Boulder Glacier is located on the southeast slope of
Mount Baker
Mount Baker (Lummi: '; nok, Kw’eq Smaenit or '), also known as Koma Kulshan or simply Kulshan, is a active glacier-covered andesitic stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the North Cascades of Washington in the United States. Mount ...
, a
stratovolcano
A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and per ...
near the Pacific coast of North America in the
Cascade Range
The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, ...
of
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
.
Boulder Glacier is the sixth largest on Mount Baker with an area of .
It flows from the summit crater between Grant Peak () and Sherman Peak () to about . It is noteworthy for
retreating between 1987 and 2008, leaving newly exposed rock and soil behind.
Between 1850 and 1950, the glacier retreated .
William Long of the
United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...
observed the glacier beginning to advance due to cooler and wetter weather in 1953. This was followed by a advance by 1979.
[ The 1979 terminus position is where the small stream enters Boulder Creek from the southwest. Observations in 2005 suggest that the lowest thousand feet or several hundred meters of the glacier is stagnant and will likely disappear.][ In the pictures, this section of the glacier is gray with rock debris and has few crevasses. On the west side of Boulder Creek is a small waterfall revealed by the recent recession of the glacier.
Boulder Glacier may be approached via the Boulder Ridge Trail number 605. The trail passes through a ]