I’m not sure why I didn’t realize until the trip was underway that this was an international adventure. I think I may have taken my ‘let someone else do the planning’ a little too far? I should at least read the trip descriptions more thoroughly.
Adjacent to Glacier National Park, just across the US-Canada border, is Canada's Waterton National Park. The two parks were joined in 1932, honoring the relationship that the two countries share, and creating the world’s first International Peace Park.
photo.martinkraft.com from Wikimedia Commons
As we make our way through the Parks, some of the time we follow the continental divide--a natural boundary that splits river flows between east and west. Frequently (though not always) the divide is a high mountain, like the Rockies.
The Watertown Glacier International Peace Park not only celebrates the countries’ relationship, but it also celebrates an unusual ‘triple’ divide’. Usually a continental divide has water flowing, via rivers, either to the east or west. In this park, precipitation on the west of the mountain eventually flows to the Pacific. On the east, it goes to the Atlantic. But a little further north, waters move to the Arctic Ocean.
With waters flowing to three different oceans, the park has greater biodiversity than might occur in the area of a typical continental divide. The fire of 2003, which I will mention again in another post, affected many thousands of acres. However, when I visit the park, there is evergreen forest and as we change altitude there are grasslands and meadows, wildflowers and wildlife, and the my usual sense of wonder.
This tour was with The World Outdoors before raging fires affected thousands of acres of the park in 2003. For more information on The World Outdoors, visit http://www.theworldoutdoors.com
This trip was with a company called The World Outdoors. For more information on their variety of exciting adventure travel opportunities, visit http://www.theworldoutdoors.com.
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