White River Glacier is an

alpine glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...

located on the south slopes of Mount Hood in the U.S. state of

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

. It ranges in elevation from about . It is among the best known of the twelve glaciers on the mountain, and the lower reaches are a popular destination for Nordic skiing enthusiasts. The glacier is the source of the White River, a tributary of the

Deschutes River Deschutes River may refer to: *Deschutes River (Oregon) The Deschutes River in central Oregon is a major tributary of the Columbia River. The river provides much of the drainage on the eastern side of the Cascade Range in Oregon, gathering many ...

, and has a long history of washing out the bridge where

Oregon Route 35 Oregon Route 35 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Oregon, running between Government Camp on the slopes of Mount Hood and the city of Hood River. OR 35 traverses part of the Mt. Hood Highway No. 26 ( Mount Hood Scenic Byway) ...

crosses at . The glacier is a remnant of the massive glaciers that formed during the last

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...

and have created White River Canyon. The canyon divides the two largest ski areas on Mount Hood, and is easily seen from many areas of

Timberline Lodge ski area Timberline Lodge ski area is the ski and snowboarding area of Timberline Lodge, a National Historic Landmark in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is one of a few ski areas in the United States with most of the skiable terrain below the main lodge. I ...

, and from the upper southern runs of

Mount Hood Meadows Mount Hood Meadows is a ski resort on the southeastern face of Mount Hood in northern Oregon, and is the largest of the mountain's ski resorts. It is located about 67 miles (108 km) east of Portland, and 35 miles (56 km) from Hood Ri ...

. The glacier is bounded on the east by a ridge shared with Newton Clark Glacier and on the west by a ridge shared with

Palmer Glacier Palmer Glacier is a glacier on the south slopes of Mount Hood in the U.S. state of Oregon. The glacier is situated at an elevation range of , and was named for Joel Palmer, an Oregon pioneer. Palmer Glacier is the most well-known of the twelve g ...

. The upper glacier forms at the base of ''Steel Cliff'' to the east of an area known as ''Triangle Moraine''. The glacier lies almost entirely within

Mount Hood Wilderness The Mount Hood Wilderness is a protected wilderness area inside the Mount Hood National Forest, in the U.S. state of Oregon. The area, covering , includes the peak of Mount Hood and its upper slopes, and ranges from temperate rain forests at the ...

. The western edge of the canyon is extremely steep and in times of low visibility causes descending mountain climbers on the ''South Route'' (through Palmer Glacier to Timberline Lodge) to veer excessively to the west to avoid the possibility of entering the canyon. This has resulted in numerous search and rescue operations near or in Zigzag Canyon, west of Palmer Glacier. (See Mount Hood climbing accidents.)

Jökulhlaup A jökulhlaup ( ) (literally "glacial run") is a type of glacial outburst flood. It is an Icelandic term that has been adopted in glaciological terminology in many languages. It originally referred to the well-known subglacial outburst flood ...

s originating from White River Glacier occurred in 1926, 1931, 1946, 1949, 1959, and 1968. These washed out Highway 35 (or its predecessor) each time. An increase of outbursts from White River Glacier may be related to increasing temperatures and the size of the fumarole field at the glacier's head at Crater Rock. The White River Glacier has decreased in area by 61% between 1907 and 2004. The

glacier terminus A glacier terminus, toe, or snout, is the end of a glacier at any given point in time. Although glaciers seem motionless to the observer, in reality glaciers are in endless motion and the glacier terminus is always either advancing or retreating ...

has retreated over the same time period.

References

Glaciers of Mount Hood Glaciers of Hood River County, Oregon Mount Hood National Forest Glaciers of Oregon {{HoodRiverCountyOR-geo-stub

See also

References