Harriman Glacier is 8 miles (13 km) long and trends northeast to its terminus at the head of Harriman Fjord in Prince William Sound, about 74 miles (119 km) west-southwest of Valdez and 16 miles (26 km) northeast of Whittier, Alaska. Named after Edward H. Harriman, the sponsor of the 1899 Harriman Alaska Expedition, Harriman Glacier is one of nine named glaciers flowing into Harriman Fjord. As the trunk glacier of the fjord, it reaches the water’s edge at the southwest head of the bay. The glacier’s terminus is at tidewater, with a frontal ice cliff estimated to be over 100 feet (30 m) high. It originates from an extensive icefield in the Chugach Mountains, fed by several unnamed glaciers, and only a few peaks or nunataks remain permanently snow-free.

Edward Harriman, a wealthy railroad magnate, organized a maritime expedition to Alaska in 1899. He chartered the S.S. George W. Elder, bringing his family and an elite group of 126 scientists, artists, photographers, and naturalists to explore and document the Alaskan coast. While Harriman’s initial reasons for including people outside his family are unknown, the expedition yielded valuable scientific data. Discoveries included a new glacier, nine new species of algae, and 240 plant species. Notable members included John Muir, William H. Dall, Henry Gannett, and Grove K. Gilbert. Edward Curtis served as the expedition photographer. Gilbert and Gannett wrote the first description of the glaciers in Harriman Fjord.

Earlier explorers of Port Wells and College Fjord, such as Cook in 1778, Vancouver in 1794, and Mendenhall in 1898, observed the ice terminus of Barry Glacier. They assumed this ice stream filled the entire arm of Port Wells. However, by the time the Harriman Alaska Expedition arrived in 1899, native seal hunters reported navigating past Barry Glacier into the fjord’s inner basin. The expedition ventured beyond Barry Glacier’s terminus and discovered open water surrounded by the high peaks of the Chugach Mountains, extending to Harriman Glacier’s terminus, with at least five ice streams reaching tidewater. The Chugach Mountains are currently covered by roughly 5.2 million acres (2.1 million ha) of icefields and glaciers. The only advancing glaciers are located in western Prince William Sound. During the 1990s, Harriman Glacier, which measures 5 miles (8 km) in length and covers 6,435 acres (2,600 ha), was still advancing but has changed little over the past decade. Evidence suggests all other valley and outlet glaciers in the Chugach Mountains are thinning and retreating. Read more here and here. Explore more of Harriman Glacier and prince William Sound here: