{{Short description|Icefield in Canada and the United States}} {{Infobox glacier | name = Stikine Icecap | image = DevilsThumb.jpg | caption = The Devils Thumb rises above the Stikine Icecap | type = Icecap | location = Canada–United States border | coordinates = {{coord|57|04|14|N|132|13|51|W|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | area = | length = | thickness = | terminus = outflow glaciers | status = | map = Canada British Columbia geo | map_caption = Location in British Columbia, on the border with Alaska }} The '''Stikine Icecap''' (sometimes referred to as the '''Stikine Icefield''') is a large icefield straddled on the Alaska–British Columbia boundary in the Alaska Panhandle region.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=57.07062&lon=-132.23068&s=500&size=l&u=4&datum=nad27&layer=DRG| title = USGS Sumdum A-1 (AK) Topo Map| publisher = Topozone| access-date = 2007-01-24}}</ref> It lies in the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains. Within the United States, most of it is under the administration of the Tongass National Forest and is part of the Stikine-LeConte Wilderness within the national forest.<ref>[http://www.fs.fed.us/r10/tongass/forest_facts/resources/geology/stikineicefields.htm Tongass National Forest webpage on the Stikine Icecap]</ref>
A good size icefield, the icecap is a primary source for both the Taku River, which forms its northern boundary, and the Taku's southern tributaries, and also the Stikine River and its lower western tributaries, notably the Chutine, which form its southern and southwestern boundary, respectively. The Stikine Icecap is the parent icefield of the LeConte and Sawyer Glaciers on its US side, and the Great Glacier on its Canadian side. Also on the Canadian side and entering the lower Stikine, like the Great Glacier, are the Mud and Flood Glaciers, which form the boundaries of the small Boundary Range, which is an eastern abutment of the range comprising the Stikine Icecap and marks the approximate boundary claimed by the United States prior to the Alaska Boundary Settlement of 1903.
The Stikine Icecap area is also renowned for its technically demanding and dangerous peaks and spires of granite that have garnered comparisons as North America's version of Patagonia.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.alpinist.com/climbing-notes/note/10034/ |title=Climbing Notes: Stikine Icecap |access-date=2006-08-21 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060104221310/http://www.alpinist.com/climbing-notes/note/10034/ |archive-date=2006-01-04 }}</ref> Peaks of particular renown include Devils Thumb, Witches Tits, Cat's Ears, and the Burkett Needle.
==Cited references== {{Reflist}}
==See also== *Juneau Icefield *List of glaciers and icefields
==External links== *[http://www.bivouac.com/ArxPg.asp?ArxId=1415 Bivouac.com writeup]
{{Boundary Ranges}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Ice fields of Alaska Category:Boundary Ranges Category:Stikine Country Category:Glaciers of Hoonah–Angoon Census Area, Alaska Category:Bodies of ice of Petersburg Borough, Alaska Category:Ice fields of British Columbia Category:Canada–United States border Category:Bodies of ice of Unorganized Borough, Alaska
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