The Roof of North America

Photo, afternoon view on the Yellowhead highway

The Rocky Mountains form a long chain that acts as a backbone to the continent.

Driving through the Yellowhead Pass last summer, I saw the headwaters of the Fraser River, which rises as little more than a creek, high up in those mountains.

The Fraser, which flows into the Pacific at Vancouver, is only one of the mighty rivers arising in the Northern Rockies. From there, water finds its way to the Arctic Ocean and to Hudson Bay on the Atlantic.

From southern Alberta and Montana, the Milk River flows into the Missouri River, then south to the Gulf of Mexico.

The province of Alberta has two continental divides, the Great and the Arctic. The Great Divide, the spine of the Rockies, runs through Alaska, northern British Columbia and then roughly follows the Icefields Parkway, continuing south through the Rogers, Kicking Horse, and Crowsnest Passes and on down through the US and Mexico.

Near Saskatchewan River Crossing, the Columbia Icefields are fed by Snowdome, which marks a tributary of the continental roof. Also marked on a lonely highway somewhere between Fort Saskatchewan and Lac La Biche, the Arctic Divide crosses northern Saskatchewan into the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, forming a backbone along Baffin Island to the eastern opening of Hudson Strait.