Greetings from North Cascades National Park

When my family and I made the long trip to North Cascades National Park, I was shocked by how green the water was. We hiked on the Thunder Knob Trail and crossed Thunder Creek on a thin metal bridge. The water below was a milky turquoise, which I later learned was from tiny pieces of rock in the water.

Beyond the awe-inspiring landscape, we also saw several different signs of life. While hiking down the mountain, I saw several mushrooms clinging to logs. A lone black beetle crawled over the edge of a leaf, waving its antennae around like little hands. On a rock further down the path, a fat green caterpillar gorged itself on moss.

The forest was peaceful and in that moment, I realized that each organism, no matter how tiny, played a vital role in nature.

Sincerely,
Annette

North Cascades National Park

North Cascades National Park Service Complex encompasses 684,000 acres of wilderness, trails and rivers, as well as Ross Lake and Lake Chelan National Recreation Areas. In this vast terrain are jagged mountains, hundreds of glaciers and old-growth forests that have never been cut, with large, magnificent trees and tiered canopies of fir, hemlock and cedar. The snowy winters at this park produce stunning waterfalls in the spring — a phenomenon that is so beloved, the Cascade Range is named for them.

State(s): Washington

Established: 1968

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