Great Divide Trail

The Great Divide (also known as the Continental Divide) is the jagged line that divides both North and South America between the areas that drain into the Pacific Ocean and the areas that drain into the Atlantic Ocean.

In the southern part of Canada, this line also happens to be along the border of British Columbia and Alberta. It is significant to skiers because areas along this line (and immediately west of it) get a lot of snow due to the moist winds from the Pacific Ocean crashing into the Arctic winds coming south.

Lake Louise is just east of this divide, but quite close, so the area tend to get into season early for skiing, and that's where Carol and I decided to do some cross country.

In continuing the theme from last week, I was on my skate skis. The Great Divide trail is a bit easier than Moraine Lake Road, although the conditions were such that I couldn't get any glide and just did classic instead (it was -23C at the trailhead to start the day, so grip was not an issue, even without any grip wax).

Carol and a totally washed-out Mount Bosworth (2771m) in the background

There were a lot of people out, and I admired the skate skiers for willing to deal with the less-than-ideal skate conditions. We got to the Great Divide exhibit in just over an hour and decided to continue on to Lake O'Hara fire road.

A better (but still terrible) photo of Mount Bosworth (right) and Paget Peak (2565m, left)

There was one car at the Lake O'Hara parking lot, but signs of some activity along the road. It looked like it was in pretty good condition, so that will be an option for future weekends.

Skiing back took a bit longer (as it is mostly uphill). The final tally was 21.32km in 3h49m.

I've been taking photos with my new smartphone, but the quality of the pics have been terrible. I'm not sure how much longer I will bother using it. Unfortunately, I can't carry my big camera while skate skiing, so I'll need to compromise somewhere.