Alberta Rockies

Jul 28-30, 2017
AC8105 IAH-YYC, AC8106 YYC-IAH

Continuing our Canada 150 National Park visits, we thought we could avoid the crowds by going to the less popular Waterton Lakes National Park.  Sadly, at this time there were serious forest fires in Alberta and British Columbia. These were luckily far from the park, but the weather was still hot and dry, and there was some haze from time to time.  We've been to the park a few times, but spent more time here than in previous trips, and checked out Crowsnest Pass.

July 29

After staying overnight in Calgary, we left early and headed south to Waterton to try to get into the park before the crowds peaked.  We spent most of the day in the National Park, and headed to Crowsnest, where we stayed the night in the small mountain town of Blairmore, out of the rush of the park.

Our first view as we entered Waterton

Maskinonge Lake

Lower Waterton Lake

One of a few bear sightings. Luckily a safe distance away

Cameron Lake

Cameron Lake

Bird in flight along the Cameron Lake trail

More action shots

Roadside bear on Red Rock Parkway

Red Rock Canyon was definitely not a quiet place to gather on a sunny Saturday

Hiking near Red Rock

Completing the circuit at Red Rock Canyon

Waterton Lake vantage point from the Prince of Wales Hotel

Looking down on the town below before we head down to fight for a parking spot

Historic Prince of Wales hotel

Looking north as we make our way up Bear Hump trail

Looking down at the town, lake and surrounding mountains — the payoff for our strenuous climb that closed out our visit

Looking in the opposite direction at Middle and Lower Waterton Lakes

July 30

As we were staying in the pass, we decided that we should try to explore the area.  After a few stops along the road, we went to a local visitor center who distributed a map of hikes in the area.  The best sounding hike was the Frank Slide Trail, which climbed the mountain and promised panoramic views of the slide and surrounding area.  Although the hike was challenging, and we needed to get back to Calgary, we took up the challenge and really enjoyed it.  The Frank Slide occurred in 1903 when a big portion of the mountain buried a town, killing as many as 90 residents. 

Highway 3 cutting through the pass towards BC

Looking down on Blairmore as we make our way up the mountain

Clear perspective of the size of the slide from the mountain

Looking back up on the slide from below near the visitor center. The trail we hiked is along the upper ridge.