The Kaskawulsh Glacier is a vast, temperate

valley glacier Glacier morphology, or the form a glacier takes, is influenced by temperature, precipitation, topography, and other factors. The goal of glacial morphology is to gain a better understanding of glaciated landscapes and the way they are shaped. T ...

nestled in the

Saint Elias Mountains The Saint Elias Mountains () are a subgroup of the Pacific Coast Ranges, located in southeastern Alaska in the United States, Southwestern Yukon and the very far northwestern part of British Columbia in Canada. The range spans Wrangell-St. Elias ...

, within

Kluane National Park Kluane National Park and Reserve (; ) are two protected areas in the southwest corner of the territory of Yukon. The National Park Reserve was set aside in 1972 to become a national park, pending settlement of First Nations land claims. It cover ...

in the

Canadian territory Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North America—New Brunswick, Nov ...

Yukon Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...

Geography

Located approximately above sea level, the glacier covers more than of the surrounding landscape. It terminates at the head of two river valleys, the Slims and the Kaskawulsh River, which feed the

Yukon River The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. From its source in British Columbia, it flows through Canada's territory of Yukon (itself named after the river). The lower half of the river continues westward through the U.S ...

(via

Kluane Lake Kluane Lake is located in the southwest area of the Yukon. It is the largest lake contained entirely within Yukon at approximately , and long. Kluane Lake is located approximately northwest of Haines Junction. The Alaska Highway follows mos ...

) and

Alsek River Alsek River (; Tlingit ''Aalseix̱' '') is a wilderness river flowing from Yukon into Northern British Columbia and into Alaska. It enters the Gulf of Alaska at Dry Bay. Most of the Alsek River's basin is within protected wilderness areas and N ...

systems respectively. The Kaskawulsh is the result of two converging outlet glaciers, the Central and North Arms, and is an impressive wide at its broadest point.

Waterflow

Until 2016, abundant melt water from the Kaskawulsh was channeled by ice dam to drain through the Slims River, north to

, and ultimately to the

Bering Sea The Bering Sea ( , ; rus, Бе́рингово мо́ре, r=Béringovo móre, p=ˈbʲerʲɪnɡəvə ˈmorʲe) is a marginal sea of the Northern Pacific Ocean. It forms, along with the Bering Strait, the divide between the two largest landmasse ...

. In 2016, as the glacier receded, the predominant flow abruptly switched to the Kaskawulsh River, flowing east and then south to

and to the

Gulf of Alaska The Gulf of Alaska ( Tlingit: ''Yéil T'ooch’'') is an arm of the Pacific Ocean defined by the curve of the southern coast of Alaska, stretching from the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island in the west to the Alexander Archipelago in the ...

. As the water level at Kluane Lake continues to drop, researchers expect this will become an isolated lake cut off from any outflow.

Tourism

Backpackers can visit the Kaskawulsh along the popular Slims River West Trail, which follows the Slims River south for before ending at the summit of Observation Mountain near the toe of the glacier. Backpackers can also follow the Slims River East Route to reach the toe of the glacier, also known as 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 they are in endless Glacier#Motion, motion and the glacier terminus is always either advancing o ...

. File:Kaskawulsh Glacier 1992.jpeg, Terminus of the Kaskawulsh Glacier File:Kaskawulsh Glacier Moraines.jpg, Kaskawulsh Glacier medial moraine. August 2013 File:Kaskawulsh Glacier Seen from the NW.jpg, Kaskawulsh Glacier seen from Mount Weyprecht. August 2013

References

{{Commons Category, Kaskawulsh Glacier Glaciers of Yukon Kluane National Park and Reserve Saint Elias Mountains