30 years of change in the mountains: photo comparisions

More on my website

This page is copied from my website, which has several other climbing trip reports and photographs from the North Cascades and elsewhere: http://www.stephabegg.com.

My Parents

My parents met on July 4, 1974 while hiking down the Dosewallips Trail in the Olympic Mountains of Washington State. They soon were married, and they spent the next several years adventuring in Washington's gorgeous Olympic Mountains and North Cascades. In the summer of 1983, as a mosquito-bitten and sunburned happy and smiling 4-month-old strapped to my mother's back, I enjoyed the mountains for the first time. The era of family expeditions into the mountains had begun.

Now, I spend much of my summers following the shadows of my parents’ boot tracks and picking up where they left off. Over the last few years, I’ve done extensive mountain adventuring and alpine climbing, often traveling through the same areas my parents were 30 years previous.

I always bring my camera on my adventures, and it's fun to compare my photos with those taken several years ago by my parents. While the mountains have changed little in the 30 years between snapshots, there are some evident changes, such as the size of glaciers, the weight of gear, and the length of shorts. I created this page to show some of these photo comparisons. The amount of glacier recession is particularly evident (and somewhat saddening!) in many of the photos.

Drastically-shrinking glaciers of the North Cascades

Through comparing my photos to the photos my parents took in the 1970s and 1980s, I've noticed that the glaciers of the North Cascades have undergone significant recession since my parents' glory days. In 2010, I wrote an article for the Northwest Mountaineering Journal titled "Receding Glaciers, Receding Climbs." This article discussed how glacier recession in the North Cascades has affected climbing routes. The following photos were put together for the article. Unlike most of the photo comparisons on this page, these comparisons are not with my parents' photos.

Comparisons with photos my parents took in the '70s and '80s

PTARMIGAN TRAVERSE, NORTH CASCADES, WA
Dome Peak area (can see glacier recession even between 2003 and 2009). Taken by my parents in 1979, on a family backpacking trip 2003, and on a trip in 2009.	Kool-Aid Lake and Mt. Formidable (note the shrinking glaciers). My parents and uncle and aunt in 1979, and taken by me in 2009.	Cache Col. Taken by my parents in 1979 and me in 2007.
On the Ptarmigan Traverse. My parents and uncle and aunt in 1979, my mom in 2007.	Yang-Yang Lake. My parents' camp in 1979, on a family backpacking trip in 2003.	Ascending Le Conte Glacier. My parents in 1979, on a family backpacking trip in 2003.
Above White Rock Lakes (glacier almost gone in 30 yrs!)	The shrinking Le Conte Glacier, 1979, 2009.

PICKETS, NORTH CASCADES, WA
Mt Fury, 1981, 2007, 2008.	Camp on Wiley Ridge, 26 years apart.	Challenger Glacier. My dad in 1981, me in 2008.
Luna Peak and Luna Basin, 1981, 2007.	Luna Peak from Wiley Ridge, 1981, 2007.	Mt Challenger from Wiley Ridge, 1981, 2007.
Southern Pickets from summit of Luna Peak, 1981, 2007.	Southern Pickets, 1981, 2007.	2008 was a high snow year in the Southern Pickets! 2005 vs 2008.
2008 was a high snow year in the Southern Pickets! 2005 vs 2008

TORMENT-FORBIDDEN TRAVERSE, NORTH CASCADES, WA
Changing conditions on the north side steep ice on the traverse.	On the summit of Torment in 1982 and 2009.	The shrinking Inspiration Glacier on Eldorado, 1982 to 2009.
The traverse in July 2002 vs Aug 2009.

MT. RAINIER, NORTH CASCADES, WA
Little Tahoma, Disappointment Cleaver. My mom ascending in 1975 versus taken when I climbed Rainier in 2006.	My mom in 1975 versus taken when I climbed Rainier in 2006.	Camp Muir, 1974 vs 2006.

MT. BAKER, NORTH CASCADES, WA
Black Buttes, 2004 vs 2006.	Different conditions for different seasons on the Coleman-Deming Route, 2004 vs 2006.	Different conditions for different seasons on the Coleman-Deming Route, 2004 vs 2006

ENCHANTMENTS, WA
Enchantment Basin, 1979 vs 2006.	On the summit of Prusik Peak. My parents in 1979, my sister in 2005.

OTHER NORTH CASCADES, WA
The receding glacier below Mt. Triumph. My parents in 1981, my cousin in 2006.	Tank Lakes, 1982 vs 2006.

OLYMPIC MTNS, WA
"The Tree" on the Bailey Range. Taken on my parents' honeymoon in 1975, on a family backpack trip in 2004, and on a cross-Olympics traverse I did in 2007.	On the Bailey Range. My dad in 1975, on a cross-Olympics traverse I did in 2007.	Mt. Olympus from the Valhallas, 1981 vs 2007.
My dad and I on the summit of Frigga in the Valhallas, 26 years apart	Looking along the ridge between Bear Pass and Olympus, 32 Septembers apart (note there is much less snow now!)	Shrinking Anderson Glacier in the Olympics, 34 years apart. Sad and amazing.

OTHER AREAS
Looking down on Zermatt from the Matterhorn, Switzerland. Climbed by my dad in 1985, climbed by my sister and I in 2005.	The Matterhorn, Switzerland. That's me on a family vacation in 1985 (while my dad was climbing the Matterhon), and the second photo is of my sister in 2005 when we traveled to Europe and climbed the Matterhorn together.	Mt. Sir Donald. Taken when my parents made a recon trip there in 1983 vs when I climbed it in 2006.

Images

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