Girl's death near Granite Falls prompts review of safety near ice caves

Most of the injuries — and deaths — to visitors to the Big Four Ice Caves happened to those who ventured into the caves.

Consequently, most of the warnings and signs by the U.S. Forest Service caution against going inside or near the mouths of the caves in the Mount-Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest east of Granite Falls.

But an accident Saturday in which an 11-year-old Lake Stevens girl was killed by a chunk of ice while standing outside the caves could change that.

"That's one of the things we will be looking at," said Peter Forbes, district ranger of the Forest Service's Darrington Ranger District. "Our focus has been trying to keep people out of the caves because in the past almost all the accidents have happened in the caves or near the mouths of the caves.

"But now we are recognizing that a lot of our clientele come from a more urban environment and may not recognize all the hazards that occur in the natural environment."

Grace Makato Tam, 11, was hiking the easy two-mile round-trip trail Saturday with her parents, brother and two others. According to the Snohomish County Sheriffs Office, the girl and her mother were standing on an ice field near the caves when she was struck by a chunk of ice the size of a car that had broken off Big Four Mountain.

Grace died of a crushing pelvic injury, the Snohomish County Medical Examiner's Office ruled Monday.

Her mother was injured but able to walk off the trail on her own.

The ice caves are at the foot of Big Four Mountain and are a part of what Forbes called the lowest elevation glacier in the continental United States. The caves are formed when melt water runs down the mountain, forming channels through the glacier and the accumulated snow and ice.

Avalanches, falling ice and snow are common hazards at the foot of the mountain near the ice caves, Forbes said. "Even now, there is snow and ice falling," he said.

According to Forbes, danger warnings are posted on signs at several locations on the trail and on the Forest Service's website for the trail.

According to the Sheriff's Office, a 911 call came into the Verlot Ranger Station about 2:30 p.m., and firefighters and aid personnel responded, as did a sheriff's deputy who was closest to the scene and arrived sometime before 3 p.m. But the first to help were three other hikers who had medical training.

The girl died at the scene after about two hours of CPR, the Sheriff's Office said.

According to some media reports, at least one of the good Samaritans and the girl's father were upset it took so long for medical aid to reach the girl. Her family could not be reached Monday.

"We just don't have enough staffing to be every place at all the time," Forbes said. "As it turned out, on Saturday a Forest Service employee was at the Ice Caves trailhead when hikers ran down to report the injury.

"It couldn't have been any faster unless we had somebody at the top," he said.

Forbes said the Forest Service will likely be looking at whether more safety precautions should be in place.

"What we are going to try to do is raise people's awareness," he said.

Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com.

Seattle Times researcher Miyoko Wolf contributed to this report, which includes information from Times archives.