Eastern Kingbird - Wycliffe BC
We'd decided to visit Waterton National Park again for a couple of reasons:
- the Cameron Lake Road was closed last year
- we didn't take the Lake Cruise due to fatigue (on my part)
This year, we booked a place in Pincher Creek for about half of what we paid in Waterton last year. It's only a 40KM drive to get to the park.
After buying our boat tour tickets, we had some time to kill and headed up the Cameron Lake road. The first critters we saw were these Bighorn Sheep on the side of the road.
Bighorn Sheep - Waterton National Park, Alberta
Further on up the road, I heard some bird noises and parked to go have a look. I didn't get too far as something came lumbering out of the forest.
Black Bear - Waterton National Park, Alberta
I backed off and the bear ignored me, but stopped to make a deposit on the grass instead of in the woods.
We later learned from the guide on the boat trip that the Bears here are smaller than the ones on the West Coast. Their diet is almost exclusively berries. As usual, if you leave them alone, they won't bother you.
We reached Cameron Lake, the view was worth the drive.
Cameron Lake - Waterton National Park, Alberta
We returned to town for our boat tour. The cotton from the Cottonwood trees was everywhere. There's some debate if they cause allergies, it did not affect us.
There's not too many birds in the townsite, but it is popular with Crows and Magpies.
American Crow - Waterton National Park, Alberta
Black-billed Magpie - Waterton National Park, Alberta
After a year's wait, we boarded the tour boat that would take us from Waterton Town Centre south and East to Goat Lake Montana. Of course, as we were boarding it started to rain. Undeterred, we sat on the upper deck out in the open.
Our tour guide was a very well-informed young man who had studied at the University of Lethbridge, my home town. He had to be smart and interesting. This video is quite large, I hope it shows properly.
Our tour guide was a very well-informed young man who had studied at the University of Lethbridge, my home town. He had to be smart and interesting. This video is quite large, I hope it shows properly.
About 10 minutes into our trip I spotted a Common Merganser. I did not point it out to anyone as this was not a birding cruise. We'd need something like a Bald Eagle to spark interest.
Common Merganser - Waterton National Park, Alberta
As we neared the Eastern side of the lake, we spotted a Moose family, a cow and two calves. They were a bit shy of the boat but the Nikon super zoom paid off. By this time the rain had completely stopped.
Moose (F) and two calves - Waterton National Park, Alberta
We reached the end of the lake and disembarked for a brief stop at Goat Haunt, Montana. There's a border station here with staff from both countries. The tour company also transports hikers to this destination and they must clear customs. That's the tour boat on the left.
Here's a rare photo of the two of us taken by a fellow tourist.
I believe this is Mt. Cleveland in Glacier National Park, named after Grover Cleveland, a former president of the US.
Here's some interesting mountain peaks that I can't remember any of the information we were given on the tour.
Finally, we saw a bird that everyone got excited about. Since the tour was about 90% American, that's not too surprising.
Bald Eagle - Waterton National Park, Alberta
This next photo is a rock formation that Edith really appreciated. It shows the uplift forces that caused the rock to be forced into these layers.
After the tour we went for a nice meal at the Waterton Chophouse Restaurant.
This final photo reminds me of an old cartoon character named Gumby, desperately fighting the pull of the lake. Maybe it's just me...
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