Where Waters Meet EarthCache
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It is available year round, with an inside waypoint that can be
used when the Forest Visitor Center is open, and an outside
waypoint that can be used when the Visitor Center is closed, and a
third waypoint to help answer the question. There is no charge. The
third waypoint is questionable for wheel chair access.
Welcome to the Ottawa National Forest’s first
EarthCache!
The other two waypoints associated with this EarthCache are:
Inside Visitor Center (if open)
N46 degrees 15.726 minutes
W89 degrees 10.639 minutes
To answer the second question, go to the following site
N46 degrees 16.486 minutes
W89 degrees 10.576 minutes
The Ottawa National Forest has a continental divide separating
three major watersheds. Each river of the Ottawa flows out of the
Forest in one of three directions as part of this rare watershed
divide. This means people from St. Louis to New York and up though
Canada drink our clean fresh water.
A long time ago an ice sheet one mile high covered this area. Then
about 14,000 years ago the Wisconsin Glacier started to melt and
retreat north. It carved the land as it left, creating the
waterfalls, plains, and triple watershed of the Ottawa National
Forest.
A watershed is the area of land that drains all the steams, rivers,
and rainfall to a common outlet. Watersheds are divided by ridges
or hills called drainage divides. Because water always flows
downhill, rivers and streams will continue to merge together
creating a larger watershed. A watershed can be very large scale or
very small in size. The watershed of a small stream will be nested
inside the watershed of a larger stream that the small stream flows
into. A watershed is shown in the diagram below, from the US
Environmental Protection Agency website:
A raindrop landing on the opposite side of the ridge would fall in
a different watershed than one landing on the near side of the
ridge. The journey that the raindrop takes may lead it to the same
body of water as another raindrop that falls within the same
watershed. Remember that water flows downhill, but this may be to
the north, south, east or west.
The raindrops that fall into a watershed may flow over the land as
runoff and into a stream, then meet up with a river, and flow into
a lake. At that point the raindrop may be evaporated into the
atmosphere, later to return as rain again. This cycle is referred
to as the water cycle.
The Ottawa National Forest falls into three major watersheds. More
information is given about these watersheds at either the inside or
outside waypoints. You can also find out how the town got its
name.
To log this cache:
1) List the three water bodies in which a raindrop falling on the
Ottawa NF could eventually land.
2) Go to the third waypoint and determine which direction this
river flows, and which of the three watersheds this river flows
into.
Links for more information:
We all live in a watershed! Learn which one is your watershed by
using your zip code at this Environmental Protection Agency
website:
http://cfpub.epa.gov/surf/locate/index.cfm
Read more about watersheds and see animated diagrams of the water
cycle at this website sponsored by Michigan Technological
University:
http://techalive.mtu.edu/meec/module01/Thehydrologiccycle.htm
Additional Hints
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