Glaciers in CO

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Dave B
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Re: Glaciers in CO

Post by Dave B »

Harlan U wrote: Tue Aug 17, 2021 5:27 pm I’m a little late to the party here, but I’d like to put my two cents in on this topic. I’ve done pretty extensive research on this trying to get old glacier photos for comparison purposes, and in the process I have come across some pretty convincing evidence that some of our named “glaciers” are still actual living glaciers. I feel like there is zero doubt in my mind that Arapaho glacier is a real glacier. The rest of them are more unclear. I can tell you that the largest St. Vrain Glacier, Fair Glacier, Andrews Glacier, Tyndall Glacier, and Navajo Glacier still show some crevasses. Rowe Glacier appears to have “died” sometime after 2014. The rest of them are in doubt, but every glacier except Peck, Moomaw, and Mills glacier have some photos that indicate they were real glaciers in the past.
I have it on good authority, from an INSTAAR scientist who's made a career studying glaciers, that Arapaho glacier is really the only "true" glacier in CO in that it actually flows. The rest are just permanent snow fields that flex and crack.
Make wilderness less accessible.
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Harlan U
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Re: Glaciers in CO

Post by Harlan U »

Thanks for sharing! That’s about what I thought. It’s quite sad to see how much they have shrunk over time.
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docinco
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Re: Glaciers in CO

Post by docinco »

fabulous pics, m5, thanks for posting!
ltlFish99
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Re: Glaciers in CO

Post by ltlFish99 »

It was a long time ago, probably in the late 1980's or early 1990's but there was a a somewhat substantial crevasse on st. Mary's.
Wide enough that you could not jump across it, and deep enough that most people would want a rope to get out of.
It would gave been perfect for crevasse rescue practice, but we already had set up another spot for this.

Completely off topic, but one year in late September I was up at st. Mary's and there was a little hole in the ice at the bottom of the steep part by the lake.
My sister and I investigated it, and crawled through the hole with headlamps.
It opened up to a rather large cavern in the ice. Top was higher than 20 feet and about 30 feet in diameter. It was very cool, completley blue with a surprising amount of light shining through.
We followed a small trickle of water up for a ways until the passage was getting quite small.
It was still passable, but looked like the opening was closing in the light from the headlamps.
I have often wondered how far we could have followed this tunnel, and we both enjoyed the experience.
Sure wish we had a camera as it was quite unique.
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dpage
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Re: Glaciers in CO

Post by dpage »

I feel like this is the closest I've seen in Colorado
Moomaw Glacier
Moomaw Glacier
31987.jpeg (200.5 KiB) Viewed 3350 times
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Andrew Russell
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Re: Glaciers in CO

Post by Andrew Russell »

dpage wrote: Thu Aug 19, 2021 4:14 pm I feel like this is the closest I've seen in Colorado31987.jpeg
been there. That's a fun scramble and a pretty nice view
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Harlan U
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Re: Glaciers in CO

Post by Harlan U »

ltlFish99 wrote: Thu Aug 19, 2021 2:05 pm It was a long time ago, probably in the late 1980's or early 1990's but there was a a somewhat substantial crevasse on st. Mary's.
Wide enough that you could not jump across it, and deep enough that most people would want a rope to get out of.
It would gave been perfect for crevasse rescue practice, but we already had set up another spot for this.

Completely off topic, but one year in late September I was up at st. Mary's and there was a little hole in the ice at the bottom of the steep part by the lake.
My sister and I investigated it, and crawled through the hole with headlamps.
It opened up to a rather large cavern in the ice. Top was higher than 20 feet and about 30 feet in diameter. It was very cool, completley blue with a surprising amount of light shining through.
We followed a small trickle of water up for a ways until the passage was getting quite small.
It was still passable, but looked like the opening was closing in the light from the headlamps.
I have often wondered how far we could have followed this tunnel, and we both enjoyed the experience.
Sure wish we had a camera as it was quite unique.
My dad has memories of ice caves on St. Mary’s from back in the 70s-80s.
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espressoself
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Re: Glaciers in CO

Post by espressoself »

Not sure if you would call this bergschrund or just a crevasse, but this was Tyndall today:
6E33381B-865D-40AC-887E-2BA631593107.jpeg
6E33381B-865D-40AC-887E-2BA631593107.jpeg (304.74 KiB) Viewed 2950 times
Not a glacier expert, and I have no doubt this is just a permanent snowfield as others have indicated, but I hadn’t ever seen this open up on Tyndall before, figured I’d share.
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Harlan U
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Re: Glaciers in CO

Post by Harlan U »

Judging by how far up on the glacier that particular crack is, I believe it is actually a bergschrund. That specific bergschrund has appeared in photos sporadically since 1917.
Tyndall itself had some REAL crevasses back in the 40's and 50's.
Tyndall in 1955. NSIDC Glacier Photograph Collection.
Tyndall in 1955. NSIDC Glacier Photograph Collection.
Screenshot 2021-08-24 at 2.19.27 PM.png (91.07 KiB) Viewed 2747 times
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Harlan U
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Re: Glaciers in CO

Post by Harlan U »

Hello again everyone. I hiked to Arapaho and Tyndall glaciers this year and got some great photos. Image
Attachments
Arapaho Glacier 9/5/22
Arapaho Glacier 9/5/22
C44133F4-B27E-46C1-BDC9-5AF4BE9597A8.jpeg (273.8 KiB) Viewed 1017 times
Tyndall Glacier 9/17/22
Tyndall Glacier 9/17/22
C7070B38-7731-41CD-AF82-1D9DAF08BB43.jpeg (163.45 KiB) Viewed 1017 times
Arapaho Glacier 9/5/22
Arapaho Glacier 9/5/22
320E1CF3-A0F0-4A6F-9A6C-E5B2FD60DD02.jpeg (241.64 KiB) Viewed 1017 times
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Harlan U
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Re: Glaciers in CO

Post by Harlan U »

More pics
Attachments
Exposed blue ice, Tyndall Glacier 9/17/22
Exposed blue ice, Tyndall Glacier 9/17/22
D58484AF-19A4-489C-93F8-DBC4C2993DF7.jpeg (181.05 KiB) Viewed 987 times
Ice cave on Tyndall 9/17/22
Ice cave on Tyndall 9/17/22
524B89E7-9FAB-418C-ABEF-A37F457ECEE5.jpeg (212.75 KiB) Viewed 987 times
Tyndall Glacier 9/17/22
Tyndall Glacier 9/17/22
68BD2EDB-5385-40B3-8973-A2D11093D701.jpeg (141.48 KiB) Viewed 987 times
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Harlan U
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Re: Glaciers in CO

Post by Harlan U »

One more photo dump! If anyone wants additional photos, just ask. I also have a composite image of Arapaho glacier (made from the binocular pics) on a google drawing.
Attachments
Lake below Arapaho Glacier. Glacial flour? 9/5/22
Lake below Arapaho Glacier. Glacial flour? 9/5/22
12F98903-FC92-46B1-AFFF-D255417C2EB9.jpeg (235.72 KiB) Viewed 976 times
Ice cave entrance, Tyndall Glacier 9/17/22
Ice cave entrance, Tyndall Glacier 9/17/22
97267F83-77AD-4002-9587-154B62D5CDCF.jpeg (108.33 KiB) Viewed 976 times
Bergschrund on Tyndall, 9/17/22
Bergschrund on Tyndall, 9/17/22
FF7C99B4-12EB-49AD-95D5-71415663621C.jpeg (359.17 KiB) Viewed 976 times
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