And now for something entirely different. We want to see Waterton as the Sun rises (!), so when the boys sound the 5am food alarm, we’re up and out the door, sort of, headed back to Waterton. Haven’t gotten up that early in quite a while, at least not to stay up! The drive to Waterton is roughly 30 minutes, but we stopped often to take pictures. The changes as Mr. Sun came up were dramatic, and I got a few pics I like. We took pictures all the way down, and then continued to snap away in the park.
We drove from the village to Lake Cameron. At this time of day there isn’t much traffic – probably isn’t a whole lot of traffic most of the time I’d guess. It’s a nice 17km drive. We encountered a baby mountain goat on the road. When it saw us – we were going really slow – it turned and ran away up the road. We followed for probably 1km, it just kept going faster and faster – that was one fast baby! – and finally it had enough fun, I guess, and it jumped onto the hillside, which at that point was solid rock at about 45 degrees – and he ran right up that! Cute little thing…
On the way to the lake we passed Canada’s First Oil Well! It’s capped, of course, and a small white pyramid shaped frame monument covers it. I’m sure there’s a story here, but I haven’t looked it up yet. Down the road was a history sign indicating that many hopes had been dashed – but no explanation. We’ll see. There were also several places for scenic photos, which we collected as we went.
At Lake Cameron we found an incredible experience. It wasn’t deserted, there were two canoes/rafts on the lake, fairly far away, and one photographer on the pier. But the lake is beautiful, the mountains all around are striking, the trees – great trees. And the birds – their sound is almost the only sound, and there are many different bird sounds. Tranquility. Peace. Wonderful! (S-H: there is a sign at Cameron Lake that cautions fishermen to be fishing from a boat in the lake rather than being near the shore or on the shore, the reason, Grizzly Bears are there at the lake! Oh by the way, look at yesterdays photos to see the black bear and two cubs that we saw in the Nature Conservancy reserve just outside Waterton NP yesterday.)
A few pictures later, and we were back on the road to the village. At the village we got some breakfast, and avoided hitting any of the many deer that roam the streets and yards at will. Had a nice chat with a Canadian couple we sat with for breakfast. Then back on the road to Pincher Creek to get packed, cleaned up and on the road.
And on the road it is. Summary – great mountains, everywhere! Going through Crowsnest Pass there was a lot of haze – probably smoke, but we don’t know of any fires – but traversing the first range of Rockies was great. Then it’s a rather long, zigzag turn to the north to head for Golden. There are tall Rockies on your right (east), and plains on the left. But as you move north, Rockies appear on the left (west) also, and the views all around just amaze. As you approach Golden the valley between the two ranges is fairly narrow. The mountains are huge on both sides. It’s really something to see.
So now we are checked in, moved in, fed, and Sally-Heath is planning tomorrows’ activities. I can’t wait. I’m hanging this up for tonight, and getting some rest – days that start at 5am get tired really early! Goodnight!
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