5 Moose, 10 Bears, & 15 Miles

On our days off last week we made the decision to travel to the Canadian side of the park. For those that may not know, there are two national parks--one American(Glacier) and one Canadian(Waterton Lakes)--that form an international peace park.

We drove to Waterton townsite, which reminded us of a Bar Harbor or Camden. It is a small town right on Waterton Lake with shops, restaurants, motels, and summer homes. It is also the home of the famous "Prince of Wales" hotel. We tried to go visit it, but it wasn't very RV friendly and was a bit away from the rest of the town. I'll just have to imagine the good looking waiters in kilts! Here is a photo of the hotel. High tea is served in the afternoons.

We were lucky enough to get a campsite in Crandell Lake campground in the park so we decided to stay over and do some things while we were there. The first day we played tourist and walked around all the shops, ate at an outdoor cafe for lunch, and took in the sights.
We enjoyed a lazy afternoon reading books by the lake.
We got tickets for a boat tour the following day and returned to the campground.
That is where the 10 bears came in. First we saw a mom and cub. We were able to pull over and take photos and watch them feed for about 30 minutes. It was great fun. We continued on down the road and saw another mom and cub. Then a third pair, a lone grizzly, and a mom with two cubs. That satisfied even Kyle's quest for bears (for a little while, anyway!)

After setting up camp and getting a good night's sleep, we were set for our boat tour the next morning. We took the hiking gear because the plan was to take the boat from Canada to the US end of the lake, do a hike, and then hike back to the Canadian side.

The ranger station on the US side is an official border crossing and we had to show passports. It is called "Goat Haunt" and there is even an official stamp you can get put in your passport.

We hiked from Goat Haunt up to Kootenai Lake (5.6 miles round trip). We were treated to five moose feeding in the lake. There were 3 cow moose and 2 bulls.

We walked back to the ranger station where we had a lunch break, and then started on the Waterton Lakeshore Trail to walk back to where we had started. (9.7 miles) This trail was a bit disappointing when compared to the others we have done. It was somewhat overgrown in places, although rangers lead an "international peace" hike on the trail twice a week. We were hoping for more views of the lake, but weren't rewarded. There were some interesting suspension bridges on the trail. I decided I would never make it in Africa on those long ones that are in all the adventure movies. Especially when the bad guys are shooting and the boards break! Kyle, on the other hand, thought longer ones would be cool.
One neat thing...we hiked across the international border. Not everyone that does that can say they didn't have to worry about being chased by border police! :-)After getting back to town we rewarded ourselves with dinner out and bought some souvenirs to bring home. Kyle decided he wanted a pair of moccasins trimmed with rabbit fur. Terry got a decorative pottery plate with bears on it, and Glen decided on a t-shirt with a running shoe and a hiking boot making claims about having only to be faster than your hiking partners when hiking in bear territory. Too bad for Glen....the store where we had seen that shirt the day before was closed, and he didn't get to purchase it.

We headed home, crossing the border and being inspected AGAIN. It seems that we get into Canada with just a few questions, but every time we try to come home we need to let the customs officials inside the camper where they check the refrigerator, cupboards, and look in the bathroom to see if we have anyone hidden in there. So, I guess you can all feel safe. They are inspecting all suspicious characters trying to get in the country!

Kyle's cross-country training is going well, but on the long hikes his knee starts to feel twingy. So, on our last couple of days off this week we think we are going to just do some short day hikes that are pretty photogenic and get our last fill of Glacier. Our work schedules run from Sunday through Saturday, and we are not sure yet what will happen with next Sunday. Usually, we work Sundays. We are scheduled to leave bright and early Monday morning to begin our trip home. If we are not needed to work Sunday, we may try to escape a bit early...but won't know until probably Saturday if we can. The good thing is it is easy to pack. Just pull in the slideout and unplug the cords! See you all soon,
Terry, Glen, and Kyle

P.S. While nobody took a guess, the glacier in the last post is named "Salamander Glacier"