local residents (mule deer), Waterton
Prairies, Pincher Creek with the Rockies behind
Caught the 7am flight to Calgary on Sunday, arriving in bright sunshine and about -2°C weather. So far so good. Rented the car and headed south out of Calgary by about 10am for the 266km drive south. Hwy 2 is great: four lanes all the way—although there are two towns along the route where the modern highway mysteriously morphs into plain old main street for a kilometer or so and then converts back into 4-laner: one minute the traffic is doing 140kph then everyone throttles violently down to 50kph, we crawl through town, and then everyone hits the gas again on the other side!
The countryside is brown, flat, grassland/ranchland, with the white peaks of the Rocky Mountains forming the western skyline at points. Just short of Fort MacLeod we turn West for 50km to Pincher Creek then south again for the last 50K. The Rockies are now looming in on our right...and as we enter Waterton Park we find ourselves in among the peaks.
Kilmorey Lodge, Waterton Town
We're staying at the Kilmorey Lodge, a nice old place at the north end of the of the big lake and the only place in town that's open by the look of it. A quick walk around town that evening was chilly but not too bad; then we're ready for bed.
Monday:
Cameron Lake (8km/100ft)
Bighorn sheep in the parking lot
Ever present whiskyjacks
Wake up to...dang, there's a couple of bighorn sheep in the parking lot below our window licking the salt off the cars and out of the ruts in the parking lot.
Chat with the hotel people and then check with the town Administration staff; nobody is sure of the conditions back on the trails but we begin to sort through the suggestions. Some cautions: there's avalanche danger in conditions like these. So we rent the snowshoes as they suggest and head out on the road to Cameron Lake.
That peak at the end of Cameron Lake is 3km away in Montana!
The hike in takes about 45 minutes. The lake is spectacular. It is of course completely iced over and we could probably ski down the lake to the end if we had our skis with us, but with the thaw the way it is I wouldn't risk it. There's a wall of a peak at the end that it is actually in Montana, US.
We make our way through the woods to our left on a trail that, according to our map, goes up and over the ridge on our left and eventually leads back into Waterton. There's a few tracks in front of us but not enough to pack the snow down so it's slow going and we turn back after a kilometer or so. We meet one older couple as we march back along the road but those are the only people we are going to see today on the trails!
Rowe Lakes (10km/1400ft)
3/4 of the way into Rowe Lakes. Don't know where all our other pictures went
We've hiked 18km today and are feeling pleased with ourselves. We certainly deserve to buy a six pack of Keith's Pale Ale and have a beer while we read in our hotel room.
Tuesday
Red Rock Canyon (12km/200ft)
This is very different. The first couple of k appear to be over the grasslands, walking directly at the distant peaks.
After a very pleasant walk, sometimes in snow, sometimes on muddy trail, we come to a fork. The right hand branch seems to head back towards the road so we take the left to go down into a dip, into some woodland and alongside the river.
We must have covered about 4km along this trail and with some relief we finally look up and see signs that the road has rejoined us at the top of a short but steep incline. We head up and hike a couple of km further along the road, but by this time the cold wind is taking its toll; we turn back, hoofing most of it along the road, and have lunch.
Crandell Lake (2.2km/500ft)
We must have done about 12km this morning but are still interested in more so find what seems to be another lake hike that isn't too (we check the map!) much distance. We take the road in towards Cameron Lake again, and find the trailhead. Supposedly there's a short hike in to Crandell Lake that continues out to Red Rock canyon—not that we want to do that today but....
We'd imagined a flat hike through the woods, but instead we immediately begin a steady climb of about 500ft in 0.8km up to a saddle between two peaks. This is a good thing! We'd wanted to make saddle to get some views and we have plenty of them on the way up. Once at the ridge we have only a short walk and small drop before we come out right above Crandell Lake. It's been a long enough day so far, and so we don't feel a great need to take the trail all the way (about 600 ft and 2km down to the Lake) just to say we've done it, in part because we'll just have to turn around and come back up!
Wednesday
We're having breakfast and chatting to the waitress, who tells us an interesting story. A few years back, a different waitress friend was driving out of the hotel parking lot one night after work. It was dark and she had to stop her vehicle to allow some bighorn sheep to cross the road. A cougar suddenly ran out from between the houses, brought down one of the sheep, and dragged it back off the road under one of the cottages. This, (our waitress explained) was why they don't walk home at night!
Bertha Falls(2.8km/500ft)
Our shot was so lousy that I had to steal someone else's summer shot
The first part of the hike is a pleasant walk through the trees on the west of the lake, which in winter (no leaves on the trees) gives us continuous views over the lake. We climb about 400 feet in that 1.5km, a steady gain, and find the signed turnoff. The hike into the Falls is supposed to 1.3km, but it only takes about 15 minutes, even on snow so we're making good time
The falls are iced over and quite beautiful (although here again, the photo we took didn't show it, and a second shot disappeared). We can continue to Lake Bertha but we it would mean about a 600m elevation gain and 2.7km so after a convoluted conversation between Lyn and I, we finally agree to head for Montana; we trek quickly back to the turn we made 1.3km back.
Montana, here we come (5km/400ft)
Looking across Bertha Bay
Tricky overhand, with 100ft drop if you slip on the snow!
There were plenty of "people" tracks on the way in, but on the trail leading on, on the other side of the campground, there are only animal tracks heading up--which helps because there's plenty of snow--but it is slow going. We hike for about a kilometer and cross a small gulley; the deer tracks disappear leaving only LARGE PAW PRINTS! And they're fresh--this morning's probably.
So rather than chase bruno down and surprise him, we start back. On the way back up out of the campsite, we notice now something we hadn't spotted on the way here: that several rocks on the edge of the trail have been turfed aside: a common sign that a bear has been looking for grubs or roots underneath the loose rocks. We stop for lunch at the lookout at the intersection of the two trails, with good views back over Waterton, and then do the short hike back to our car. <>
Bear Hump (800ft/2.4km)
When we got to the bottom I was a bit skeptical, but decided to see how fast I could make it up. Took me 18 minutes really hoofing it; Lyn was only 6 minutes behind me. But it was a great place to look out and down the lake. See the photo at the top.
Thursday: Heading Home
Windmills are a source of power round here. Yes, those are cars and a maintenance truck parked at the bottom of the nearest one!
We headed back via Head-smashed-in Buffalo Jump (very interesting!check the website)