Солтүстік Каскадтар ұлттық паркі

National Park in Washington, US

North Cascades National Park is an American national park in the state of Washington. At more than , it is the largest of the three National Park Service units that comprise the North Cascades National Park Complex. North Cascades National Park consists of a northern and southern section, bisected by the Skagit River that flows through the reservoirs of Ross Lake National Recreation Area. Lake Chelan National Recreation Area lies on the southern border of the south unit of the park. In addition to the two national recreation areas, other protected lands including several national forests and wilderness areas, as well as Canadian provincial parks in British Columbia, nearly surround the park. North Cascades National Park features the rugged mountain peaks of the North Cascades Range, the most expansive glacial system in the contiguous United States, the headwaters of numerous waterways, and vast forests with the highest degree of flora biodiversity of any American national park. The region was first settled by Paleo Indian Native Americans; by the time European American explorers arrived, it was inhabited by Skagit tribes. By the early 19th century, the region was visited by fur trappers and several British and American companies vied for control over the fur trade. After the Canada–United States border was set at the 49th parallel in 1846, explorers came to chart potential routes through the mountains for roads and railroads. Limited mining and logging occurred from the late 19th century to the early 20th century. The first significant human impact in the region occurred in the 1920s when several dams were built in the Skagit River valley to generate hydroelectric power. Environmentalists then campaigned to preserve the remaining wilderness, culminating on October 2, 1968, with the designation of North Cascades National Park. Heavy snows and a high risk of avalanches due to the steep terrain, especially on the western slopes, severely limit visitation in the winter. Most access to the park is from State Route 20, which follows the Skagit River, though even this road is closed for months at a time in the winter. Most of the plant and animal species native to the park region are still found there, though climate change and pollutants from industrialized regions to the west pose risks to the environment. The park has one of the earliest and longest lasting research programs dedicated to studying climate change, primarily through examining the effects of glacial retreat. North Cascades National Park is almost entirely protected as wilderness, and so the park has few structures, roads or other improvements. Visitors wishing to drive to a campground must do so in the adjacent national forests or national recreation areas. Camping inside the park requires hiking in by trail, horseback or boat, and camping is regulated by a permit system to ensure the wilderness is not over exploited. Mountaineering is popular in the park and only unobtrusive clean climbing is allowed.

Human history in North Cascades National Park and the surrounding region begins 8–10,000 years ago, after the end of the last glacial period. Paleo Indians slowly advanced from Puget Sound into the interior mountain region as the glacial ice retreated. Archaeological evidence from other sites hundreds of miles away from the park indicate that Hozomeen chert, a type of rock well suited to the fabrication of implements, was mined from near Hozomeen Mountain, just east of the park border, for the last 8,400 years. Tools such as microblades made from Hozomeen chert are part of the archaeological record throughout the Skagit River Valley, west of the park and in regions to the east. As well as the archaeological excavation at Cascade Pass, there are another 260 prehistoric sites that have been identified in the park. [[File:Microblades North Cascades. jpg|thumb|left|Microblades excavated from Cascades Pass; the two on the right were crafted from quartz. Residing mainly to the west of the park near Puget Sound, the Skagits lived in settlements, culling their needs from the waterways and traveling by canoe. Skagits formed a loose confederation of tribes that united if threatened by outside tribes such as the Haidas, who lived to the north. Fort Okanogan was the first American settlement in present day Washington State, well north of the route followed by members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804–1806, and also north of Fort Vancouver, on the Columbia River. Fort Okanogan was later owned by the North West Company, and then the Hudson's Bay Company, both of which were British owned. American and British disputes in the region centered on the fur trade, and the Treaty of 1818 allowed for joint administration of Oregon Country, as it was referred to in the United Statesthe British Empire referred to the region as the Columbia District. The treaty set the international border at the 49th parallel, but this was disputed west of the Rocky Mountains, since the rival fur trading outfits had their own ideas about where the border should be. The Oregon boundary dispute between Britain and the United States eventually led to the Oregon Treaty of 1846, and the 49th parallel forms both the current international border as well as the northern limit of the current park. In 1882, US Army Lieutenant Henry Hubbard Pierce led a government sponsored exploration that traversed the western boundary of the southern section of the current park, in search of transportation routes and natural resources. As with the party led by McClellan in the 1850s, Pierce failed to find a suitable route for a railway, and only marginally suitable routes for roads. However, the expedition discovered gold in a quartz vein on the slopes of Eldorado Peak. Further expeditions by the military in 1883 and 1887 also determined that the mountains were virtually impenetrable. Miners were hampered by short working seasons, difficult terrain, low quantities of ore and a lack of financial investment. Miners built some of the first trails and roads into portions of the backcountry, some of which involved intricate engineering, including bridges over the numerous streams and dynamiting rock ledges above steep gorges during trail construction. One mining company built a series of flumes, the longest of which was over 3 mile (5 km), to transport lumber and to supply water for use in their hydraulic mining operation. Unlike in many other regions of the Pacific Northwest, logging had little impact on the future park. The ruggedness of the terrain and the existence of more economically viable timber resources that were closer to transportation routes largely dissuaded the timber industry from logging in the area. In 1897 the Washington Forest Reserve was set aside, preserving the forestland that would later become the park. By 1905, the management of the reserve was transferred from the Department of the Interior to the Department of Agriculture. The Forest Service was subsequently created to administer these forest reserves nationwide, which were redesignated as National Forests.

thumb|Stephen Mather (seated at center) was the first Director of the National Park Service, and is the namesake for the vast wilderness area that now encompasses almost all of the park.|alt=A black and white photo of five men wearing business attire. Two are standing and three are seated. The establishment of Yellowstone National Park in 1872, and Yosemite National Park in 1890, led preservationists to argue for similar protections for other areas. Even before the North Cascade region was designated as a Forest Reserve in 1897, activists argued the region should be afforded the greater protection accorded from a National Park designation. Washingtonians submitted a petition in 1892 to establish a national park to the north of Lake Chelan, as many who had visited the region believed it to have scenery "greater than Switzerland's". Further efforts took place in 1906, and again between 1916 and 1921, when artist Julian Itter and the Mazamas Alpine Club lobbied for a bill to designate "Mount Baker National Park". The proposals failed to gain approval from the US Congress and were shelved for decades. Not all locals supported the idea of a national park, as they felt that such a designation would damage the economics of the region. The Forest Service was also not in favor of park designation, as they would have to relinquish control over the land to the Park Service, which was not uncommon, since many parks being established were originally managed by the Forest Service. In an effort to appease their detractors, the Forest Service designated Primitive Areas which would provide increased protection to some of the most pristine regions they managed. The North Cascades National Park Act designated the region as a national park on October 2, 1968, and the National Park Service commenced direct management on January 1, 1969. The North Cascades National Park Act also designated Ross Lake and Lake Chelan National Recreation Areas. Redwood National Park in California was also signed into existence on the same day as the North Cascades.

thumb|right|The south unit of the park is dominated by Eldorado Peak (left center skyline). Cascade Pass, one of the most popular hiking destinations in the park, is the lowest point on the skyline between Boston Peak (just right of center, with large glacier) and broad Johannesburg Mountain (right). Hidden Lake Peaks, another popular hike, are in the middle distance below and right of Boston Peak.|alt=A range of snow capped mountains. In the foreground is a stretch of forest. In between is an area of lower ground. Although there are some gravel roads open to the public that enter the park, such as the Cascade River Road beginning at Marblemount, and the Thornton Lakes Road near Newhalem, most automobile traffic travels on State Route 20, which passes through the Ross Lake National Recreation Area. The visitor center at Newhalem on the North Cascades Highway is open in the summer. Some of the best views of Mount Shuksan are from the Heather Meadows Visitor Center in Mount Baker Snoqualmie National Forest well outside of the park. All backcountry access requires a permit, and most are obtained at the Wilderness Information Center near Marblemount. The nearest large town on the west side of the park is Sedro Woolley, and Winthrop lies to the east. Chelan is located at the southeastern end of Lake Chelan where access to the park from Stehekin serves eastern Washington communities. The closest international airport is Seattle Tacoma International Airport (Sea Tac), which is 120 mile (193 km) from North Cascades Visitor Center and 190 mile (306 km) from Chelan. In Chelan, the Lady of the Lake is a passenger only ferry that transports visitors to Stehekin, and the trailheads hikers can use to access the southern end of the park.

thumb|upright=1.3|Map of the North Cascades National Park Complex
North Cascades National Park is located in portions of Whatcom, Skagit, and Chelan counties in the U. S. state of Washington. Bisected by Ross Lake National Recreation Area (NRA), the park consists of two districts; the northern and southern. The northern boundary of the north district is also the international border between the United States and Canada; the latter manages adjoining Chilliwack Lake and Skagit Valley Provincial Park. The entire eastern and southern boundary of the north district is bordered by Ross Lake NRA. The western side of the north district is bordered by Mount Baker Snoqualmie National Forest, within which lies the Mount Baker and Noisy Diobsud Wildernesses, both of which border the park. Mount Baker Snoqualmie National Forest also borders a portion of the southern district of the park, to the southwest. Along the southwest border is Wenatchee National Forest, within which lies the Glacier Peak Wilderness. The southern boundary of the park is shared with Lake Chelan NRA, and a small section of the eastern boundary is shared with the Okanogan–Wenatchee National Forest. North Cascades National Park has nearly 9000 feet (2743 m) of vertical relief, with the park's highest point atop Goode Mountain, and the western valleys situated at only around 400 feet (122 m) above mean sea level, the park has a highly varied ecosystem, including eight life zones. Erosion from water and glacial ice have created some of the steepest mountain ranges in the contiguous US, rising between above their bases. The park is home to over 300 glaciers as well as 300 lakes, and contains the headwaters for some streams that flow into the Skagit River, as well as the Stehekin and Nooksack Rivers. The ruggedness of the terrain was an obstacle to human encroachment and consequently, the park is almost entirely wilderness.

North Cascades National Park was named after the North Cascades mountains, which are a subsection of the Cascade Range that extends from northern California into British Columbia. The North Cascades are the northernmost section of the range and unlike their southern counterparts that consist of Tertiary to Holocene volcanic rocks, the North Cascades are composed primarily of Mesozoic crystalline and metamorphic rocks. Though most rocks in the park are from the more recent Mesozoic, the oldest rocks are 400 million years old, dating from the Devonian. A complex assemblage of various rock formations have repeatedly been eroded, reburied, subjected to fracturing and heat, creating a geological puzzle that is one of the most complicated and least understood geological records in North America. These forces are ongoing and the region continues to see uplift and faulting. Subjected to intense heat, rocks deep underground near the collision zone became recrystallized into granitic rocks, which comprise the backbone of the highest peaks. Much harder and more durable than the younger volcanic rocks of the southern Cascades, the North Cascades are consequently more rugged, with steep terrain being the norm due to heavy erosion from water and ice. Continued rising in conjunction with erosion from water and ice has created deep valleys and significant vertical relief that is comparable to much taller mountain ranges. It lies in a remote backcountry region of the southern section of the park. Nearby are several other peaks that exceed 9000 feet (2743 m), including Buckner Mountain (9114 feet (2778 m)) and Mount Logan (9087 feet (2770 m)). At about 9000 feet (2743 m), about 5 mile (8 km) northeast of Goode Mountain, is Black Peak (8970 feet (2734 m)). Other prominent peaks in the southern section of the park include Boston Peak (8894 feet (2711 m)), Eldorado Peak (8868 feet (2703 m)) and Forbidden Peak (8815 feet (2687 m)). The northern region of the park contains the Picket Range, a subrange of the Skagit Range, which is in turn a subrange of the North Cascades. The Picket Range has numerous spires with ominous names such as Mount Fury, Mount Challenger, Poltergeist Pinnacle, Mount Terror, Ghost Peak and Phantom Peak, all of which exceed 8000 feet (2438 m). The Picket Range is only 6 mile (10 km) long yet contains 21 peaks over 7500 feet (2286 m). Isolated and dominating the northwestern reaches of the park lies the oft photographed Mount Shuksan (9131 feet (2783 m)), which towers more than 8400 feet (2560 m) above Baker Lake only 6 mile (10 km) to the south.

More than 500 lakes and ponds are located within North Cascades National Park. Many of these are devoid of fish, not uncommon in steep terrain where fish may not be able to access high altitude waterways. Around 240 of these lakes exist in the higher elevations and stocking of some of these lakes with fish has been ongoing since the late 19th century. Fishing in these lakes, which, without fish stocking, do not have native fish, is part of the area's economy and tourism. In 2008 an Environmental Impact Statement was produced that examined whether these lakes should continue to be stocked, and if so, what the impact would be on native species such as salamanders and other aquatic life. The North Cascades National Park Service Complex Fish Stocking Act, signed in 2014, directs the NPS to allow stocking of non reproducing fish in no more than 42 lakes, making it the only national park to continue to stock non native fish in park lakes. The prior decision not to continue to stock the lakes with fish was part of a larger debate about what "natural" means in reference to national parks. thumb|left|Thunder Creek is known for its milky appearance from suspended rock particles called glacial flour.|alt=A medium sized river flows through a wooded landscape. The water is slightly milky in appearance. Hundreds of creeks and streams and several rivers originate within the park. The streams at higher elevation are often directly supplied by meltwater from glaciers, and they carry finely ground rock particles commonly referred to as glacial flour. Turning the water a turquoise hue at times, this finely ground powder remains suspended in lakes the creeks flow into, also causing some of them to appear turquoise. Thunder Creek is particularly well known for this attribute, as it is supplied melt water from dozens of glaciers and transports the suspended particles into Diablo Lake. The Skagit River divides the park into the north and south districts; it lies within the Ross Lake NRA and outside of the national park boundaries, but some of the creeks and streams that supply it originate within the national park; the Baker River is the largest of these tributaries. Other important rivers that originate in the park include the Chilliwack, Nooksack and the Stehekin rivers. Counting a few glaciers in the adjoining National Recreation Areas, the North Cascades National Park Complex glaciers covered an expanse totaling as of 2009. Boston Glacier, on the north slope of Boston Peak, is the largest glacier in the park, measured in 1971 to have an area of
thumb|left|Lower Curtis Glacier in 2003 compared to 1985 extent demarcated by red line demonstrates the retreat of this glacier.|alt=A dark mountain range showing the end of a glacier. There is a timestamp in orange: "08.07.2003". A red line well below the end of the glacier is marked "1985". The dense concentration and relative ease of access to the North Cascade glaciers brought about some of the earliest series of scientific studies regarding glaciology in the United States. Beginning in 1955, the University of Washington sponsored Richard C. Hubley to undertake annual aerial photography expeditions designed to capture images of the glaciers and to show any alterations that might be occurring. In 1960, Austin Post expanded the aerial coverage to include other regions and he also used ground based imagery to augment the research. In 1971, based on the photographs and other data collected since 1955, Post and others wrote a report that documented the number and scale of glaciers in the North Cascades. Since 1993, the National Park Service has conducted rigorous studies on four park glaciers: Noisy Creek, Silver, North Klawatti and Sandalee Glaciers. The National Park Service research indicated that these four glaciers experienced rapid decrease in volumes between 1993 and 2011. In 1998, a National Park Service and Portland State University aerial photographic inventory showed a 13 percent loss in park wide glacial volume since Austin Post's inventory in 1971. The NPS stated that in the last 150 years since the end of the Little Ice Age, a period of several centuries in which the earth experienced a cooling phase, glacial ice volumes in the North Cascades have been reduced by 40 percent.

thumb|The Thornton Lakes fill glacier carved basins near Mount Triumph|alt=Looking down into a valley below a high mountain on the right and a slightly smaller one on the right. In between are two lakes, one noticeably higher than the other. The lower reaches of the mountain and the area of the lakes have plant growth. Eight distinctive life zones support thousands of different plant and animal species in the North Cascades National Park ecosystem. With an elevation gain of nearly 9000 feet (2743 m), the park has one of the largest ranges of biodiversity found in any US national park.

thumb|Air quality in North Cascades National Park is generally considered good and aside from some reduced clarity due to haze, even distant peaks are easily seen most days.|alt=A distant mountain range above a diagonal slope of forest. While North Cascades National Park is in a remote region for the most part, the prevailing westerly winds bring various pollutants into the park from the industrialized region around Puget Sound and the Fraser River Valley of British Columbia. These pollutants deposit onto plants and glaciers and are then carried by rainfall or ice melt and dispersed into rivers and lakes. The industrialized regions around Puget Sound and the Fraser River Valley have had a more noticeable negative impact on water and air quality than at Mount Rainier National Park well to the south due to the prevailing winds. Lakes at higher elevations show a higher level of acidity due to this phenomenon; the current and long term impact on the ecosystem of the park has not yet been fully assessed. Mercury and toxins from pesticides have been detected in the park, as has ozone; these have not been demonstrated to be at sufficient concentrations to greatly impact the ecosystem. Sulfur, nitrogen dioxide and ozone from factories and automobile emissions as well as increased dust and fine particulates from sources such as farming and construction are dispersed into the atmosphere, reducing long range visibility. Visibilities of up to 150 mile (241 km) have been reduced to less than 50 mile (80 km) on the worst days due to the increased haze. Nearly all of the national park is protected as the Stephen Mather Wilderness and it is "one of the premier wilderness parks" in the lower 48 states". Unlike some national parks, there is no entrance fee at North Cascades, and hiking trailheads accessed by vehicle do not require a parking pass; trailheads on some national forest properties adjacent to the park may require a pass. Mount Shuksan, in the northwest corner of the park, is often photographed, and at 9131 feet (2783 m) is the second highest peak in the park.

thumb|Hiking at Sahale Arm near Cascade Pass|alt=A hiker with walking poles, an orange backpack, and a sun hat, on a trail in a grassed area. In the background are tall dark mountains partly covered in snow. Hikers and backpackers often visit Cascade Pass in the southwestern section of the southern unit of the park, which was used as a travel route by Native Americans. The pass can be reached by a 3.7 mile (6 km) hiking trail accessed from a parking lot at the end of a gravel road that starts at Marblemount. There are nearly 400 mile (644 km) of hiking trails in the park. Hikers can also access two National Scenic Trails including 18 mile (29 km) of the Pacific Crest Trail in the southern unit of the park and 63 mile (101 km) of the Pacific Northwest Trail that passes through the northern unit. Unlike most US national parks, there are no places within North Cascades National Park where one can drive to a campground. There are many vehicular access camp grounds in Ross Lake National Recreation Area and in surrounding national forests. All overnight camping is considered backcountry camping and camping areas are protected to prevent overcrowding. Backcountry camping spots can be reserved in early spring only; walk up permits can be obtained at the Wilderness Information Center near Marblemount. Group sizes are limited to parties of less than a dozen on what are known as trail and camping corridors, and in more remote areas off trails, groups larger than six are not permitted.

thumb|Pyramidal Forbidden Peak (left) is one of the Fifty Classic Climbs of North America. Quien Sabe Glacier shrouds the west face of Boston Peak (right) below extensive cliffs.|alt=Angular light gray rocks in the foreground. Behind, a range of darker gray mountains with snow. The one at the right has a substantial glacier at its foot. High quality climbing routes on the numerous cliffs, ice and other challenges make the park a favorite destination for many mountaineering enthusiasts. While some peaks and cliffs can be accessed fairly easily, the most remote ones entail a multi day excursion, challenging for even experienced mountaineers. The park has banned the installation of any new fixed anchors such as pitons, and only removable anchors such as chocks and cams are permitted. This clean climbing has been implemented to help protect the resource, since fixed point anchors deface the rock and are considered intrusive. Mountaineering in the North Cascades was first popularized by Fred Beckey; at age 15 he was the first to reach the summit of Sinister Peak in 1938, in 1939 he was the first atop Mount Despair, and the following year he was the first to climb Forbidden Peak. Beckey was the first to summit at least two dozen peaks in the North Cascades, and his exhaustive three volume Cascade Alpine Guide books, first published in the early 1970s, have been called the "Beckey Bible".