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The Matanuska Glacier lies in the Chugach Mountains where it originates at Mount Marcus Baker at 13,176 feet, and ends here near the Glenn Highway where the Matanuska River begins. This is the largest glacier in America that is accessible by car. It is a popular tourist destination for excursions onto the ice itself.
The view of the Matanuska Glacier from the Glenn Highway is impressive but the really amazing view is from above. Look at the satellite photos on Google Earth just to see the gigantic ice field that lies behind the mountains and pushes the glacier out. The view from the highway is only the terminus of the glacier; it is actually 27 miles (39km) long.
The solar halo, or rainbow around the sun, is caused by ice crystals in the thin clouds high in the atmosphere.
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait. Approximately half of Alaska's 710,231 residents (as per the 2010 United States Census) live within the Anchorage metropolitan area. Alaska is the least densely populated state of the U.S.Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska
