The North Cascades are located in the pacific northwest state of Washington.They are adjoined in the north by the Canadian Cascades, and to the south by the southern Cascades in the state of Oregon.
the North Cascades are most notable for their jagged peaks and deep u-shaped valleys. Large amounts of snow at the higher elevations, and rain in the valleys, feed the North Cascades many glaciers. the western slopes of the range get between 60 and 250 inches of precipitation a year- creating a rain forest climate in the mountain valleys.
At over 14,400 feet in elevation, Mount Rainier is the tallest peak in the lower 48 states. On clear days its massif is visible from hundreds of miles away.
Olympic National Park, in northwester Washington State has it all - glacial mountains that rise thousands of feet from sea level, ancient temperate rainforests, and one of the largest, most magnificent coastal wilderness area in America.
What Olympic National Park doesn’t have is a protective buffer zone around it. The Olympic National Forest - which borders the park - has been absolutely devastated by logging. Much of the lands heading into the park show conclusive evidence of massive clear cutting. Maybe the name of the forest should be changed from Olympic National Forest to Stump National Forest.
