| Stephen Mather Wilderness | |
|---|---|
 Little Beaver Valley | |
  | |
| Location | Whatcom / Chelan / Skagit counties, Washington, USA |
| Nearest city | Marblemount, Washington |
| Coordinates | 48°39′0″N 121°08′0″W / 48.65000°N 121.13333°W |
| Area | 634,614 acres (256,819 ha) |
| Established | 1988 |
| Governing body | National Park Service |
The Stephen Mather Wilderness is a 634,614 acres (256,819 ha) wilderness area honoring Stephen Mather, the first director of the National Park Service. It is located within North Cascades National Park, Lake Chelan National Recreation Area, and Ross Lake National Recreation Area in the North Cascade Range of Washington, United States.
It is bordered by the Pasayten Wilderness to the northeast, the Mount Baker Wilderness to the northwest, the Noisy-Diobsud Wilderness to the west, the Glacier Peak Wilderness to the southwest, and the Lake Chelan-Sawtooth Wilderness to the southeast.[2]
The North Cascades National Park Complex consists of three units which make up Stephen Mather Wilderness: 505,000-acre (204,366 ha) North Cascades National Park, which boasts 504,614 acres (204,210 ha) acres of designated wilderness; 117,600-acre (47,591 ha) Ross Lake National Recreation Area, a slim piece of land just east of the park that has 74,000 acres (29,947 ha) acres of designated wilderness; and 62,000-acre (25,091 ha) Lake Chelan National Recreation Area, at the southeast corner of the park, with 56,000 acres (22,662 ha) of designated wilderness.[2]
YouTube Encyclopedic
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North Cascades Wilderness: Experience the Awesome
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Stephen Mather - Yosemite Nature Notes
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Stephen Mather and the Tioga Road
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Camping in Yosemite
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Rim Fire Time Lapse, August 2013
Transcription
[Bird sounds] [Owl hooting. Insects’ shrill call] MASYIH: So, it’s a family tradition to go camping at one of the National Parks every summer. Those are some of probably the best memories I have with my family. We’d go there and either fish or hike or camp, and that’s kind of when I got hooked on the wilderness areas. [Marmots whistling. Birds chirping] Something that makes the North Cascades really awesome is that it’s 99% wilderness… and there are over 394 miles of just hiking trails that you can go on. And it’s just awesome knowing that I have this seemingly endless expanse of wilderness area… that I’m able to go out and explore. I’ve only done probably 100 miles of those trails. [Woodpecker drilling. Birds chirping] Whenever I am planning a backcountry trip, I really like to find a spot that’s near the water. [Water rushing] That falling water has kind of a therapeutic value. [Water rushing] One of my favorite areas in the park is the Cascade Pass and Sahale area. From the trailhead you get to see beautiful hanging glaciers. [Booming crash] And then you get to Cascade Pass you’re looking at these beautiful mountain peaks… still covered in snow, and then a glacier nestled in between those mountain peaks. [Birds chirping. Insects buzzing. Footsteps.] And once you get to the top, you see a seemingly endless vast expanse of just peaks. [Hawk crying. Birds chirping. Insects buzzing.] It’s an exhilarating feeling because you never know if you’re going to be followed by a deer… if you're going to see a mountain lion, or if a bear is going to be right on the trails. Like, I’ve seen 22 bears here. One thing that’s really cool about wilderness is that animals are able to be animals and do animal things… and raise their young, and just be wild and free —which is what they are supposed to be able to do. [Pika squeaking. Marmots whistling. Birds chirping] My name is Masyih Ford. I’m from Seattle, Washington. I’m a senior at Western Washington University. And during the summers I’m a park ranger at the North Cascades. On my days off I like to go out and explore this awesome place. [Birds chirping. Water rushing. Marmots whistling] The North Cascades wilderness is special to me because I’m able to step in there, drop everything at the door… and then come back refreshed. [Water rushing. Owl hooting. Birds chirping] I’m connected to these mountains. And it’s just kind of a—it’s a really awesome feeling. [Owl hooting. Insects’ shrill call]
Wildlife
The Stephen Mather Wilderness provides a protected area for a wide variety of wildlife, including elk, mule deer, gray wolf, mountain goat, moose, and bighorn sheep. Species of wolverine, bat, duck, hawk, owl, frog, loon, chipmunk, coyote, squirrel, bear, falcon and eagle are also fairly common.[3]
There are approximately twenty-eight species and subspecies of fish found in the wilderness, including the threatened bull trout and anadromous runs of coastal cutthroat trout, Dolly Varden, steelhead, and five species of salmon found in the Skagit, Nooksack, and Chilliwack drainages.[3]
Threatened or endangered wildlife species in the area include bull trout (threatened) and northern spotted owl.[3]
Recreation
Common recreational activities in the Stephen Mather Wilderness include backpacking, camping, wildlife watching, climbing, and hunting. There are some 390 miles (628 km) of trails in the wilderness, include the Pacific Crest Trail, which crosses the southeastern corner of the park for about 13 miles (21 km). Much of the area can only be reached by multiday hikes, often combined with mountaineering, through remote, trailless territory.[2]
See also
References
- ^ "Protected Planet | Stephen Mather". Protected Planet. Retrieved 2020-10-16.
- ^ a b c Stephen Mather Wilderness - Wilderness.net
- ^ a b c State of the Stephen Mather Wilderness 1994 - NPS
External links
Media related to North Cascades National Park Service Complex at Wikimedia Commons- NPS: Stephen Mather Wilderness — North Cascades National Park.
- NPS: Map of Stephen Mather Wilderness
- Wilderness.net: Stephen Mather Wilderness
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This page was last edited on 1 November 2021, at 00:41