Waterton Lakes
After crossing the border, I drove to Waterton village and my hotel for the night, the Prince of Wales. The Prince of Wales is one of the great park lodges. It was built in 1927 by the Great Northern Railway.
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| Prince of Wales Hotel Lobby | |
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After dinner (and some photo ops) I headed back out to explore the park. I drove out Cameron Lake Road (Akamina Parkway) to the lake. The view there is dominated by Mt. Custer. On the way back, I had stopped at a turnout to take pictures. When crossing the guard rail back to the car, I tripped and fell over the rail (on the car side). Fortunately, neither the camera nor I sustained any real damage, though I suspect I will be a little sore tomorrow. (In fact, I had some sore spots and a huge bruise on my left thigh from the rail, bigger than a dinner plate.)
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| Mt. Custer | Akamina Parkway View | |
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Red Canyon & Blakiston Falls
I then headed out Red Canyon Road to the end. Red Canyon itself is spectacular. Just look at the photo! I walked the trail to Blakiston Falls (1.2 miles, flat). I'd hoped to see some wildlife on the way back, but no luck. I did see Mountain Cottontail somewhere today, and there are more Columbian Ground Squirrels around.
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| Red Canyon | Blakiston Falls | |
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Return to Prince of Wales
The light was fading as I returned to the Prince of Wales hotel. On the way, I took several photos of the hotel and Vimy Peak, followed by some twilight photos of Waterton Lake and Vimy Peak from the hotel grounds.
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| Vimy Peak | Prince of Wales Hotel | |
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| Last Rays on Vimy Peak | Fading Light at Waterton Lake | Waterton Lake Twilight |
Birds: 80. Mammals: 6.
Waterton Lakes, AB
Bear's Hump
Monday, July 4, 2005: I started the day with an early morning birdwalk. I walked down to the main road, passing a Red-naped Sapsucker nest (with young) on the way. From there I walked to Linnet Lake. Rather than doing the short loop around the lake, I took the trail along the lakeshore until I reached a point under the hotel. Then I climbed the hill back to the Prince of Wales (about 1.5 miles + 200').
With my early birding done, it was time for a more serious hike. I walked over to Bear's Hump Trail and started up the hill. At one point, a Robin kept moving ahead of me on the trail. It didn't seem disturbed as it repeatedly grabbed some tasty morsels on the way. Before too long I had climbed the 700 feet to the top. After snapping some photos, I headed back to the hotel. This time, I found a young Cassin's Finch not too far from the sapsucker nest.
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| From Bear's Hump | Golden-mantled Ground-Squirrel |
Bear's Hump |
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It was then time to check out. However, it wasn't yet time to leave Canada. I had one more trail on my agenda.
Bertha Falls
I did the 3.6 mile (+ 430') hike to Lower Bertha Falls. There was a little excitement over some bear scat on the trail and some of the hikers decided to stay near me because I had bear spray. The hike was otherwise uneventful. At times it offered views of the lake and hotel.
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| From Bertha Falls Trail | Lower Bertha Falls | Bertha Falls Detail |
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Cameron Falls
After returning to the car, I made a short stop at Cameron Falls.
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| Magpie at Hotel | Cameron Falls | |
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Road to Many Glacier
I then drove to Many Glacier, taking some more photos on the way. After checking in, I decided to rest for the remainder of the day.
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| Chief Mountain | Many Glacier Hotel | Grinnell Point Sunrise |
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I added three mammal species today: Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel, Red Squirrel, and Yellow Pine Chipmunk.
Birds: 92. Mammals: 9.
Many Glacier, MT