Two Ocean Pass
Mountain pass in Wyoming, US
Two Ocean Pass is a mountain pass on North America's Continental Divide, in the Teton Wilderness, which is part of Wyoming's Bridger-Teton National Forest. The pass is notable for Parting of the Waters, where one stream, North Two Ocean Creek, splits into two distributaries, Pacific Creek and Atlantic Creek, at Parting of the Waters National Natural Landmark. These two creeks ultimately flow into their respective oceans. Atlantic Creek water eventually flows into the Yellowstone River and empties into the Gulf of Mexico via the Missouri River and Mississippi River. Pacific Creek water eventually flows into the Snake River and empties into the Pacific via the Columbia River.
01Recreation
The Continental Divide Trail reaches this location in northern Wyoming. It is accessible by foot or horseback from the south via Brooks Lake Trail head off of Highway 287 or from the north via an extensive hike from Fox Park near Yellowstone National Park's southern border.
02Fish dispersal
The pass is thought to have provided access for the Yellowstone cutthroat trout to have colonized Yellowstone Lake and the rest of the Yellowstone River watershed above Lower Falls. Similarly, it has been considered as an alternative explanation for the arrival of non-native lake trout in Yellowstone Lake, which has traditionally been attributed to illegal or accidental stocking.
03Climate
Two Ocean Plateau has a subarctic climate (Köppen Dfc).
| Climate data for Two Ocean Plateau, Wyoming, 1991-2020 normals: 9240ft (2816m) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 24.8 (−4.0) |
28.7 (−1.8) |
36.4 (2.4) |
42.7 (5.9) |
51.1 (10.6) |
58.1 (14.5) |
66.9 (19.4) |
65.8 (18.8) |
56.4 (13.6) |
43.1 (6.2) |
30.1 (−1.1) |
22.3 (−5.4) |
43.9 (6.6) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 16.1 (−8.8) |
17.8 (−7.9) |
24.2 (−4.3) |
30.0 (−1.1) |
39.0 (3.9) |
45.9 (7.7) |
53.8 (12.1) |
52.9 (11.6) |
44.8 (7.1) |
33.1 (0.6) |
21.3 (−5.9) |
14.3 (−9.8) |
32.8 (0.4) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 7.3 (−13.7) |
6.8 (−14.0) |
11.9 (−11.2) |
17.4 (−8.1) |
26.8 (−2.9) |
33.6 (0.9) |
40.7 (4.8) |
39.9 (4.4) |
33.0 (0.6) |
23.0 (−5.0) |
12.5 (−10.8) |
6.3 (−14.3) |
21.6 (−5.8) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 4.65 (118) |
4.28 (109) |
4.71 (120) |
4.33 (110) |
3.77 (96) |
3.23 (82) |
1.41 (36) |
1.57 (40) |
2.21 (56) |
3.33 (85) |
4.51 (115) |
5.02 (128) |
43.02 (1,095) |
| Source 1: XMACIS2 | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: NOAA (Precipitation) | |||||||||||||
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Two Ocean Pass”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Two Ocean Pass USGS Topo.png by United States Geological Survey, Public domain
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