#4 - Triple Divide Peak in Glacier Park

Click on photo to enlarge.

Like the Matterhorn . . .
The peaks shown in the photo are glacial horns located in Glacier National Park. These pyramid-shaped features are formed as three or more glaciers erode the sides of a single mountain. The larger peak in the background is Mt. Stimson and the smaller horn in the center is called Triple Divide Peak. Triple Divide Peak was so-named because runoff from each of its three sides drains to a different watershed. (Runoff is melted snow or other forms of precipitation that drain off the land.) Melted snow from the west slope (left side) flows toward the Gulf of Mexico, runoff from the northeast slope (right) flows toward the Hudson Bay, and the southwest slope (behind the peak) drains to the Pacific.

Dividing lines . . .
The photo at the top of this page was taken near a ridge separates the Gulf of Mexico and the Hudson Bay watersheds (drainage basins). Such areas are known as "divides". Divides are higher areas (not always distinct ridges) that separate drainage basins. The most famous divide, The Continental Divide (a.k.a. the Great Divide), is also shown in the photo. The map on the right shows the divides that separate our continent's drainage basins (watersheds). Triple Divide Peak is labelled. Click on the map to enlarge it.

More about Triple Divide Peak . . .
CLICK HERE for an account of two hikes to the summit of Triple Divide Peak (including a linK to a photo tour).

Below: That's me walking along the divide between the Hudson Bay and Pacific Ocean watersheds on my way to the summit of Triple Divide Peak.

Terms: (drainage) divide, watershed