Surrounded by jagged peaks and valleys, waterfalls, several 9,000-plus-foot peaks and more than 300 glaciers, the North Cascades National Park turned 53 last October. The North Cascades National Park Service Complex is 505,000 acres comprised of a northern and southern unit, along with two national recreation areas: Ross Lake National Recreation Area and Lake Chelan National Recreation Area. For more than five decades, the park has protected dynamic wilderness landscape, glaciated peaks, countless cascading streams, and unique natural beauty. Each year, only a handful of in-the-know alpinists, backpackers, and wilderness enthusiasts enter the depths of the North Cascades National Park. It’s one of the country’s least-visited parks due to its untamed wilderness. Yet the park can be enjoyed safely and arrived at easily. There’s also no entry fee, a rarity among national parks. The free entry is partly due to efforts by the Washington’s National Park Fund, the official philanthropic partner to the North Cascade National Park, as well as Mount Rainier National Park and Olympic National Park. The organization fills gaps in much-needed funding to enhance visitors’ experiences, provide research dollars, rebuild trails, bring in volunteers, improve accessibility, and maintain reasonable park entrance fees. Today, Peaks & Pints dedicates our to-go beer flight to Washington’s National Park Fund’s North Cascades National Park efforts. Until we can revert to our on-premise, crosscut beer flights and donate a percentage of each flight to the Fund, we hope you’ll stop by craft beer lodge, grab today’s to-go flight, Peaks and Pints Pilot Program: Funding North Cascades National Park On The Fly, then donate to the Fund while enjoying the beers. Cheers!
Peaks and Pints Pilot Program: Funding North Cascades National Park On The Fly
The Ale Apothecary Field Spirits
9.33% ABV
The North Cascades wilderness hosts 75 mammal species including gray wolf, grizzly bear, black bear, wolverine, river otter, cougar, lynx, and bobcat. Wildlife graces The Ale Apothecary’s Field Spirits wild ale bottle, a collaboration with Mecca Grade Estate Malt. To create this ode to Oregon malt, the Bend brewery combines four different Mecca Grade grains from their family farm into one intricately nuanced base brew. They open fermented the brew with wild yeast and conditioned it in locally sourced fresh Pinot Noir barrels with cherries, currants, and rosehips for notes of rye bread, wildflower honey, subtle funk, soft florals, and delicate fruit flavors.
Kulshan Bruce Springskiing
6% ABV
The Mt. Baker National Recreation Area was established in 1984, which butts against the westside of North Cascade National Park. The dominant feature in the North Cascades is Mt. Baker, a glaciated volcano that can be seen on clear days from as far as Olympia. Mt. Baker Ski Area is in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest and is operated under a permit granted by United States Forest Service. Mt. Baker has had many names over the centuries. Before the arrival of Europeans, the Lummi called it Koma Kulshan, meaning “Great White Watcher.” Spring skiing has arrived at the Mt. Baker Ski Area and there’s no better beer to enjoy after skiing it than Kulshan Brewing’s Bruce Springskiing, a smooth and easy drinking IPAS with hop notes of tangerine, grapefruit, mango, and tropical fruits.
Timber Ales Miles of Trails – Sunset
6.5% ABV
North Cascades National Park has more than 400 miles of trails to explore. Hikers, backpackers, and climbers travel the trails of the park complex year-round; however, the more common hiking season stretches from April through October. The driest and most popular time to visit is during the summer months of mid-June through September. Higher elevation trails often remain snow-covered well into July and sometimes August. Peaks & Pints suggests you take Timber Ales’ Miles of Trails – Sunset experimental IPA on your next hike through the North Cascades. This second version in Timber’s experimental IPA series is dry hopped with Citra, Nelson and Strata hops for orange, and melon notes.
Little Beast Pinetop IPA
6.4% ABV
North Cascades National Park’s lowland river valleys contain magnificent forests dominated by western hemlock, western red cedar, and Douglas-fir trees, as well as western larch, lodgepole pine and Engelmann spruce. Little Beast Brewing’s ode to the trees comes in the form of their Pinetop West Coast IPA packed with Centennial, Mosaic and Chinook hops for aromas of pine and resin, lush notes of grapefruit and a subtle woodsy character.
LINK: Peaks & Pints cooler inventory
