Friday 15 September
Easy breakfast in the room this morning , muffins fruit and coffee! We set off around 9am but not far down the road we lost an hour when we slipped over into the next time zone.
We had quite a long drive today along BC Highway 3 and the morning was spent driving through mostly forested areas. Tall hills covered with Douglas fir forests. And eventually we crossed the border into Alberta.
We passed by several pretty lakes before we eventually arrived at our first stop, the Frank Slide Interpretive Center. On April 29, 1903, at 4:10 am, 82 million tonnes of limestone sheered off the east face of Turtle Mountain and roared down into Crowsnest Pass. The avalanche took with it a coalmine entrance, two kilometres of railway, two ranches and part of the mining town of Frank, Alberta. Of the town’s approximately 600 inhabitants, roughly 70 were killed ( although the exact number is unknown)
I’d read about the site when planning the trip but until we pulled up to the site we had no idea of just how huge the area was that had been affected . The visitor center sits on a hill across from Turtle mountain and the results of the slide are sprawled across the valley below . A massive tumble of huge rocks and boulders that fill the valley and “splash” up the hillside across from the mountain . The current highway and railway are effectively tunneled through the rocks. It was an extraordinary site!
After seeing the exhibits in the center we stopped to have our lunch at one of their picnic tables before carrying on our way . Not far down the road we stopped briefly at the pretty Lundbreck Waterfall, on the Crowsnest river.
From the falls we only had about an hours drive to Waterton lakes but the drive was such a contrast to everything we’d seen so far that day. We suddenly found ourselves in wide grassy plains with many wind turbines on the hills beyond .
Finally we were excited to pull up to the entance of the national park. As we are spending about 8 days in canadian national parks this trips it was cheaper for us to purchase an annual pass rather than daily passes.
For the next two nights we are staying in the historic Prince of Wales hotel which was built in 1927 on a hill overlooking the town of Waterton Park. I’ve known about this place for years and it’s been a “bucket list” stay for me. They have a very short season, running form only May to mid-September and we have arrived in their last few days of operation for the season. They close on Wednesday! We stopped down the hill from the hotel to take a picture of it, it looks magnificent perched alone on the hiltop overlooking the beautiful lake.
WE pulled up to the entrance and young Evan assisted us with our luggage and took us up the ancient elevator to our 4th floor room. ( It’s one of the oldest still operating elevators in North America and has to be operated by staff) Most of the staff of the hotel wear kilts ( In Queen Elizabeth’s personal tartan) and although the hotel is modeled on a grand Swiss chalet on the outside, the inside is definitely Scottish Baronial!
The view from the lobby lounge is stunning!
We walked around to the front of the hotel overlooking the lake ( along with many others!) to admire the view. The wind was blowing a minor gale and we’ve learned that it is nearly always very windy here.
For dinner I’d booked us into the Royal Stewart Dining Room. Our server was alovely young woman who has a strong family connection to the hotel. her parents met while working here many years ago and , in fact, her mother was responsible for having the dining room named the “Royal Stwart Dining Room” . We ate a delicious meal.
Stuffed with food we headed to bed.
Saturday 16 September
We enjoyed breakfast in the dining room and then set out to see the highlights of the park. Our first drive took us 16 km along the Akamina parkway to Cameron lake. The one thing that really hits you in the eye in Waterton is the results of a terrible wildfire that swept through the park in 2017. For many miles, what should be green fir forest is now swathe after swathe of ghostly dead trunks. It gives the park almost the appearance of the desert peaks of the southwest of the USA rather than the lush green forest that you expect to see in the Rocky Mountains. However, the peaks are still amazingly tall and striking and you can really see the geology of the landscape that would normally be hidden by forest. At the lake we watched the enthusiastic people taking kayaks and canoes out onto the lake before heading off to walk the lakeside trail. This trail hugs the waterline and runs not quite up to the point in the lake where it crosses the border into the USA.
As we walked along the trail we passed a few people and then met a young couple who mentioned they had seen a bear. They said it had run off so we continued on keeping our eyes open. Then we turned a corner to find two women standing on the path looking up the hill… “Do you want to see a bear?” they said…. Sure enough just disappearing into the shrubs we could see the back end of a bear. We werent quick enough to get a photo! One of the ladies was very nervous and decided to head back, and the other attached herself to us and we had an animated conversation right to the end of the trail and back again. ( They tell you to make lots of noise when bears are around a it gives them an opportunity to get away). As we walked we passed about 5 more groups at various stages along the trail who said ‘Did you see the bear, it’s behind you” or “There’s a bear up ahead!” We never saw another bear on the trail but we did find a pile of fresh bear scat, full of the berries that they are gorging on right now.
After our visit to Cameron Lake we drove back past the township and out to the Red Rock Canyon area. The drive through here was again quite stark, driving through the burnt out valleys. The canyon itself is quite small but on this warmish day the creek running through it was very popular with people trying to cool off a little, especially kids of course. We walked the loop around the canyon and then took the trail out to Blakiston Falls. After those walks we’d covered about 12km and were both feeling pretty warm! We drove back down into the town to take a look at the sights to see there. Firstly we stopped at the pretty little Cameron Falls which is just outside the center of the town.
We walked out along the lakeside in the town and found a set of red Adirondak chairs. Parks Canada has placed over 200 red Adirondack chairs in peaceful and scenic locations throughout many of the country’s most unique and treasured places. These ones had a fine view up to our hotel across the water.
It was a lovely walk along the lakeside. We came across a monument that commemorates the union of Waterton-Lakes National Park in Canada and the adjoining Glacier National Park in the USA as the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. Both parks are declared Biosphere Reserves by UNESCO and their union as a World Heritage Site
Back at the hotel we decided to do another quick walk down the hill from the hotel to see another set of Red Chairs ( I’m determined to see as many of them as I can while we are here!)
For dinner tonight we ate early ( no lunch and a lot of walking made us hungry!). We enjoyed burgers in the hotel’s bar, still enjoying the great view.
We have really enjoyed our visit to our first Canadian National Park, the great weather has been a bonus! Tomorrow we head to Banff.