Repeat Photography of the Glacier-clad Volcanoes in the Pacific Northwest

I recently completed fieldwork for a project capturing glacier repeat photographs on the volcanoes in the Northwest. The fieldwork was challenging but the extended dry conditions in September were fantastic - only two days of being clouded or rained out. In all, I documented over 50 photo stations between Mount Shasta to Mount Baker. Most of these were existing photo stations, though I added some new stations based on historical photographs. Additional sites were documented in the Wallowas of Oregon and in the Front Range of Colorado. These repeat photographs will be added to the Glacier Repeat Photograph Database*.

The change in glacier area and volume are quite evident in the photographs. The Emmons Glacier on Mount Rainier is the largest glacier in the lower 48 states. In the comparison below, you can see the dirty glacier in the foreground of the 1938 photograph, with water flowing from an ice cave at the glacier terminus. In 2012, the glacier has receded and vegetation has filled in the areas where the glacier occupied. The loss in glacier area and volume dominate the photo pairs, but some stations with more photographs capture an advance that occurred in the 1960s, which has been followed by a return to glacier retreat.

The Emmons Glacier from Station MT, Rainier National Park
(left) 1938 photograph by Frank Brockman, National Park Service
(right) 2012 photograph by Hassan Basagic

Many stations were located trail side, while others were completely off trail requiring long periods of bushwhacking and slogging on unstable moraines. I still find it exciting to occupy the exact perspectives of historical photographs. Anticipation always precedes finding the photo stations... "what if I am on the wrong ridge?". Once the station is located, it is fascinating to learn how the scene has changed. One photo from Mount Shasta dated back to 1876, making it the oldest photograph that I have repeated. In the comparison photo pairs you can see how the forest has advanced upward in elevation.

This field season was a great experience and the Glacier Rephoto Database has been greatly improved. I look forward to expanding the database and will be seeking help. Please let me know if anyone is interested in assisting.

*This project is created by Hassan Basagic, with funding from a Mazamas Research Grant and an American Alpine Club Nikwax Alpine Bellwether Grant, and in collaboration with the Glaciers of the American West Project at Portland State University (//glaciers.us).

White River Glacier Station 983

The deep canyon below White River Glacier is the product of fire and ice. Volcanic eruptions, bulldozing glaciers, and lahars have created a raw and dynamic landscape on the southeast slope of Mount Hood. How fast is the landscape changing? Glacial moraines, often used to indicate past glacial extents, are heavily eroded or completely absent. Repeat historical photographs offer a view to how the canyon and the glacier has changed over the past 120 years. Harry F. Reid took two photographs from either side of the White River Glacier in 1901. These photos have the potential to assist with mapping the historical glacier perimeter but finding the location of the eastern photograph, frame 983, had vexed me during two previous visits. The photograph features the glacier terminus as viewed from the east with the top of the mountain obscured by clouds. In the foreground are two tree stumps, likely remnants of the ghost forest that formed by the Old Maid eruption in the late-1700s. The ty...

Glacier Rephotos from Mount Rainier

I posted a new batch of glacier repeat photos from Mount Rainier . Mount Rainier was quite an undertaking as it’s glaciers have been studied for a long time and there were many established photo stations. Last September I traveled to the mountain as part of the Glacier Rephoto Database Project to document the photo stations and acquire new repeat photographs to record the changes. Last year was focused on the Glacier-clad Volcanoes of the Pacific Northwest. Nisqually Glacier, Station 5 Mount Rainier is a big mountain compared to the other volcanoes in the Pacific Northwest and equally big is the quantity of ice. The grandeur of the mountain and expanse of ice has attracted numerous glacier studies over the past century including a number of repeat photography projects. Perhaps the most studied is the Nisqually Glacier. The glacier has undergone many changes over the past century. The three comparison photos from Station 5 illustrate the glacier a...

Rephotos of Mount Shasta Glaciers

I visited Mount Shasta on September 7, 2012 to reoccupy glacier photo stations established by Phil Rhodes in 1974. Phil is an expert on Mount Shasta’s glaciers and photographed the glaciers for several decades. I was fortunate to meet up with Phil for the first day of photographic surveys on Hotlum Glacier. Phil was invaluable in describing routes to stations and sharing his observations. I visited 10 of his stations at Hotlum, Bolam, Whitney, and Wintun glaciers over several days to record the station locations and rephotograph the scenes. Bolam Glacier: 1977 to 2012 The photo comparisons reveal the complex changes that have been occurring on Mount Shasta since the 1970s. Bolam Glacier receded, the Lower Wintun Glacier advanced, while others appear fairly stable. Past research has shown Whitney Glacier advancing since the 1950s through the early 2000s. The surface of Whitney Glacier appears to have lowered over the past 30 years from a photo station at 10,000 ft eleva...

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