The Great Divide

It's gone away in yesterday
Now I find myself on the mountainside
Where the rivers change direction
Across the great divide

-Kate Wolf

 



Today we crossed the U.S. continental divide, an imaginary tortuous line that extends from Mexico to Canada, which you could, at least theoretically, walk the entire way without getting your feet wet.  The only exceptions being the snow-covered summits along the way.  Of course, parts of the route are impassible due to shear drop-offs on both sides of a ridge, or summits that can't be climbed along the divide.

I first got introduced to the concept of a continental divide when I was learning to backpack along the Appalachian Trail.  Eric Ryback wrote a book about his walk from Canada to Mexico along a mostly undeveloped trail that followed the high ridges.  It intrigued me that there was a spine where rain that fell on one side would flow to the Pacific and rain falling on the other side would flow to the Atlantic.  As you can see in Paul C's blog, I decided to test this theory by peeing right at the base of the sign to see which way the water flowed.  I didn't have enough bodily fluids though to conclude one way or another what was happening.  Fifty years after Ryback's book came out, the continental divide trail is big business.  There are signs, trail guidebooks, shuttles, and restocking outfits.

We were in kind of a hurry, so we didn't think we could walk the entire LENGTH of the trail, but we thought of an alternative that was almost as good.  Here Gayle is, walking the entire WIDTH of the Continental Divide Trail!

Around here it's called the "CDT", and everyone knows what the acronym stands for.  In the nearby town of Silver City, a huge mural highlights the trail's traversal across five western states and celebrates the town's status as one of the primary access points. 

There's even a bike trail developed by Adventure Cycling that more-or-less follows the Continental Divide.  We happened to meet this friendly guy from Scotland named Dominic who was just days from finishing his cycle-trek along the divide, all the way from Jasper, Alberta!

                                          

So, it's fun to think that since we're on the spine of the continent, that it will be all downhill from here.  Unfortunately, it probably won't be that way, since we have this little wet spot called the Mississippi blocking our path.  But regardless, we will hope.