Columbia Glacier (Washington)

Columbia Glacier is a glacier located in the Henry M. Jackson Wilderness in the U.S. state of Washington. It descends from 5,600 ft (1,700 m) to 4,700 ft (1,400 m) above sea level. It is surrounded by Columbia Peak, Monte Cristo Peak, and Kyes Peak and is a source of water for Blanca Lake and Troublesome Creek, a tributary of the North Fork Skykomish River.

The glacier retreated 278 ft (85 m) between 1979 and 2004. The retreat is due to recent reduced winter snowpack and more summer melting leading to negative mass balance. The glacier is in disequilibrium with climate and will continue to thin and retreat.


Famous quotes containing the words columbia and/or glacier:

    The young women, what can they not learn, what can they not achieve, with Columbia University annex thrown open to them? In this great outlook for women’s broader intellectual development I see the great sunburst of the future.
    M. E. W. Sherwood (1826–1903)

    “The glacier knocks in the cupboard,
    The desert sighs in the bed,
    And the crack in the tea-cup opens
    A lane to the land of the dead.
    —W.H. (Wystan Hugh)