Today was just another typical day in Waterton. Wonderful scenery and wildlife everywhere you look.
From past experience we knew that the best times to go animal spotting are early in the morning and late in the evening. Early in the morning is always better because the pesky humans are still in bed asleep. The four of us set off along Red Rock Canyon road first thing and, sure enough, we found a black bear and her two year old cub.
The hillside at this time of year is covered with various berry bushes so the bears were having a field day.
Conditions were good after breakfast so we jumped in the boat and headed out on the lake again.
This time out we decided to go all the way to the end of the lake instead of just sneaking across the border and back. The lake was so still and every geographical formation had an identical twin on the lake. The Waterton Steamer was out on the lake as well. Even that large boat didn't have much impact on the pristine surface.
At the south end of the lake this border crossing hut is the last line of defense for the USA. People do hike from this point deep into Glacier National Park (Montana) and require a customs stamp to do so. Waterton and Glacier National Parks are set up as a joint national park across the two countries. It's a great concept and the wildlife in both parks is quite exceptional. Not quite the same levels as Alaska, but not far off. Unlike the humans, the animals are free to move between the two countries without a passport.
This is the view back toward Waterton from the south end of Waterton Lake (from just in front of the customs hut).
It doesn't make any sense and sounds a bit cliche'. but Waterton Lake seems to look greener south of the border.
On the way back to the township, things were going along fine for until we came out from behind a spit of land and into a stiff head wind that had come from nowhere. It made for a bit of a rough and wet trip for a while. Then there was a splutter from the motor and it stopped. We were out in the middle of the lake with either a long paddle or a swim back to shore. Jim decided a check of the fuel tank was in order. Sure enough it was nearly empty. A top up before we left would probably have been a good idea, but there was a plan. We tilted the fuel tank and managed to get just enough out of it to get us back to the shore just in front of the Waterton town site. The photo above was taken from the place where we finally had to beach. All ended well but it was a very close shave! It just goes to show that you don't have to be 50kms off shore to get into trouble on the water.
Our first visit to Waterton didn't draw a blank with the buffalo paddock, but you couldn't get at all close to the animals. It turns out that in summer, you can drive around paved a loop road inside the buffalo paddock and get really close to them. These guys were a mater of a few metres away from the car.
We were even treated to a couple of the bulls head butting.
Late morning we went for a drive out to Cameron Lake. The end part of the road was closed last time we were in the area so it was new territory for us. Along the way there were some nice views of Cameron Creek (above).
At the end of our little drive we reached Cameron Lake. Judging by the infrastructure, it was the more popular destination of the two roads in the park. The weather wasn't exactly our friend but we walked along the lake shore trail to it's end (about 2/3 of the way to the cliff face in the photo above). Beyond that point is a no go zone because of a healthy grizzly population. We were sceptical because we saw absolutely no sign of them. I'd like to check out Cameron Lake early in the morning when the animals are around. Apparently, aside from the grizzlies, the moose tend to be fairly common around the lake. A lesson learned and another excuse to go back.
A side story is that the wild berries were out in a big way. The lake shore trail was bordered by a seemingly endless supply of wild raspberries. I'm not too sure what the park rules are, but I couldn't help but graze on them along the way. They have so much flavour concentrated into a tiny little package. They're way better than the domestic raspberries.
The loon is the national bird of Canada. They're a weird looking creature with an even weirder call (you'll understand if you've ever heard one). They're like a duck with a really long beak. These two were floating around on Cameron Lake.
Here's a bird from shorter range. The Steller's Jay (above) is the same species as the ones that were stealing Boo the Bear's dinner at Kicking horse. They're cheeky little things. This one wasn't afraid of people and set about clearing out any scraps that careless humans had left behind after lunch (us included).
Here's another pretty little spot along Cameron Creek. It's only a tiny little waterfall, but worth a photo anyway.
Our visit to Waterton happened to co-inside with the Elk Rut. Most of the year these guys hang around together in small herds. Once the rut starts, the males get all cranky and fight for a patch. He may be hard to spot in this photo, but there's a big bull sitting down in the long grass next to a pile of tree branches.
The thing that goes along with the rut is a horrible noise. The bull elk make a dreadful screeching noise that can't be described. The closest likeness I can come up with is a donkey's ee-aw. It travels for miles and when you have a number of them at it, it's far from peaceful. They bang their antlers against the trees as well, just to add to the ruckus. We stopped in the woods for a bit and listened to the elk do their thing.
This is the reason why the bull elk go nuts. A herd of females with their yearlings. I'm sure they have no idea what the noise is all about sometimes.
It wasn't just the Elk that were in full antler and cranky. The mule deer were in the same situation, just not so noisy. This one was grazing on the local school oval.
During the last two days we have enjoyed exploring Waterton Lakes but seem to have only scratched the surface. Maybe another time.
