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Debris covered ice of Ladd Glacier, Mount Hood

In my quest to rephotograph all of Reid’s 1901 glacier images around Mount Hood and Mount Adams, I hiked to the moraines of Ladd Glacier on the north side of Mount Hood. I knew the glacier no longer occupied the the frame, but I was curious nonetheless. Below is the repeat image.



Ladd Glacier, Station 1002

The image on the left features a debris covered glacier terminus. Exposed ice can be seen just left of the water mark. Not surprising the glacier has retreated from the modern frame on the right... but how far?


Panorama with Harry Reid's 1901 image registered in space. Red dot indicates glacier terminus in 1901.

Panning up the glacier from the 1901 glacier terminus (red dot in panorama) a small break in the rock debris revealed exposed ice (yellow dot). Has the glacier only retreated 230 meters since 1901? If so it would be comparable to the slow rates of retreat on nearby Coe and Eliot glaciers. They too have a large quantity of thick rock debris covering the glacier terminus. However, unlike those, the active glacier terminus (blue dot) of Ladd Glacier has retreated from the lower debris covered glacier, likely because of the smaller and lower elevation accumulation area.















Oblique aerial view of Ladd Glacier. (Google Earth image, August 2016






The lower debris covered ice is now stranded, though there is evidence of movement when comparing historical imagery. It makes me wonder, is this lower portion still Ladd Glacier? Or something else?














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Location: Ladd Glacier, Oregon 97041, USA

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