paull, US Forest Service. White Chuck Boat Launch: goo.gl/maps/wR... Big Four Ice Caves trailhead: goo.gl/maps/cM...
I live in France now, but was born and raised in the Northwest - I was homesick for your video. I love Snohomish county - this is beautiful. And informative too!
Knocking it out of the park Nick, think how many people only have access to this through these videos, and probably will be effective tools for decades and more to come. This is a relatively new medium, and you are exercising its power and abilities expertly. Really believe you are striking a path people will try to emulate.
@@garypaull9382 Guessing you would be reluctant and too humble to think people would appreciate information like this independently, nothing could be further from the truth. If you feel up to it, just point a camera at all these amazing places with background voiceover and let all that rich detailed information flow, even if it's for future generations. Think you might be surprised at the positive feedback and sincere gratefulness from an audience to learn things very few people seem to have such a comprehensive view and picture of on the topic.
@@101rotarypower thank you for your thoughts. That is something I have not ever considered! I'll give it some thought though. I am currently working on a slide show that will feature views along Highway 20 that I will present in Seattle in January. I'll let people know when/where on the FB page. I assume that you follow that?
Gotta watch the rest later... but excellent analogy between the Suiattle and the White River... Gary may remember when the Suiattle was running 'MUD' back in 1994 I believe... You didn't even have to be close to smell it... even in Sedro Woolley! Looked like chocolate!!.... Ok, 4 hrs later: Yeah, speaking of the lahars coming off Glacier Pk... I've been told that 'anywhere' across the valley floor of the Skagit, from say Hamilton on down, you will find layers of 'Glacier Pk' in any soil profile. At one point in time (5000 yrs ago ?) there was a 'flush' that wiped the entire valley; and I wouldn't doubt it's similar on the N Fork Stilly as well. A long time since I've been to the 'Ice Caves', but quite the place!!
wow, this is truly a unique experience with Nick and back country Gary and Nick on such a nice sunday geological experience including lahars; thanks Nick and Gary
My family owns property on the river just before clear creek in Darrington, and I spent my youth exploring the rivers, creeks, trails and logging roads in the surrounding forests. I still am exploring the amazing area and learning about its history almost 40 years later. Thanks for sharing Nick I really enjoy all your videos, and you actually have inspired me to learn more about the rock. Rock climbing is a hobby of mine so rock sciences has been on my mine.
Ah, gods! There you go again, getting dangerously close to the edge, and I'm stoppin the vid and yellin at you Professor! Sweet jeebus, at least get a dang good handhold and..... sigh. You're still gonna get me breathless on these walkabouts 😰 please, please take good care and stay safe. And thank you so much for all you have taught us 🌹💜
The Big Four Ice Caves Trail is constructed in an extremely dynamic environment with high rates of precipitation, rock and ice avalanches, large floods, ice caves and unstable soils. I used to talk to my kids about such dynamic environments, saying that they are interesting, amazing, and VERY attractive to human interest. I told them it was fine to VISIT dynamic environments, but if you wanted to have a long, low-maintenance and disaster-free life, it was best not to try and LIVE there, as it was much more likely that the “geologic time scale” would intersect the “human time scale,” producing a very personal catastrophe.
It is like climbing Broken Top in Oregon. The trail you are on wasn't here last season, and it won't be here the following, as you experience it crumbling beneath your feet with each step. Bad rock, precipitation, and big elevation gradients. What could go wrong?
Back in the early 1980's, on a warm day in late March or early April, my wife and I would hike up onto the rocky, tree dotted knob seen on the right at 49:41. To get there safely, we would leave the trail, far short of the toe of the big avalanche fan that melts back to form the ice caves in the summer, and trudge through the snow up the low ridge to the bouldery top. From there, we had a safe and spectacular grandstand view of the avalanches THUNDERING down the face of Big 4. It was absolutely unbeatable cheap thrills. (Resist the urge to enter the ice caves. Several people have been killed there by falling ice over the years.)
Thanks, Nick and Gary! Enjoying the geohike, and the chance to see the actual terrain of the terranes. I always understand it better this way instead of just colored pencil blobs on a map! Also so enjoy Gary's photographer eye showing us the sights!
If you like this then nearby Vesper Peak would be right up your alley. It was a fairly hard hike up to the gorgeous vesper lake, which is surrounded by gorgeous granite with a view looking out on some dramatic mountains if memory serves, but it's been a decade. At the lake you proceed up more or less slick rock and boulders to the summit, and from there you get a very dramatic view of the valley below looking west with a glacier visible, and Big Four Mountain on the right. Fantastic 360 degree view all around with a smorgasbord of peaks and colors and rock types visible; rusty browns, yellows, dark colors, light colors. I wasn't too into geology at the time, just loved climbing mountains, but vesper was one of those peaks that made me look at the cascades differently.
Vesper is a favorite of mine and have been up many times. Maybe I can talk Nick into going up there next summer, if he can make it up Asgaard Pass, Vesper is certainly doable!
Exotic terranes where a river runs through it. Know fault zones show how much movement over time it took to create and then displace such a variety of rocks and then there is the more recent lahars covered and being uncovered in very recent times. Gary tells us how very active "old mother nature" is here. She keeps wearing out both the land and destroying what man puts in. This part of Washington state is a magnet for both nature and geology lovers. So glad Gary showed us this area that you can't find anywhere else in the world. Really cool stuff Gary and Nick.
Thanks for the great video Nick. Thanks for all the knowledge Gary. What a great life you have had Gary. Working for the forest service and also knowing the geology of the land your working on. I to was a life time forest service person. However I never cared about geology until a few years ago when I found Nick here on youtube.
The Forest Service was great, but retirement is even better! Its been like going back to college for me, including hanging out with my former professor Darrel Cowan!
Professor Nick commented at one point “are we in Washington” because of the beauty of the scenery, I was thinking are we even on planet earth! Absolutely amazing , I know I’ll never be able to visit washington, but I’ll experience some of it at least through these vids, thank you Nick and Gary
I love it, cant wait to explore, would love to meet and learn the both of you, so inspiring both of your knowledge and glad we share such a deep love for the natural world and the wonders mother earth has to offer
Ah, family stomping grounds until kids grew up and we moved to Plain. (Glad to see the ice cave is still there. Ha) So good to have time with you both. Just gorgeous country. The geology part I'll need to study, probably with maps. Loved this, thank you.
Nick, it’s great to see you explore up around the Mountain Loop Highway. Very few roads in the North Cascades penetrate so far into the range giving reasonable access to so many different terranes. Near the summit of Mt Pugh is one of the best exposed portions of the Straight Creek Fault. If you’re feeling adventurous and the thought of almost an exact vertical mile of elevation gain isn’t completely off-putting it is definitely a worthwhile trek. Another trek high on my list of personal favorites is Gothic Basin. The glacier polished rocks are some of the most unique I’ve seen being very reddish in color.
Snohomish County is where I did all my Geology classes. They were community college but the instructors did a lot of field trips to a lot of fascinating places with very confusing geology.
You think few people like geology that would come up -BUT- Ice Caves rang a Bigger Bell! Ha. Don't get hurt, Liz has a To Do List list that needs finished!! LOL
What a fun & informative video. Amazing the transport of diverse material by the Glacier Peak volcano eruption and subsequently lahars. Thanks & Cheers from Stanwood 🍻
Dust and dirt from rockfalls on top of successive layers of avalanche snow. As the interior of the deep avalanche cone compacts and refreezes into ice, the layers become more clearly visible.
West of the ice caves in Robb Valley on HYW 92 there is about 1/8 of a mile of road that sank in the early 90 the section drops about 10 feet and is gravel it was flat and paved in 1990
Shoulda stopped at the northbound rest area at Smokey Pt (assuming you came up via I-5) there is a REAL Western Redcedar about 1350 years old, grew just north of Portage creek and west of old 99, my grandather was involved in topping and cutting the upper portion about 50 years after it died due to a campfire inside the hollow portion. It was a well-known transient 'hotel' during the late part of the 19th century.
Glacier Peak rerouted the Sauk River out of the North Fork Stillaguamish valley and into the Suiattle/Skagit valley due to debris build up from a White Chuck River lahar. Hopefully, we will hear more next spring about Washington State hijacking the upper Skagit River out of Canada!
Late to the party, but the tree seminar was great. Might be easier to drop the "western" and just remember Cedar and whatever! ha The views of the geology and glacier are very interesting. Thanks guys!
WOW!! So cool. Yew tree, lahar, pumice, oh my!!! “Are we in heaven?” Ned asks. Back country Gary responds “No, this is Washington state.” 🤣. So beautiful! Thanks to the trail crew for the love. 5x5 Nick!
Thanks for this video. It has been a few years since I hiked the Big Four trail. It always reminds me of my nephew, who died of cancer 10+ years ago, he and I hiked this trail many times. Thanks for memories and reminds me to hike this trail soon to help commune with Adam.
Interesting! The comment about glacial lake deposits. The glacier and water leaving followed quickly by lahar deposits, leads me to think the buoyant land rebounding and opening the way for magma to erupt upward. Is that a reasonable possibility?
I'm taking this slowly in little pieces since I am so familiar with the area. I lived in Granite Falls for about a decade ending in the late 1990's. I recognized the Big Four glacier right off at the beginning. I have climbed a few of those peaks in the area such as Bedal, Mt. Pugh, Dickerman, Vesper, and Forgotten. Good times. Nice to see the old stomping grounds again.
@@garypaull9382 Hey Gary, this is a somewhat strange request but do you have the GPS cordinates for the spot where the landslide exposed the Glacier Peak pumice and lahars allong the white chuck? I saw that Nick posted the cordinates for the boat launch but I was wondering where that specific spot was. Thanks for your time.
@@werbenjagerman907 Sure. The White Chuck Bench Trailhead located here 48.174122450744385, -121.47002512310736. The slide is located about 3/4 miles up the trail , here 48.178162, -121.456219 If you can swing it, the entire White Chuck Bench Trail is about a 7 mile through hike through old growth, second growth and a collection of abandoned railroad grades and roads which follow the transition from railroad logging to truck logging in the earlly 1930's or so. Also - the trail crosses the Straight Creek Fault! The whole trail is a great hike in the spring and fall. Its snowed in right now, so best to wait until early April to visit the slide. To reach the east end of the trail at Crystal Creek, best to wait until May.
Thank you Nick and Gary for giving us this context to put with the maps and chalkboards. Sometime you should cover the Glacier Peak pumice that was so thickly deposited that it was actually mined in the Lake Chelan area in early pioneer days. I did a little research on this many years ago when I found a deep pumice deposit on our property along South Lakeshore Drive as we were leveling the topsoil at the edge of a cliff.
Nick will have to do an A-Z volcano series some day. Having worked out of Chelan for many years, I have been impressed with the quantity and size of the stuff that landed so far away from the volcano!
@@garypaull9382 Go up the Chiwawa river road all the way up to the old Trinity Gold Mine. Just south of Fish Lake (Wenatchee Lake east of Stevens Pass) as I recall. My great uncles ran the Fish Lake resort for several years in the 80's and we used to go up there all the time. Not sure you can even get up there anymore, used to be able to go all the way up via motorcycle or four by. First time we ever went up there it was still a private property deal with a full-time, year-round caretaker. How do I know this? Nearest human contact was the uncles resort, where they bought their groceries. Via snowmobile. As soon as you crossed the creek, there were two HUGE fuel tanks on the right side, one was collapsed, but they were fabricated-welded tanks, every brick or piece of material used there was brought up on horseback. Nothing bigger than about 100 lbs. then welded together. Then, alongside, a mountain of pumice chat. LARGE 'lodge' type building made of brick and wood. all brought up by horseback thirty five miles from hwy 2. Abandoned prior to WWII. Any of y'all have pictures of the EAST slope of Glacier Peak? I do, somewhere. You're right there if you made it to Trinity. It used to be an access/rescue point for the Pacific Crest Trail. I'm guessing that area is burned up this year? And, my grandmother witnessed the Wellington avalanche as a young girl. Great grandfather worked for GN. I always found it weird she chose to build a house on top of a bluff undercut by a river.
Nick! You’ve lived such a sheltered life! Never visited Big Four before? Big Four is one of my favorite day hikes and if my hubby and I have the time we’ll take the mountain loop highway and picnic on the Sauk. We also enjoy your side of the mountains!
Revisiting this video has been a real treat! Gary, you and Nick are really interesting and enjoyable to explore with. (I've learned so much by watching all videos multiple times.) Joy!
@NickZentner I used to live up river in Marblemount lot's of cool sites like the soap stone mines among other cool things. just a quick trip up highway 20.. they close hwy 20 in winter usually by Thanksgiving and opens usually by May..I sure miss it
Outstanding! Are we in Wahington? 🤣 you crack me up Nick. Have not been up to the ice caves for ~30 years. sadly, not much of them remains to be seen. Thanks again Nick for sharing another enlightening and entertaining outing
The Big Four has been a popular area for decades. In the 1950’s and early 60’s there was a Forest Service campground just west of where the parking lots end. We would slog through the marsh on the north side of the river then ride in a one seat cable car to the other side. I’m guessing that was also a stream gaging station. Lots of wet clothes, mud and excitement even before you got to the ice caves.
These videos are always 8nformative but the best part of them is the warm and inviting greetings from Dr. Z. He really wants the audience to learn. He found his niche as an excellent lecturer.
Hello from Marysville WA. Welcome to our beautiful corner. Isn't it fantastic to find a place you never knew existed? Can't wait to see future videos on this epic area .
I've lived in western WA all my life,since watching your videos it has changed the way I see just about everything I see.
I live in France now, but was born and raised in the Northwest - I was homesick for your video. I love Snohomish county - this is beautiful. And informative too!
You can count me as one of your groupies, both of you. Thoroughly enjoyed spending an hour roaming with two such nice guys.
Knocking it out of the park Nick, think how many people only have access to this through these videos, and probably will be effective tools for decades and more to come. This is a relatively new medium, and you are exercising its power and abilities expertly. Really believe you are striking a path people will try to emulate.
❤
@@garypaull9382 Guessing you would be reluctant and too humble to think people would appreciate information like this independently, nothing could be further from the truth. If you feel up to it, just point a camera at all these amazing places with background voiceover and let all that rich detailed information flow, even if it's for future generations. Think you might be surprised at the positive feedback and sincere gratefulness from an audience to learn things very few people seem to have such a comprehensive view and picture of on the topic.
@@101rotarypower thank you for your thoughts. That is something I have not ever considered! I'll give it some thought though. I am currently working on a slide show that will feature views along Highway 20 that I will present in Seattle in January. I'll let people know when/where on the FB page. I assume that you follow that?
Thank you Nick and Gary!
Thanks for taking us along on this adventure. It's a beautiful area and so dynamic. I really enjoyed Gary's talk. Great video!
do more trips with Gary, what fun!!! Was nice to tag along:}
Thanks Gary
Gotta watch the rest later... but excellent analogy between the Suiattle and the White River... Gary may remember when the Suiattle was running 'MUD' back in 1994 I believe... You didn't even have to be close to smell it... even in Sedro Woolley! Looked like chocolate!!.... Ok, 4 hrs later: Yeah, speaking of the lahars coming off Glacier Pk... I've been told that 'anywhere' across the valley floor of the Skagit, from say Hamilton on down, you will find layers of 'Glacier Pk' in any soil profile. At one point in time (5000 yrs ago ?) there was a 'flush' that wiped the entire valley; and I wouldn't doubt it's similar on the N Fork Stilly as well. A long time since I've been to the 'Ice Caves', but quite the place!!
Thanks for the lahar tour! And so much more. The botany was a treat! West side got the trees!
wow, this is truly a unique experience with Nick and back country Gary and Nick on such a nice sunday geological experience including lahars; thanks Nick and Gary
Hi Charlie! ❤
My family owns property on the river just before clear creek in Darrington, and I spent my youth exploring the rivers, creeks, trails and logging roads in the surrounding forests. I still am exploring the amazing area and learning about its history almost 40 years later. Thanks for sharing Nick I really enjoy all your videos, and you actually have inspired me to learn more about the rock. Rock climbing is a hobby of mine so rock sciences has been on my mine.
Thank you Gary and Nick for taking us along. So incredibly beautiful and interesting when the geology can be explained in such a great way.
Ah, gods! There you go again, getting dangerously close to the edge, and I'm stoppin the vid and yellin at you Professor! Sweet jeebus, at least get a dang good handhold and..... sigh. You're still gonna get me breathless on these walkabouts 😰 please, please take good care and stay safe.
And thank you so much for all you have taught us 🌹💜
Gary ,Nick Thanks for the information . It's my backyard, Granite Falls
Gary: "Hang on to that stump so if it goes you'll go with it" I laughed so hard.
The Big Four Ice Caves Trail is constructed in an extremely dynamic environment with high rates of precipitation, rock and ice avalanches, large floods, ice caves and unstable soils.
I used to talk to my kids about such dynamic environments, saying that they are interesting, amazing, and VERY attractive to human interest.
I told them it was fine to VISIT dynamic environments, but if you wanted to have a long, low-maintenance and disaster-free life, it was best not to try and LIVE there, as it was much more likely that the “geologic time scale” would intersect the “human time scale,” producing a very personal catastrophe.
Living 3 miles east of the Oso Slide, I wholeheartedly agree.
It is like climbing Broken Top in Oregon. The trail you are on wasn't here last season, and it won't be here the following, as you experience it crumbling beneath your feet with each step. Bad rock, precipitation, and big elevation gradients. What could go wrong?
Back in the early 1980's, on a warm day in late March or early April, my wife and I would hike up onto the rocky, tree dotted knob seen on the right at 49:41. To get there safely, we would leave the trail, far short of the toe of the big avalanche fan that melts back to form the ice caves in the summer, and trudge through the snow up the low ridge to the bouldery top. From there, we had a safe and spectacular grandstand view of the avalanches THUNDERING down the face of Big 4. It was absolutely unbeatable cheap thrills. (Resist the urge to enter the ice caves. Several people have been killed there by falling ice over the years.)
Always great to watch a video with Nick and Gary together. Decades of knowledge and experience to learn from.
❤
Muchas gracias
Thanks to Gary for doing this.
No matter where you are there's geology.
You never know what you're going to find!
nice to see you in my neck of the woods nick. thank you.
Impressive indeed, you ask too you sure you're in Washington. Very cool thank you ALL stay safe
Hi from the Bitterroot
Wow! How many things did I see? Mind blowing!! Thank you.
‘That was fast!’
Back Country Gary demonstrates the Casual Schmooze.
Is it necessary?
[shrugs shoulders, palms up]
It can’t hoit!!
🤣
Darrington will always be in our hearts.
Thank you!!
Great fall colors, a little bit of everything and another great episode. 🍁 Thank you!
❤ Will be dropping by for some Downtowners soon!
Thanks, Nick and Gary! This walk was so cool.
Thanks, Nick and Gary! Enjoying the geohike, and the chance to see the actual terrain of the terranes. I always understand it better this way instead of just colored pencil blobs on a map! Also so enjoy Gary's photographer eye showing us the sights!
❤
If you like this then nearby Vesper Peak would be right up your alley. It was a fairly hard hike up to the gorgeous vesper lake, which is surrounded by gorgeous granite with a view looking out on some dramatic mountains if memory serves, but it's been a decade. At the lake you proceed up more or less slick rock and boulders to the summit, and from there you get a very dramatic view of the valley below looking west with a glacier visible, and Big Four Mountain on the right. Fantastic 360 degree view all around with a smorgasbord of peaks and colors and rock types visible; rusty browns, yellows, dark colors, light colors. I wasn't too into geology at the time, just loved climbing mountains, but vesper was one of those peaks that made me look at the cascades differently.
Vesper is a favorite of mine and have been up many times. Maybe I can talk Nick into going up there next summer, if he can make it up Asgaard Pass, Vesper is certainly doable!
Exotic terranes where a river runs through it. Know fault zones show how much movement over time it took to create
and then displace such a variety of rocks and then there is the more recent lahars covered and being uncovered in very
recent times. Gary tells us how very active "old mother nature" is here. She keeps wearing out both the land and
destroying what man puts in. This part of Washington state is a magnet for both nature and geology lovers. So glad
Gary showed us this area that you can't find anywhere else in the world. Really cool stuff Gary and Nick.
I wonder if they can get no-fault insurance for those structures?
@@iviewthetube That was smart ass FUNNY! 😂
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Nice to see these Lahars and apply some of the observations to the Absaroka volcanic field. Thanks Nick and Gary.
Thanks, professor. I'm probably 3 miles behind you at this point. Gary is in better shape than I've ever been…
Back country Gary is rockstar!! Literally and figuratively!! 😂 😂 Love him!!
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‘Old but not real old…’ that’s me!
AMAZING AND BEAUTIFUL!! So appreciative of a Fall Color hike! Nick and Gary, do more! Please and thanks so much!!
Great informative video! Glad they finally fixed the ice caves trail bridge. But it was fun crossing the river barefoot during hot weather.
Me too. That bridge was a nemisis to me, professionally, for almost 30 years!
We’ve got a campground in marblemount and drive from Seattle many summer weekends right thru Darrington. It’s a gorgeous route.
Thanks for the great video Nick. Thanks for all the knowledge Gary. What a great life you have had Gary. Working for the forest service and also knowing the geology of the land your working on. I to was a life time forest service person. However I never cared about geology until a few years ago when I found Nick here on youtube.
The Forest Service was great, but retirement is even better! Its been like going back to college for me, including hanging out with my former professor Darrel Cowan!
Professor Nick commented at one point “are we in Washington” because of the beauty of the scenery, I was thinking are we even on planet earth! Absolutely amazing , I know I’ll never be able to visit washington, but I’ll experience some of it at least through these vids, thank you Nick and Gary
We bought a little campground in the n cascades in 2021 and love spending summer weekends exploring the area.
I love it, cant wait to explore, would love to meet and learn the both of you, so inspiring both of your knowledge and glad we share such a deep love for the natural world and the wonders mother earth has to offer
Ah, family stomping grounds until kids grew up and we moved to Plain. (Glad to see the ice cave is still there. Ha) So good to have time with you both. Just gorgeous country. The geology part I'll need to study, probably with maps. Loved this, thank you.
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It’s always great to see Bat Country Gary!! 🎃
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Nick, it’s great to see you explore up around the Mountain Loop Highway. Very few roads in the North Cascades penetrate so far into the range giving reasonable access to so many different terranes. Near the summit of Mt Pugh is one of the best exposed portions of the Straight Creek Fault. If you’re feeling adventurous and the thought of almost an exact vertical mile of elevation gain isn’t completely off-putting it is definitely a worthwhile trek. Another trek high on my list of personal favorites is Gothic Basin. The glacier polished rocks are some of the most unique I’ve seen being very reddish in color.
Snohomish County is where I did all my Geology classes. They were community college but the instructors did a lot of field trips to a lot of fascinating places with very confusing geology.
One of the best trips, thanks for this.
You think few people like geology that would come up -BUT- Ice Caves rang a Bigger Bell! Ha. Don't get hurt, Liz has a To Do List list that needs finished!! LOL
What a fun & informative video. Amazing the transport of diverse material by the Glacier Peak volcano eruption and subsequently lahars. Thanks & Cheers from Stanwood 🍻
What an episode. Thanks to both of you!
Thank you for these videos!
Haha- Glad you resisted the Ice Cave!!!
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Fun walk, Thank you. Bye the bye, what are the thin black lines in the ice? ash?
Dust and dirt from rockfalls on top of successive layers of avalanche snow. As the interior of the deep avalanche cone compacts and refreezes into ice, the layers become more clearly visible.
great video , the drop off's in this are similar to the hike on sandy river oregon
I first saw the ice caves in Oct 1978 🐻❄
The lahar landslide reminded me of a question; would you consider the Heart Mountain Detachment part of your "Crazy Eocene Story" ? Thank you.
West of the ice caves in Robb Valley on HYW 92 there is about 1/8 of a mile of road that sank in the early 90 the section drops about 10 feet and is gravel it was flat and paved in 1990
thanks
Fun but highly informative
Shoulda stopped at the northbound rest area at Smokey Pt (assuming you came up via I-5) there is a REAL Western Redcedar about 1350 years old, grew just north of Portage creek and west of old 99, my grandather was involved in topping and cutting the upper portion about 50 years after it died due to a campfire inside the hollow portion. It was a well-known transient 'hotel' during the late part of the 19th century.
Um, the lahar you two are standing on is NOT what comes to mind when i think of stability, geologically speaking.
its very temporary, geologically!
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Stillaguamish, after all these years.
🤣
Hemlock are the worst when it comes to falling over, rooted up. The roots system is shallow with no firm foundation.
Nick, there has been work done on rerouting of the Stilliguamish River and just fyi that Ross Lake drainage used to be into Canada.
Glacier Peak rerouted the Sauk River out of the North Fork Stillaguamish valley and into the Suiattle/Skagit valley due to debris build up from a White Chuck River lahar. Hopefully, we will hear more next spring about Washington State hijacking the upper Skagit River out of Canada!
are these rocks from lahar or glacial action?
some of both
Dang all I can say is amazing!
Brilliant, thank you.
This was a great one Nick! We always enjoy Gary so much. What a beautiful day with so many cool things to see.
Thank you so much guys!
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Lovely surprise to come home to!
Late to the party, but the tree seminar was great. Might be easier to drop the "western" and just remember Cedar and whatever! ha
The views of the geology and glacier are very interesting. Thanks guys!
Gotta keep the "western"so as not to get confused with our Alaska Cedar! Though we could go with Red (western) and Yellow (Alaska) Cedar.
WOW!! So cool. Yew tree, lahar, pumice, oh my!!! “Are we in heaven?” Ned asks. Back country Gary responds “No, this is Washington state.” 🤣. So beautiful! Thanks to the trail crew for the love. 5x5 Nick!
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Thanks for this video. It has been a few years since I hiked the Big Four trail. It always reminds me of my nephew, who died of cancer 10+ years ago, he and I hiked this trail many times. Thanks for memories and reminds me to hike this trail soon to help commune with Adam.
Gary's comment, "Faulty Family" . Great walks.
Interesting! The comment about glacial lake deposits. The glacier and water leaving followed quickly by lahar deposits, leads me to think the buoyant land rebounding and opening the way for magma to erupt upward. Is that a reasonable possibility?
Well, it was at least a coincident that Glacier Peak's largest known eruption occurred at the tail end of the ice age.
Thank you Professor Zentner
more,more,more enjoy the narrative and scenic views describing the geology thanks Nick and Gary for your wonderful tour
I'm taking this slowly in little pieces since I am so familiar with the area. I lived in Granite Falls for about a decade ending in the late 1990's. I recognized the Big Four glacier right off at the beginning. I have climbed a few of those peaks in the area such as Bedal, Mt. Pugh, Dickerman, Vesper, and Forgotten. Good times. Nice to see the old stomping grounds again.
Hey Nick! Welcome to western Washington 😉
Glorious. Thank you!
My father -in-law had his Coast Guard training at a base in the big 4 area during WWII.
Jim Creek Naval Station!
Such beautiful country I'm happy to see and interesting geology to go with it. Thanks for the great hike and conversation we got to share in
The ice caves. What a cool place! Pun intended.
What a beautiful area! Interesting commentary by you two. Thank you!
ALWAYS...so much fun to go with Gary!!! I mean...come on man...ya gotta love it...AND I DO!!! THANK YOU BOTH!!
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@@garypaull9382 Hey Gary, this is a somewhat strange request but do you have the GPS cordinates for the spot where the landslide exposed the Glacier Peak pumice and lahars allong the white chuck? I saw that Nick posted the cordinates for the boat launch but I was wondering where that specific spot was. Thanks for your time.
@@werbenjagerman907 Sure. The White Chuck Bench Trailhead located here 48.174122450744385, -121.47002512310736. The slide is located about 3/4 miles up the trail , here 48.178162, -121.456219 If you can swing it, the entire White Chuck Bench Trail is about a 7 mile through hike through old growth, second growth and a collection of abandoned railroad grades and roads which follow the transition from railroad logging to truck logging in the earlly 1930's or so. Also - the trail crosses the Straight Creek Fault! The whole trail is a great hike in the spring and fall. Its snowed in right now, so best to wait until early April to visit the slide. To reach the east end of the trail at Crystal Creek, best to wait until May.
@@garypaull9382 Much appreciated! Thank you!
That was so beautiful. Thanks for sharing and making it possible for us all to come along.
Thank you Nick and Gary for giving us this context to put with the maps and chalkboards. Sometime you should cover the Glacier Peak pumice that was so thickly deposited that it was actually mined in the Lake Chelan area in early pioneer days. I did a little research on this many years ago when I found a deep pumice deposit on our property along South Lakeshore Drive as we were leveling the topsoil at the edge of a cliff.
Nick will have to do an A-Z volcano series some day. Having worked out of Chelan for many years, I have been impressed with the quantity and size of the stuff that landed so far away from the volcano!
@@garypaull9382 Go up the Chiwawa river road all the way up to the old Trinity Gold Mine. Just south of Fish Lake (Wenatchee Lake east of Stevens Pass) as I recall. My great uncles ran the Fish Lake resort for several years in the 80's and we used to go up there all the time.
Not sure you can even get up there anymore, used to be able to go all the way up via motorcycle or four by. First time we ever went up there it was still a private property deal with a full-time, year-round caretaker. How do I know this? Nearest human contact was the uncles resort, where they bought their groceries. Via snowmobile.
As soon as you crossed the creek, there were two HUGE fuel tanks on the right side, one was collapsed, but they were fabricated-welded tanks, every brick or piece of material used there was brought up on horseback. Nothing bigger than about 100 lbs. then welded together. Then, alongside, a mountain of pumice chat.
LARGE 'lodge' type building made of brick and wood. all brought up by horseback thirty five miles from hwy 2. Abandoned prior to WWII.
Any of y'all have pictures of the EAST slope of Glacier Peak? I do, somewhere. You're right there if you made it to Trinity. It used to be an access/rescue point for the Pacific Crest Trail.
I'm guessing that area is burned up this year?
And, my grandmother witnessed the Wellington avalanche as a young girl. Great grandfather worked for GN. I always found it weird she chose to build a house on top of a bluff undercut by a river.
What lovely scenery! Thanks for taking us along. Another spot put on my bucket list for WA state.
Battin’ %1,000 fellas. No surprise, paradise in your backyard. Thanks for the tour.
Nick! You’ve lived such a sheltered life! Never visited Big Four before? Big Four is one of my favorite day hikes and if my hubby and I have the time we’ll take the mountain loop highway and picnic on the Sauk. We also enjoy your side of the mountains!
You guys gave my kayaking trips a whole new meaning.
Thoroughly enjoyed this! Thanks Nick and Gary.
❤
Revisiting this video has been a real treat! Gary, you and Nick are really interesting and enjoyable to explore with. (I've learned so much by watching all videos multiple times.) Joy!
The Glacier Peak eruptive deposit, Bruce Bjornstad ID's as about 13,000 years
@NickZentner
I used to live up river in Marblemount lot's of cool sites like the soap stone mines among other cool things. just a quick trip up highway 20.. they close hwy 20 in winter usually by Thanksgiving and opens usually by May..I sure miss it
Outstanding! Are we in Wahington? 🤣 you crack me up Nick. Have not been up to the ice caves for ~30 years. sadly, not much of them remains to be seen. Thanks again Nick for sharing another enlightening and entertaining outing
The Big Four has been a popular area for decades. In the 1950’s and early 60’s there was a Forest Service campground just west of where the parking lots end. We would slog through the marsh on the north side of the river then ride in a one seat cable car to the other side. I’m guessing that was also a stream gaging station. Lots of wet clothes, mud and excitement even before you got to the ice caves.
These videos are always 8nformative but the best part of them is the warm and inviting greetings from Dr. Z. He really wants the audience to learn. He found his niche as an excellent lecturer.
Hello from Marysville WA. Welcome to our beautiful corner. Isn't it fantastic to find a place you never knew existed? Can't wait to see future videos on this epic area .