Today we hiked down a glacierized watershed. For all you non-hydrologists out there, a watershed is an area or ridge of land that separates waters flowing to different rivers, basins, or seas. We started as close to the base of the glacier as possible and started our downward decent.
We came across a small glaciated lakes and talked about how glaciers impact the water cycle and water availability for surrounding communities. We also learned that glaciers act like water towers by storing and releasing water to communities during different times of the year.
As we continued down the trail, we encountered a small marmot and stopped to admire it. After we made it to the bottom of the valley, we stopped for lunch on a boulder. Unfortunately, during our lunch of meat sticks and pretzel buns we had a pop quiz. Fortunately everyone passed!
Further down the valley, we stopped by a small hydroelectric dam and had a outdoor class complete with graphs in the sand! We learned about water availability and how people in the surrounding communities find water once all the glaciers are gone. Like we said before, glaciers act as water towers and smooth out the seasonal availability of water. Farmers can rely more on water from glaciers than precipitation when irrigating.
On our final leg of this hike, we encountered a suspended bridge that allowed us to cross into Furi. The bridge provided gorgeous views of the glacier valley as well as slight terror due to wind gusts. When we successfully crossed, we went into town to enjoy some much needed ice cream in the hopes of getting free water. While the ice cream was delicious, we received no water.