On the western side of Mount Hood lies the longest glacier cave system in the contiguous United States.
(Photography by Josh Hydeman)
A view of Mount Hood in autumn. You can see where the entrances of the glacier caves are at the bottom of the glacier. It is interesting to see how much rockfall covers the glacier in the summer.
In 2012, these caves were mapped to a combined length of 7,166.8 feet by cave explorers Brent McGregor and Eddy Cartaya.
Traditionally it is frowned upon to camp in caves, but in winter conditions like this it is very helpful to stay warm. (Photography by Josh Hydeman)
Currently, the total passage length is hundreds of feet less. Glaciers are frozen rivers; they are always moving and changing. In the past five years, we have seen the caves melt, shrink and collapse in a dramatic way. The caves are formed by…
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