Canada, USA, Canada, USA, Canada...

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Well, I made it to the Waterton Lakes National Park (sort of...)

Leaving Kimberley a week ago last Friday I headed towards the town of Fernie, but I was unable to find a space in my planned campground, so I continued back into Alberta and ended up at Beauvais Lake (nice, but a little dull). Unfortunately, that meant that I ended up getting to Waterton Lakes National Park on the Saturday of the August Bank Holiday weekend in Canada, and the campsite was full.

So I put my name down on the waiting list in the vain hope that someone who had already reserved a space phoned up and cancelled. I hung around town for the best part of an hour and a half, but no dice. So I got back in the van and crossed the US border into Montana (no national holidays in the US that weekend) only to discover that the campgrounds in Glacier National Park were also full - who would have thought that the Canadian would plan to holiday in the States? So I stopped off at a somewhat dodgy campground in Saint Mary, and got up ridiculously early on Sunday morning to bag one of the last remaining campsites in Glacier National Park by 7:30 am.

Having made it into the park, I set off on a marathon 6 hour walk up to Cracker Lake and back. A tough climb in some quite serious heat, but worth it for the views at the top, and my first sighting of a Mountain Goat, perched high up on a ledge.

Monday I returned to Waterton Lakes (having learned my lesson and called to reserved a campsite this time!). I drove to Cameron Lake, and walked up the mountain to Summit Lake. I saw a very determined deer near the lake (determined to eat a particular clump of grass even though it was right by the side of the path and she was somewhat nervous about being quite so close to me - and to be frank, who can blame her...?). Back down the mountain, after a spot of lunch, I walked up to Crandell Lake, which was a bit of a disappointment, and then checked into the campsite to shelter from a thunderstorm.

Tuesday, after an early morning hike up the Bears Hump, just outside Waterton Townsite, I left Canada again, and drove back into Montana and the Glacier National Park, planning to drive the "Going-to-the-Sun" Road. Well that was the plan, until I discovered (in my 23ft long RV) that vehicles over 21ft are prohibited on the road. So I had to drive around the southern edge of the park along Highway 2; which meant that by the time I got to the other end of the "Going-to-the-Sun" Road, the (unreservable) campground that I had planned to stay in was already full. So I pushed further west to the quite charming little town of Columbia Falls. Tuesday I headed west again, crossing into Idaho and staying in the town of Bonners Ferry (where they sell surprisingly cheap liquor, I discovered!).

Wednesday I came back into Canada. (This border crossing business is getting far too easy) And headed up via Creston to Kootenay Lake. I spent a very pleasant couple of hours at Lockhart Beach, lying in the blazing sunshine, before heading north again to Kootenay Bay to catch the car ferry across to Balfour. The 45 minute crossing apparently makes this journey the longest FREE car ferry journey in the world (for those of you who are interested in that sort of thing). I checked into the Kokanee Creek Provincial Park - no sign of any (Kokanee) salmon in the creek yet, but the sign in the visitors centre says that they are due on 12th August (How do they know these things? Do Salmon have blackberries?).

Today I headed south west to Nelson for a browse around the town, and then drove to Trail and Rossland, before crossing back to Castlegar (a bit of a circular route, but the road between Rossland & Castlegar is pretty spectacular). Tomorrow, I’m planning on heading north again, up to the town of Nakusp, and to another FREE ferry ride (only five minutes this time: but you’ve got to get your money's worth...!)

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