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# Mary Vaux Walcott and the Vanishing Glaciers of the Northwest
- URL: https://www.cascadepbs.org/podcasts/mossback/2026/04/mary-vaux-walcott-and-the-vanishing-glaciers-of-the-northwest/
- Published: 2026-04-22T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-05-07T18:01:32.000Z
- Description: Northwest glaciers are disappearing at an alarming rate. Knute Berger shares the story of the woman who began documenting their retreat in the late 19th century.
- Author: Knute Berger
- Tags: Mossback, #podcast, #dovetail_2e25def4-c24d-45bb-980c-c807262baa07

As soon as Mary Vaux arrived in the Canadian Rockies in the 1880s, she began photographing and documenting one glacier in particular, year after year. The Illecillewaet Glacier, like so many of the world’s glaciers, is now a fraction of its original size. 

Cascade PBS’s resident historian Knute Berger introduced viewers to Mary Vaux Walcott and her work in a [**recent episode**](https://www.cascadepbs.org/show/mossbacks-northwest-2/episode/our-glaciers-the-long-goodbye-9llguh/) of the *Mossback’s Northwest* video series, but there’s much more left to learn. 

In this episode of *Mossback*, Berger joins co-host Stephen Hegg to discuss Vaux’s life and legacy as Canada's first glaciologist, as well as the dramatic retreat of the Northwest’s many glaciers due to climate change. Plus, we tag along with the *Mossback’s Northwest* video team as they search for views of the most glaciated mountain in the lower 48: Mount Rainier. 

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**Credits**

Hosts: [**Stephen Hegg**](https://www.cascadepbs.org/author/stephenhegg-crosscut-com/), [**Knute Berger**](https://www.cascadepbs.org/author/knute-berger)

Producer: [**Sara Bernard**](https://www.cascadepbs.org/author/sara-bernard)

Story editors: [**Sarah Menzies**](https://www.cascadepbs.org/author/sarah-menzies)**,** [**Adam Brown**](https://www.cascadepbs.org/author/adam/)

Studio recording: **Roger Basquette**