Raging

A large stream carving through the ice on the northern moraine of the Black Rapids Glacier. We couldn't find a way to safely cross on the first week.

It's like a playground of rocky, icy, watery death!

On the Black Rapids Glacier. The rock pile to the left is just your normal lateral moraine. The boulders hanging off the ice-cliff above the stream and pond are debris left by a rockslide after the 7.2 magnitude earthquake in 2002.

Pond

On the right is rock debris from a landslide that occurred in 2002 after a 7.9 earthquake on the Denali Fault. The debris crossed the entire width of the glacier, 3 km wide. The debris insulates the ice, protecting it from melt which is why it is so much higher than the ice we were standing on. This provides a natural dam for water flowing down the streams on the glacier creating large ponds and lakes.