Alberta to Montana

It should be noted that the green fields we experienced along the Cowboy Trail are not normal. This has been an extremely wet spring and summer for Alberta; usually by early August the fields are brown. Great for us, not so good for the farmers as the grain crops have suffered; too wet to plow and plant during the normal spring planting season.

Our drive from Pincher Creek into Waterton was uneventful, giving us the whole day to do some hiking and exploring about the small and un-crowded town.

Where the mountains meet the prairies

Red Rock Falls

Upper Waterton Lake

Lots of deer in the town area and they are a major pest to the residents, eating flowers, bothering local dogs, etc. Very tame.

We enjoyed an evening cruise on the lake which took us to the south end into American waters, where we stopped at a dock and camping area for hikers. Our boat the Independence which sails out of Waterton is actually of American flag; it is wintered on the US end of the lake.

US Canada Border

US end of the lake - border crossing open 10-5

On to Glacier Park; customs was easy except for seeing several heavily armed border guards. They have been on the lookout for some bad guys last sighted in the Yellowstone area a few days ago. Our travel on the Going to the Sun highway over Logan pass was very pleasant. They are redoing quite a stretch of the highway using some Federal stimulus funds, which meant that on a few occasions we had to wait for awhile to pass through the one lane sections of construction. Not so bad, as it turned out, as we had time to get out of the car and view the sights. There are not very many pull-outs along this rather narrow highway.

The highlight of the day was during our stop at Logan Pass, the high point of the highway at 6684’.We saw a number of mountain sheep which decided to cross the highway and give us incredible close up looks at these animals.

On the way down we saw a bear crossing the road in front of us; appeared to be a grizzly cub which the tour bus operator in the opposite lane explained was now an orphan cub.

After ice cream cones in West Glacier (Dave had a huckleberry cone; a big deal in these parts as huckleberries are now in season), we headed on to our very nice B&B north of Whitefish.

A breakfast of corn pancakes topped with a smoked trout cake and a poached egg started our day. If only they’d had decent coffee. But the local Safeway had a Starbucks, so the morning was excellent. Back to Glacier Park for the day, a few threatening clouds. We went on a nature walk in Avalanche Creek, and Dave headed up to Avalanche Lake while Chris continued down the trail and enjoyed a nice hour plus sitting by the creek.

Fortunately the rain today confined itself to when we were driving. Nice.

An excellent dinner tonight – purported to be the best restaurant in town directly across the street.

New territory and adventures tomorrow.