Looking west at Mt. Athabasca's north glacier with the cloudy skies above glowing from the first rays of a new day.

Mount Athabasca, rises more than 5,000 feet above the Icefields Parkway, to its summit at 11,453 ft (3,491 m). This peak is in the midst of the Columbia Icefield, the largest expanse of ice in the Canadian Rockies. Mt. Athabasca straddles a triple continental divide, with water from its slopes flowing west towards the Pacific Ocean, east towards Hudson's Bay, and north towards the Arctic Ocean.

Have a wonderful week!

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Early morning at this special glacier. It's always a shock when I see how far it has shrunk. It used to reach beyond where I took this shot.

"The Athabasca Glacier is one of the six principal 'toes' of the Columbia Icefield, located in the Canadian Rockies. The glacier currently loses depth at a rate of about 5 metres (16 ft) per year and has receded more than 1.5 km (0.93 mi) and lost over half of its volume in the past 125 years. Easily accessible, it is the most visited glacier in North America."
Wikipedia

As its main accumulation straddles the Continental Divide, and forms what’s known as the ‘hydrographic apex of North America’ or the centre of water distribution on the continent, the Columbia Icefield is commonly nicknamed the "Mother of Rivers." The meltwaters from the icefield’s various glaciers travel thousands of kilometres, flowing through many rivers and eventually draining into the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic oceans.

A worthy stop when traveling between Banff and Jasper on the Icefields Parkway.

Tags:   Athabasca Glacier Columbia Icefield Mother of Rivers Glaciers climate change Icefields Parkway Jasper National Park Canadian Rockies Alberta sunrise morning

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One of the most visited natural attractions along Alaska's Richardson Highway, this four-mile-long glacier descends almost to pavement and is easy to approach on foot. Worthington Glacier—listed as a Natural National Landmark—is kept healthy by the area’s extraordinary snowfall. (Nearby Thompson Pass has been known to experience 80 feet of annual accumulation).

Thanks for taking a look! Always appreciated.

Happy Friday!

Tags:   Worthington Glacier glaciers Richardson Highway Valdez Alaska

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Looking up Glacier Park's Josephine Lake at 2 glacier's that feed multiple lakes, rivers, streams, fish, wildlife and varied ecosystems. Salamander glacier on the top and Grinnell glacier in the basin below it. Mt. Gould posted yesterday on the left and a portion of the Garden Wall in the center.

As of 2017, "The warming climate has dramatically reduced the size of 39 glaciers in Montana since 1966, some by as much as 85 percent. On average, the glaciers have reduced by 39 percent and only 26 glaciers are now larger than 25 acres, which is used as a guideline for deciding if bodies of ice are large enough to be considered glaciers.

Early last century there were an estimated 150 glaciers larger than 25 acres in Glacier National Park." USGS.org

Soon, if not presently, both of these glaciers, and many others, will no longer be large enough to be classified as glaciers.

Not looking to be a downer but do want to share that such precious and fragile beauties like this may soon be irreparably altered and damaged. Tragic....

Enjoy the first weekend of Spring!

Tags:   Glaciers shrinking glaciers ecosystems Lake Josephine Salamander Glacier Grinnell Glacier Mt. Gould Continental Divide Ptarmigan Wall Many Glacier? Glacier National Park Montana

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Been awhile since I posted a black and white image so here is one of Mt. Rainier at sunrise with Emmons Glacier catching the day's first light.

"The highest mountain in the northwestern Cascade Range, Mount Rainier has 25 named glaciers that adorn the mountain, the most of any mountain in the continental United States. Emmons Glacier covers the largest area of any glacier in the contiguous 48 states, stretching over 4 miles. Hikers can follow the glacier to the peak, as it spans from the White River Valley to the summit of the mountain. Mount Rainier’s glaciers provide an essential water source for six ice-cold rivers, including the Nisqually, Mowich and Carbon." doi.gov

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

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