Day Two. Waterton National Park

We did three hikes on our first full day in Waterton. There are loads of walking trails (some on the US side of the park) but our friends Anna and Greg recommended a few to us and lent us a great map, which we perused over breakfast. (Porridge made on the camping stove - not too shabby either, I might add.)

The first two hikes were pretty leisurely - Red Rock Canyon (so called because, well, the rock's red...) and Blakiston Falls. Both wonderfully quiet places and tucked away in the middle of the park so we enjoyed the walks a great deal.


The drive along the Red Rock Parkway was another indication that the surrounding area wasn't exactly ugly...


Yet more scenery - it's REALLY hard to narrow down the photographs for this blog, so I've had to combine a few for posterity's sake.


Red Rock Canyon itself. And now for the science bit. The rock is called Argillite and began life as iron-rich mud, deposited in an ancient sea. Over time, the mud turned red or green depending on whether or not the iron-ore within the mud was exposed to oxygen.


Jethro looking surprisingly perky after no sleep.


Blakiston Falls. Yet another lovely kodak moment.

The third hike was a little more well-travelled - it was a path around the shores of Lake Cameron, a massive area of water backdropped by Mount Custer, which is in the US. Another factor of this trail which was interesting is that it was grizzly bear country and there were lots of warnings posted everywhere. It was practically suggested to us that we would definitely see a grizzly or two, fishing in the lake or pootling around on the meadows underneath the mountain. Armed with our trusty bear spray we set out but did we see a bear? Did we heck!


The 'informative' sign about the grizzly habitat - enough to put the wind up anyone. Even Ray Mears.


The two of us at Cameron Lake, with Mount Custer behind.


Another shot of the lake in the sunshine.

Feeling rather dejected about the lack of wildlife, we drove away in the van. However, turning a corner of the Akamina Parkway, a big ol’ moose had planted himself in the middle of the road facing us. We had a bit of a stand-off, staring each other down until Jethro got his camera out and the Moose decided to leg it. Ha ha!


The moose can't get away from us fast enough - typical!

It gets better though. The best wildlife spot of the day was a large black bear having a swim in Middle Waterton Lake. I spied the black shape from the highway, thought it was a bit big to be a dog so we turned around and drove back to the beach and saw him right there. Again, he was practically posing before Jethro got the camera out, at which point he charged down the beach towards us before veering away into a pile of bushes, never to be seen again. It goes without saying that ‘Eagle Eye’ Hincks’ laser surgery has obviously paid off as I spotted both the moose and the bear. Big brownie points for me!

Feeling much happier that we had seen our first bona fide Canadian bear, we drove out to a different campsite – Waterton Springs on the outskirts of the park. This was much more back to basic camping. Cold water, a fire pit, and a nice spot in a gladed wood area which was much more sheltered than the night before and therefore warmer. We even had a fire to warm up but forgot the marshmallows – doh!


Warming myself with a hot mug of tea.