69 ° 30' 34.452" N,
145 ° 30' 58.212" W
0.45 mi (0.73 km)
4280 ft (1304.54 m)
Descriptive name given to the glacier as it's the northernmost *above ground glacier in the United States. Named by Zachary Sheldon, 2022. A subterranean glacier was found next to Kaktovik in August 2008.
Pictures of, from, or near Northernmost Glacier.
Fourth Range, Sadlerochit Mountains, Shublik Mountains, Third Range,
Streams:Seeing as it was Sunday I figured I would sleep in a bit. Feeling guilty for not being there, I wished my daughter a happy birthday via inReach, got up and got going at 10am. I headed over to the saddle of the pass and followed caribou trails down to the valley floor. I tried to photograph a bird, then made my way back up the creek and then up the scree. Just before approaching the Yellow Brick Road I stopped and photographed some gray-crowned rosy finches. By just after 11 I was at the top of the ridge south of the glacier.
It was foggy when I got woke up on July 20, 2023, and finished moving everything into the 2006 Toyota Sequoia. I felt a bit guilty driving a big SUV 800 miles north with only one passenger, especially when the point of the expedition was to document a glacier before it vanished from an accelerated demise thanks to global warming. But there was no way I was going to attempt the drive in a Civic and the Pilot was in no condition to make the drive to Fairbanks let alone the Haul Rd.
First off for all the trolls and poo-pooers out there. Do I believe I am the first human to lay eyes on the glacier? Seeing as the land has been inhabited for thousands of years, no. As the "discover" of the northernmost glacier on the North American continent I think of myself as more as the glacier's talent agent. Where it was already out there and in the span of modern history, I would assume a handful of humans had seen it, yet it no one gave it any notice. Northernmost Glacier as I aptly named it was not on any map or in any database. Infact when I was looking for it, I really didn't think I would find it.
