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?

130 Years of Change at Dana Glacier

Dana Glacier has a rich history of repeat photography. Owing greatly to its relative ease of access from Tioga Pass, the glacier has the greatest number of repeat photographs of any glacier in the Sierra Nevada. Israel Cook Russell first photographed Dana Glacier in 1883 while conducting surveys for the USGS. Little did he know that one of his photos would be purposefully repeated 32 times over the next 130 years by those seeking to maintain a photographic record of glacier change. Dana Glacier 1883 – 2013, from Station 4. Russell documented the existence of Dana Glacier when the glaciers in the Sierra Nevada were near their recent maximum. In 1883, the glacier is in contact with the moraine and crevasses are observed indicating movement. Since that time the glacier has retreated. The first and most repeated of Russell’s photograph shows the glacier from the north shore of Dana Lake. A comparison with the 2013 repeat photograph shows that the glacier has retreated and lost surf...

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...

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...

basagix field notes

Search This Blog