Advertisement
Published: August 4th 2010
When: 30th July - 2nd Aug 2010
Where: Waterton Lakes National Park(International Peace partner of Glacier National Park, Montana, USA)
Highlights: Bear & big horn sightings, beautiful hikes to alpine lakes, getting caught in thunderstorms, hail & an eventful drive back home.
Mileage: 712 km
Friday, 30th July Thanks to a geeky husband who was obsessed with getting an iPhone4, we got to leave about 1 hr later than we all were ready.
The drive to Waterton Lakes National Park is a good 2.5 hr drive due S towards the US border at Montana. Brilliantly hot weather.
Two weeks ago, we had made reservations at Waterton Springs Campground, 3km from the park entrance as the park's Townsite campground was full.
At our campsite, we were greeted by mosquitoes & bugs of all shapes & sizes. The air was still. Just as I was wondering if THIS place could ever get windy, from somewhere it blew. And it blew hard enough to chase away the bugs. Our site bordered the park fence & I could see Vermi mountain from our site.
We hit the National Park's visitor center that was not as helpful as we expected. But we
saw some big horns on the road coming out. Since we had limited time, we chose to take the shuttle to Red Rock Canyon & explore the area.
Once at the final parking lot, we took the short hike to Blakiston falls & the short Red Rock Canyon loop. It was an unusually warm day. S walked the entire distance & cooled off by the creek.
Back at the Townsite, for once I saw the perfect lighting & we decided to hike up to Bear's hump. The hike is strenuous & at some point, I felt my heart pump out of my chest. But the view deserved(& probably demanded) every bit. Finally at the top, it was wonderful to feel the wind on the face.
About the Hike On our way out of the park around 9pm, we saw a grizzly bear with a cub very close to the road. It was quite a site to see a big guy.
Saturday, 31st July Last night was stuffy inside the tent. The weather was warm. I met a fellow Albertan & camper & we had a little chat about the local weather. He informed me that a Tornado touched down at
Crandell Lake
ripples courtesy Daddy & daughterAirdrie just N of Calgary. Tornado is a rarity in the area & it gave me a sense of what more could happen due to Global warming. He also told me about the torrential rain they've been having in Southern Alberta. The farmers are having some of the toughest time of their lives. It was sad to hear.
On our way into the park, we saw the same grizzly & cub at very close to the same place we saw last night. Thankfully, this time, a Ranger was around to make sure no one got out of the car.
We planned to hike up to Bertha Lake, but were advised against it at the visitor center. There was a 60%!c(MISSING)hance of thunderstorms. With no rain jackets we really did not stand a chance. So, we decided to take it light & hit the
Akamina Parkway. With nothing really planned for the day, we stopped by to hike to Crandell Lake. The weather was warm, but the lake was very pleasant.
The Hike: A short 2 km hike to a beautiful subalpine Lake. The hike was fairly easy & we saw some wildflowers on the way. Once at the lake,
S did was she did the best at any water body-throw stones. This time Ganesh contributed in teaching S a new messy game that involved her beige pants to turn half brown.😱
After lunch, we stopped by the first oil well in the area that produced a considerable amount of oil.
we drove to the end of the road to Cameron Lake. There we contemplated on the idea of renting a boat, but decided otherwise. We also met an Indian family from Calgary. We proceeded to hike the 3.2 km trail along the lakeshore. I love places with geographical significance & Cameron Lake is special to me in that way. The thing is the last 1/3rd of the lake is in the USA. And the lakeshore trail takes you close the border. The trail ends at a point after which no one is allowed to go. It is a wonderful bear vegetation & they want to keep it that way. They were probably around, but we saw none.
We cooked dinner at the picnic area overlooking the lake. S had so much fun playing in the water & having her Quasedilla. A herd of deers paid us
a visit. In an attempt to get close to these beautiful animals, parents encouraged their kids to feed the deer with bread. One gentleman was prudent enough to warn one of the parents. I just felt irreparably lost seeing this.
As if that event was not enough, I saw something else, er., someone else. While I stopped by a viewpoint to take some evening shots, I saw someone walking towards me. Someone with a GUN. On closer look, i noticed his green outfit & felt safe knowing he was one of the park staff. In the middle of taking photos, I heard shots, gun shots. ONE. TWO. THREE. Multiplied by three. The first were shots & the rest were the echoes. I was definitely scared. I looked back. The park staff/Ranger was aiming his gun towards a herd of deer. I saw him talk something to them before shooting one off. After shooting, he just walked away. The rest of the herd stood dumbfounded. I was not so comfortable staying out any longer. On my way back to the car, I stopped by a couple of park staff & enquired about the situation.
They informed that a deer
was badly hurt by a motorcycle 20 minutes ago. Beyond rehabilitation. It was standard procedure. They just had to shoot the deer down. Standard Procedure? When did I hear that last? Ah! The USA.
The whole incident made me feel so lost. I agree the park staff had to do what they had to do. But due to human stupidity, we just killed an animal right there.
Sunday, 1st August Mission Bertha Lake! We did not know what to expect. So, we geared up with food & water. The trail climbed up moderately until Lower Bertha Falls. And that was the half-way point. After here, the trail climbs up steeply for 450 m in 2.8km. We finally reached Bertha Lake after a short view at the huge Upper Bertha falls. We were swept by a scoop of cold wind. So, we moved over to a more safer beach that seemed to attract the only bit of sunlight available. But once there, I saw storm clouds brewing & almost immediately, there was heavy rain. The rain picked up in intensity & soon we were being hit by stone-like hails. Small ones, though. And we did not have a
not one drop of fear
Happily sitting on a boat in Cameron Lake rain jacket. We took shelter under the trees for a while. A fellow hiker offered his backpack rain-cover & we immediately covered S. There was a small break where the hail & rain stopped & we started on our way down.
The storm moved out to the East & we had an uneventful hike down.
We had a late lunch at the same picnic area. But it was too windy to cook outside, so we used the cooking shelter. Just then, someone said they saw a grizzly bear & 2 cubs.
I saw a park Ranger & Ganesh just told me that the Ranger was not very happy. He was trying hard to stop people from chasing the bears.
Chasing bears??? This, I have not heard before. There was quite a crowd gathered there.
1. Since when did people start chasing the bears?
2. The bears should've been really hungry to come down to the crowded Townsite picnic area for food.
3. There should've been more Rangers around.
We had our lunch & we made our way out. On the way out, another lone grizzly bear greeted us around the same entrance area.
We showered & S fell
asleep around 8 pm. Ganesh & myself took our bikes for a ride around the campground. We ventured out to the road for probably a km before turning back. We felt like kids again😊
We slept in late.
Monday, 2nd August We got packing. Surprisingly, we left by 10 am. So, we decided to head out to the back country one last time. We knew where we were going & headed out to Lineham falls trailhead along Akamina Parkway. 450 m Lineham falls is a good 4.6 km & 1300 ft away. But it was a beautiful hike with wildflowers everywhere. A couple that came 10 minutes after us saw a bear some 200ft away. So, we stuck together on our way back. No sight of the bear, though.
We reached just in time for the thunderstorm to hit us. It started pouring cats & dogs.
We stopped by the Townsite to pick up a souvenir & drove our way out of there.
The rains stopped. Only for a while. As soon as we hit the Deerfoot Trail, we got caught in such a terrible storm. It poured more than it could run off, so the hwy
Bertha Lake
Alpine lake you get to after a good 5 km hike was flooded in many areas. It seemed like a long time. And then we finally saw the Sun. But just about 30km from Calgary, we saw this huge cloud engulfing the entire city. Ganesh suspected hail. It was worse. I could barely see the road. It poured down so heavy for so long that the 30km seemed like 100km. There was lightning flashes everywhere. We were very glad to be home. Knowing well that most of Calgary's precipitation is during the Summer, we should've been more prepared. The heat of the day should've caused such a horrid storm.
I cannot deny that it was hairy & scary to drive in that pouring rain for what seemed like eternity. It made me think. All we can do is succumb to Nature's fury. How long can she be angry?.
Notes 1.
Waterton Lakes is my favourite among Canada's National parks. The reason could be in the small size of the park.
2. There are only 20 residents in the park.
3. In the Winter, the park sees Ice-climbers & cross country skiiers. But the lady at the store said that their Winter was no more in December/January. It is more
in April. And it is sad to know that.
4. People show ignorant behaviour towards animals like deer & bears . Utterly ridiculous!
5. Most of the 365,000 people visiting the park are either from Alberta, Canada or Montana, USA.
6. At Waterton, you can take a cross country cruise & go into the USA & come back.
7. My fear for wild animals has strongly been replaced by concern of their survival. It is shocking to see what all we have done.
8. The world is getting hotter & it surely is showing in Canada.
9. Freezing Winters, thunderous Summers. I really wonder how the Government can maintain, forget alone laying new roads.
10.. For every day the Sun shines, I will be thankful.
~travelbuffs
-----------------------
“The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore”
- Vincent van Gogh
Advertisement
Tot: 0.135s; Tpl: 0.027s; cc: 13; qc: 31; dbt: 0.0494s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Dominic
non-member comment
iPhone4!
Ganesh, welcome to the iPhone community. Enjoy! Send me your phone number guys... I have some news for you... BTW, good write up and great photos as usual...