Alaska
Chapter One
Mountains, Glaciers, and Innumerable Rivers
Rivers, creeks, and streams almost without number course through the extent of Alaska, but it is the mountain ranges that most define its landscape. Jutting southward from the main landmass, the Aleutian Range is the backbone of the narrow Alaska Peninsula. To the north, the Alaska Range sprawls more than 500 miles across the heart of the state, rising to 20,320 feet atop the icy crown of North America. The Chugach and Wrangell-St. Elias Mountains shadow the Alaska Range to the south and wrap around southcentral Alaska's turbulent rim of fire and ice. Southeast of the St. Elias Range, the Coast Mountains march down the southeast panhandle above the emerald waters of the Inside Passage. West of the Alaska Range, the Kuskokwim Mountains are mere foothills by comparison, but this r ... read full excerpt from Alaska ebook
