The Hawaiian Islands are just on the other side of those furthest mountains. This is at the top of the Chugach Mountains looking South on a beautiful August day. This is the Columbia Ice Field which is the fastest moving glacier in Alaska. At the toe it is moving forward on average of 100 feet per day. Glaciologists are working hard to determine the reason for this increased speed.
This Summer there was a 10 foot snow gain at 8500′. That’s right, I said “this Summer”, it gained 10 feet of snow. That does not mean 10 feet of snow fell, but rather the ground level rose 10 feet due to snow Fall from May-August. Just imagine what happens up there in the Winter. An unimaginable amount of precipitation visits this region annually.