Vanishing Point

The largest glacier between the high volcanic peaks of Mount Rainier and Glacier Peak has finally disappeared after a long battle with global warming. For thousands of years, the Hinman Glacier graced the crest of the Washington Cascades in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness.

Fifty miles due east of downtown Seattle, Mount Hinman sits deep in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, midway between Snoqualmie Pass and Stevens Pass. Until recently, the Hinman was one of four named glaciers that provided cool water to the Skykomish River in the hottest, driest time of the year.

The glaciers of the Skykomish basin have lost 55 percent of their surface area since the 1950s. As Hinman Glacier dwindled in recent decades, late-summer flows diminished in the Skykomish River, bad news for salmon and farmers. The glacier was ancient, though how ancient is unknown.

In the 1950s, the Hinman Glacier flowed a mile and a half from the broad top of 7,492-foot Mount Hinman to the valley floor nearly 2,000 feet below. Mount Hinman gained protection from direct human disturbance in 1976 when it was designated part of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness.

But Hinman’s snow and ice were no match for the rising temperatures of the fossil fuel era. In 1958, the Hinman Glacier covered 320 acres, about half the size of Seattle’s Lake Union. In August 2022, the biggest patch of ice found was about 10 acres — too small and too thin to flow.

Glaciers are rivers of ice that flow from year to year, as their own weight compresses snow into ice. Most include striking features like deep crevasses and deep-blue ice, sculpting the land beneath them as they go. Two other glaciers on Mount Hinman, preceded the Hinman into oblivion.

The rounded peak and the glacier on its northwest side were named for Everett dentist and mountain climber Harry B. Hinman in 1934. He started the Everett branch of the Mountaineers in 1911. Few ever touched the Hinman Glacier, reachable only by off-trail scrambling and mountaineering.

Visiting the site in 2009 while hiking the Pacific Crest Trail from Stevens Pass to Snoqualmie Pass, we found the area to be magical. The Hinman Glacier touched many people by keeping the Skykomish River cool and flowing each summer and providing water. Sadly, however, it is now gone.