Boulder Glacier
| Boulder Glacier | ||
|---|---|---|
| location | Whatcom County , Washington , USA | |
| Mountains | Cascade chain | |
| Type | Kar glacier | |
| length | 2.4 km | |
| surface | 3.4 km² | |
| Altitude range | 2989 m - 1524 m | |
| Coordinates | 48 ° 46 '4 " N , 121 ° 47' 53" W | |
|
||
| drainage | Boulder Creek → Baker Lake | |
| particularities | ends in an ice fall / talus ; declining | |
The Boulder Glacier is a glacier on the southeast slope of Mount Baker , a stratovolcano near the Pacific coast of North America. It lies in the cascade chain in Washington state . The Boulder Glacier is the sixth largest glacier on Mount Baker with an area of 3.4 square kilometers. It flows from the summit crater between Grant Peak (10,781 ft (3,286 m)) and Sherman Peak (10,141 ft (3,091 m)) down to an altitude of about 5,000 ft (1,524 m). It is notable for its decline of approximately 1,610 ft (491 m) between 1987 and 2008, revealing newly exposed rocks and soil.
Glacier retreat
The retreat of the glacier was about 8,700 ft (2,652 m) between 1850 and 1950. William Long of the United States Forest Service observed the glacier regrowth due to the cooler and wetter weather from 1953, which lasted until 1979 and was 2,438 ft (743 m).
The 1979 ending position is where a small stream reaches Boulder Creek from the southwest. Observations in 2005 suggest that the lowest one thousand feet or the lower several hundred meters are stagnating and likely to disappear. In the picture, this section of the glacier appears gray with rock debris and only a few crevasses . A small waterfall formed on the west side of Boulder Creek due to the current retreat.
Access
Boulder Glacier can be reached via Boulder Ridge Trail number 605. The trail leads through a climax society of purple firs and related species of various ages with plenty of standing dead wood . A wide variety of mushrooms appear in autumn. At about 4,300 ft (1,311 m) altitude, the trail reaches a lateral glacier moraine . At about 4,600 ft (1,402 m) you come across a rock that requires a grade 2 climb, and then you have to traverse a steep subalpine forest about 120 ft (37 m) in length to reach the top of the ridge. Soon afterwards the trail runs its course.
The Boulder Ridge is made up of pretty heather-lined berms and numerous longitudinal moraines left behind by the retreating glacier. The glacier retreat has left the upper region of the ridge in the form of bare rock, and the instability of the debris on the glacier tongue is a danger to the unwary visitor.
The Boulder Glacier is one of the more popular routes for climbing Mount Baker. Climbed for the first time on August 24, 1891, it was most often used in combination with the ice-covered ledge between the Boulder and Park glaciers in the north for ascent in order to bypass the sections that are densely shaped by crevasses. At approximately 10,000 ft (3,048 m) elevation, the route passes steep rocks and ice falls in the southwest to reach the summit ridge east of Grant Peak.
gallery
The Boulder Glacier 2003, the tongue from 1985 in red
Top View of the Tongue (2004)
View from the Boulder Ridge
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ your-berge online coordinate converter . Retrieved December 19, 2018.
- ↑ TopoQwest (United States Geological Survey Maps). Mount Baker, WA [map]. Retrieved October 20, 2012.
- ^ A. Post, D. Richardson, WV Tangborn, FL Rosselot: Inventory of glaciers in the North Cascades, Washington . In: USGS Prof. Paper . 705-A, 1971, pp. A1-A26.
- ↑ Mauri Pelto: North Cascade Glacier Retreat . Nichols College. Archived from the original on October 22, 2012. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 20, 2012.
- ↑ a b c M. Pelto, C. Hedlund: Terminus behavior and response time of North Cascade glaciers, Washington, USA . In: Journal of Glaciology . 47, No. 158, 2001, pp. 496-506. doi : 10.3189 / 172756501781832098 .
Web links
- Boulder Glacier ( English ) In: Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey . Retrieved October 20, 2012.
- Beckey, Fred: Cascade Alpine Guide: Climbing and High Routes: Rainy Pass to Fraser River . Mountaineers Books; 2nd edition, 1995, ISBN 0-89886-423-2 .