Continental Divide

Shortly after passing the Kepler Cascades we drove over the Continental Divide.  I've always thought that the Continental Divide was rather interesting, and I find it fascinating to see it marked on maps.  I grew up traveling around the country, but until I moved to Kentucky I lived in California my entire life (in the same house actually the entire time except for time spent in a college dorm).

I was on the western side of the continental divide and all of the rivers in the area flowed into the Pacific (or the Gulf of California, which is closely connected to the Pacific Ocean).  The majority of Yellowstone National Park is on the eastern side of the divide, so most waters flow into the Gulf of Mexico--but the south-western corner of the park has waters that flow to the west.

First we came to Craig Pass with an elevation of 8262 feet and I set up my tripod for a picture.

Looking around we saw a bit of snow--some spots that we just drove past there were large banks of unmelted snow.

Right next to the parking area was Isa Lake, which was very interesting!

From this snow-fed hollow, Isa Lake drains in two different directions--from directly astride the Divide.  Isa's west arm feeds the Firehole River on its way to the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers and Gulf of Mexico.  The lake's east outlet leads to the Snake and Columbia Rivers and the Pacific Ocean via Yellowstone's Shoshone Lake and Lewis River
--from NPS lakeside signage

Here is the western outflow:

And the eastern outflow:

We kept driving and briefly stopped at the other point where the road crossed the divide at 8391 feet.  I did take this picture and didn't notice my finger until it was too late.

~Matt

PS Though I didn't stop for a picture we actually crossed the divide once more as we continued on down south later on in the day.