The Great Divide

The Continental Divide, the continent’s backbone, forms the spine of the Western Hemisphere and in North America follows the crest of the Rocky Mountains from Alaska’s Brook Range, continuing through South America to the Strait of Magellan. Water on either side begins with spring thaws that grow from trickles to gushes to torrents, then flows west to the Pacific, south to the Gulf of Mexico, east to the Atlantic, and north to Hudson Bay and the Arctic, supporting both nature and civilization along the way. Wolf Creek Pass, part of the San Juan Mountain Range, averages an annual snowfall of 460 inches, more than 38 feet, as part of this cycle surrounding nature’s spine.

Colorado · United States