Western Low Conifer
While enjoying these lowland forests along the highway stop, look and listen for spotted, barred and great horned owls, ruffed grouse, band tailed pigeon, Vaux's swift, pileated woodpecker, Steller's jay, winter wren, golden-crowned kinglet, Swainson's thrush, red-legged frog, ensatina, Townsend's chipmunk, Trowbridge's shrew and long-legged myotis.

Montane Mixed Conifer
This mid-elevation zone stretches from 2,000' to 4,000'. Inhabiting birds include Barrow's goldeneye, red-breasted sapsucker, mountain chickadee, red-breasted nuthatch, winter wren, dipper, MacGillivray's warbler, cascades frog, roughskinned newt, mountain beaver, elk and mule deer.

Subalpine Parkland
Typical inhabitants include blue grouse, rufous and calliope hummingbirds, three-toed woodpecker, Clark's nutcracker, hermit thrush, Townsend's warbler, hoary marmot, wolverine and pacific giant salamander.

Alpine Grass and Shrublands
A few hardy species use this high-elevation zone including white-tailed Ptarmigan, black swift, common raven, horned lark, American pipit, mountain goat, and long-toed salamander.

Eastside Mixed Conifer
This upper-elevation zone on the eastside of the mountains is home to the western screech-owl, common nighthawk, Hammond's and dusky flycatchers, pygmy nuthatch, house wren, big brown bat, masked shrew, red squirrel, deer mouse and white-tailed deer.

See if you can identify what zone you are in by the animals and plants you observe.

Notice gradual zone changesyou should be able to predict what animals you may see from the types of vegetation surrounding you.

Watershed lifecycles

Water is the life force of the North Cascades. It falls from the sky, melts from glaciers, trickles off mountains, replenishes lakes and flows to the sea.

Within the Puget Sound Watershed, the Skagit is the largest and most bountiful river. With its 2,900 streams, the Skagit River Watershed accounts for one third of the water that empties into Puget Sound.

All five species of salmon and four species of anadromous (sea-run) trout begin life in the cool gravel bottoms of the Skagit watershed where they feed on a healthy macroinvertebrate population. These tiny aquatic insects may not have a spine but they are the backbone of the river ecosystem.

On average, 330,000 pink and 30,000 coho salmon return yearly to spawn in the Skagit. In odd-numbered years like 2001, as many as 40,000 chum salmon may return. The 2001 run brought 894,000 pink, approximately 75,000 Coho and 62,262 Chum.

The Skagit and other watersheds of the North Cascades are habitats that attract one of the largest winter gatherings of bald eagles in the lower 48 states. More than 500 birds spend the winter along the river. The eagles travel here to feed on spawned-out salmon carcasses that sustain them through the winter. In turn, the eagles help cleanse the river and return the nutrients in the fish to the land.

This key life cycle reminds us that nature's recycling and clear, clean water are critical to survival.