The Continental Divide

I went to the Continental Divide in Alaska! Doesn't that sound fancy? On the day we went, it was drizzling and foggy. I wish I had a supergnome power to control the weather. We were traveling along the Klondike Highway. The Klondike Highway was used to get people up to the gold rush in Alaska in 1898. It crosses over from the United States and into Canada! I had to hide in a backpack since I don't have a passport. Some people can be very gnomist. 

Me at the Klongdike Highway memorial. The Continental Divide is behind me in the fog!

Back to the Continental Divide... Closer to us in Virginia, the Continental Divide is located in the Rocky Mountains. But, did you know that the Rockies stretch all the way up to Alaska? It runs from northwestern Canada along the crest of the Rocky Mountains to New Mexico. In South America, the Continental Divide lies along the Andes. I had no idea what the Continental Divide was.  I asked Mrs. Fleenor, and she is going to tell us below.

Can you see anything in that picture? It looks like water running down the side of a mountain!

- Gravy

I told Gravy that the Continental Divide divides the flow of water between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean. In other words, it determines the direction in which the rivers in North America flow. Rain or melted snow that drains on the east side of the Continental Divide flows toward the Atlantic Ocean. Meanwhile, the west side drains towards the Pacific Ocean. Not all rivers actually make it to the oceans though. Some empty into the desert instead. Others flow into each other. When one stream of water flows into another, it is called a tributary.

The reasons the water is running down the mountain in the picture above is that is flowing east on this side of the Continental Divide. On the other side of that mountain peak, the water will be flowing west and going down the other side of the mountain. 

Mr. and Mrs. Fleenor with Gravy at the Continental Divide along the Klondike Highway

Corresponds with Virginia Standard of Learning (SOL) USI.2b
- Mrs. Fleenor