Waterton - Day 6

Today was just a drive home day, so nothing too spectacular to write about.  We left Lethbridge, after getting turned around a couple of times, and drove to the border, where we stopped for lunch.  Then we drove the rest of the way home, thus ending our 2025 family vacation.

Waterton - Day 5

Today we said good-bye to Waterton, as our short summer vacation comes to a close.  We started the day by packing up the van and heading out to Red Rock Canyon, which is the part of the park that Sandra wanted to see seven years ago, but which was closed for over a year after the forest fire.  The walk is a short hike around the canyon, which, as you can guess, has red rocks on the sides.  At a couple of points, the canyon wall is low enough that you can climb down to the water, which almost everyone does.  Bradley immediately scampered over the rocks, as Evan made his way upstream.  We watched him for a bit, but he kept getting farther and farther away.  Eventually, I got up and walked along the path to where I could see him.  I tried to get him to come back, but he signaled something I didn't understand.  Then I noticed a tree that was laying across the canyon and realized that he was determined to get to that tree and climb across it.

Unfortunately (or fortunately), he could not find a path that would allow him to get to the tree, so he climbed up to the top of the canyon, behind the fence that was on the path to keep people away from the edge.  He made his way back to the rest of us, but my heart was beating pretty fast, since it looked quite scary from where I was standing.

We then took another short hike to a waterfall.  It was not big or high, but there was a lot of water rushing over it, so it was quite peaceful to sit and listen.  Sandra loved it there, as she really loves water.  Upon returning to the parking area, we discovered that it was completely full and quite busy, so it was a good thing that we got out to the area early.

After lunch, we headed back into town, as there was a rental shack right behind our hotel and I had confirmed before we left that he did not have any age restrictions on his kayaks, so we rented two and walked them down to the bay to allow Bradley to kayak.  He and I went out for a bit and then I swapped with Evan.  After about 40 minutes, Bradley was tired out, so we returned the kayaks and left Waterton for a short trip to Lethbridge, where we will rest before heading home tomorrow.

Waterton - Day 4

We started the day with a nice boat ride down the Waterton Lake to Goat Haunt, which is a small ranger station in the United States.  Waterton Park and Glacier Park in Montana are the same park, and while the Canadian side has a town site and road access, the American side is fairly rugged wilderness, with trails and back country tenting.  For the boat ride, you go down the lake, get 30 minutes in America and then come back, and as long as you don't go past the ranger station, you don't have to clear customs.  You are technically in the United States, even if you aren't legally there.

Bradley was concerned about the boat ride, but the boat was big enough and the waves on the lake small enough that he was confident enough on the return trip to ride on the top of the boat.  It was interesting to see that the border is actually cleared of trees in straight line, right up the side of a mountain.

After the boat ride and lunch, we climbed into the van for a short trip through the park to Cameron Lake, which is a small mountain lake with a few hikes around it.  We did the first easy hike around part of the lake and then decided to rent kayaks, which had been a big thing that some of the kids (especially Bradley) had been looking forward to.  Unfortunately, to go alone, you had to be 14, which meant that Bradley's plans were ruined, and he didn't take it very well.  Eventually he begrudgingly agreed to go in a canoe with Sandra and I, but only because if he didn't, he'd have to stay on shore with Alex.  Evan got in his kayak and took off, as he was determined to get to the other end of the lake, which is in the United States.  Jonathan stayed close to us, but we had no idea what we were doing and were quite unable to control the canoe.  After 20 minutes of not going where we wanted and trying to crash into the shore, it looked like it was going to rain, so I gave up and headed back to the dock.

Not long after we got out, it did start raining and the wind picked up, with Evan half way to the other side of the lake.  He turned around and came back, but he was quite wet and tired when he arrived.  All in all, it wasn't quite the fun experience we were expecting.

We did another short hike, as the rain was short, but I was in pain by that point, as paddling a canoe uses muscles I don't use much.  We ended up skipping any more hikes and headed back to the hotel for supper.

Waterton - Day 3

Today we did all the shorter and easier hikes around the town, as we expected that it would be another busy day, since it was a holiday.  Tomorrow we can go to some of the other locations in the park, as the parking lots should be quieter.

After breakfast, we walked around the Prince of Wales hotel and then did a short walk around a small lake, before stopping to play along the shore line.  We then walked back on a separate path that was closer to the lake, but which had a very steep incline off the path, which I found quite scary.  We spent some more time along another beach before making it back to the hotel for lunch.  The beaches here are all rocks, but the rocks are a bunch of different colours and look quite nice, especially in the shallow water where the colours are more noticeable.

After lunch, we took Bradley swimming, as he was really looking forward to it.  I tried to swim a bit as well, but the rocks were very tough to walk on and the water was very cold.  I only lasted a very short time before giving up.  Once we were done at the beach, we walked back into town for a bit of shopping and then supper and ice cream.

One thing I should mention is how the town is full of deer.  It seems every time you walk anywhere in the town, you see them walking between houses, going down to the lake for a drink, or even, as tonight, eating something off the bricks right in front of the hotel.  

Waterton - Day 2

We woke up today to a steady rain in Pincher Creek, but by the time we left town around 11:30, it was clearing and it was soon sunny.  The drive to Waterton Park was busy, but we weren't in a rush and it wasn't a long drive, so we took our time.  We even stopped at a couple of look outs to take pictures and view the scenery.  We found out later that the park reached capacity early in the afternoon, and cars were turned away for most of the afternoon, so we got lucky with arriving just before that happened.  I don't know what it is with Alberta and the August long weekend, but the entire population of the province seems to hit up a local park on the same day.

Upon arrival in the park, we drove around for a bit until we finally found an open place to park.  It was then time for lunch, which we ate a picnic table on the beach.  Beautiful surroundings and a deer wandered by to get a drink was we were eating.  After lunch, we hiked to Bertha Falls, which was the only hike we did the last time we were here.  Despite trying harder, we still aren't good at the whole outdoor adventure thing.  We took along more water than we usually do, but forgot sunscreen or any coverings, and I'm fairly certain even that much water wasn't enough.  On the way to the falls, Jonathan stumbled and twisted his ankle a bit, so hopefully that isn't a big issue - he was able to finish the walk.  On the way down, Sandra turned to look at Evan and missed a rock and fell down.  She's OK, but bruised her leg a bit.  However, in the end, the walk was a lot of fun.  It was nice to sit in the shade by the water - Sandra and Bradley even waded a bit.

Upon returning to our car, we found our hotel and checked in, before heading out for supper and a bit of shopping that was abruptly ended by the arrival of some rain.

Waterton - Day 1

Our first day was a very long driving day, as we drove the 700km from Regina to Pincher Creek, AB, a small town in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and a short ways north of Waterton Lakes National Park.  We got out of Regina around 8:30am and then immediately stopped in Moose Jaw, as we realized a short time ago that we had never taken the kids to see the giant moose.

After that stop, it was on to Maple Creek, where we stopped for a picnic lunch at a small park.  Maple Creek is just slightly off the Trans Canada and we had never stopped there before, instead choosing to drive by and stop at the border tourist stop for lunch.  However, Sandra had discovered that there was a giant toy store in Maple Creek, so after lunch we headed over to it.  I'm not certain giant really describes it.  Every time I thought we got to the end of the store, there was another room full of different types of toys and games, and we kept losing each other in the store. The upstairs was filled with a ton of puzzles, which Sandra loved and she struggled to decide which puzzles to buy or not buy, eventually settling on a Rider puzzle and a cute six pack of puzzles representing cereal boxes, packaged exactly like the camping cereal boxes of our youth.

Once we were done shopping, the rest of the day was just driving, and I was exhausted when we finally arrived in Pincher Creek.  After a short nap and supper, we watched the end of the Rider game and then settled in for the night.  Tomorrow we head into the park and the mountains.

Waterton - Day 0

This is such a short trip compared to so many of our others, that I completely forgot to write anything on the blog.  Due to the uncertainty surrounding Jen, we didn't want to plan a big trip this summer, so we settled on a short trip to Waterton Lakes National Park at the start of the Rocky Mountains in southern Alberta.  We took a day trip to the park seven years ago when we took a short trip through Alberta, but this time we decided to stay in the park for a few days and explore the hikes and the lake.

We are heading to Pincher Creek tomorrow and then to the park on Sunday.  We'll be there until Wednesday, when we will drive back to Lethbridge, before returning to Regina on Thursday.