greetings:

the eagle population is tied to the chum salmon run. i believe the run hasn't peaked yet. the eagles are supposed to be a little behind the curve, i.e., they show up in greatest numbers about 2 or 3 weeks after the chum run peaks. i'm told there were 247 eagles seen midweek this week. according to north cascades institute, the peak last season was the first week of this year (2007) when 859 birds were counted. the forest service count for this week (wednsday, i think) was 274. if i recall correctly, the count last week was around 150 (147 if memory serves). the chum salmon run had just started to noticeably climb last week. based on the numbers from recent years, the best weeks for sheer numbers of birds are the fourth week in december through the third week in january. the eagle festival is the last weekend in january (to miss the super bowl). see http://www.skagiteagle.org/ for more info.

other stuff may be found at north cascades institute. http://www.ncascades.org/programs/stewardship/eagle_watchers/

i'm not useful for float trip info, sorry.

regards,

dave templeton
fall city, wa