As usual for this time of the year, we waited for some good weather to head back up to the Black Rapids Glacier for some mass balance measurements. At the end of April, we hit an unusually long weather window, so I actually flew up two weekends in a row (we got a bit of a late start on the first weekend).
This was a bittersweet moment. It is always good to get back on Black Rapids, but this was the first year since my PhD advisor Will Harrison had passed away. He was quite an amazing guy, and I will always appreciate and feel lucky to have crossed paths with him. He was born in the year of the last Black Rapids surge in 1936 and always felt like he had a special connection to that place.
I haven't worked up the data from the visit yet, but a first look seems to indicate a trend of glacier melting that has been persistent for several decades now. The last year wasn't exceptionally unusual, but the glacier is showing no indication of starting a new surge, which would now be well overdue.
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| The Susitna Glacier, on the way to Black Rapids |
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| Approach to landing |
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| On the way home: Trident Glacier |
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