Tuesday, August 30, 2011 (Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta)

It was a much nicer day today...the wind had died down and there was more sunshine...too bad it hadn’t been like this on our boat trip yesterday.  However, a look at the forecast for the rest of the week indicates a cold front coming in...a high of 11c (or about 52F) for tomorrow is a far cry from the high 20’s we’ve been experiencing!

So we thought we would take advantage of a nice day today and go sightseeing to Cameron Lake.  There are also several hiking trails in the area so we’ll take our backpack, water and lunch with us as well.

Cameron Lake is about 20kms off the main road...again, it was a rather bumpy ride...they sure could use some re-paving of the roads in the Park!  We stopped numerous times along the way to take pictures. 

The top of this mountain is quite red...waterfall down below...

First Oil Well in Western Canada...

  

Cameron Lake used to have a campground back in the 30’s but it was so popular that it got over-used.  The natural vegetation was getting destroyed and they finally decided to close the campground and let the area return to a natural state.  Now there is a large parking lot, washrooms, an interpretive kiosk/shelter that tells the story of the area, and a small store and boat rental business (mainly kayaks and canoes...no motors are allowed on the lake).

There must be a forest fire burning in Montana because it was really hazy/smokey out as you looked down the lake.  That is Mt. Custer in the background...it is on the Canada/US Border and is the continental divide...

After reviewing the map sign that gave all options for the various hikes in the area, we thought we would start off with a short one to Akamina Lake.  It was just a kilometre but as it was going on 11:30 by this time, we thought we would do that hike and when back, have our lunch before venturing out on a longer one.  The trail was very easy going as it wound through the forest...

Along the way, we passed a couple on their way back.  They told us that there was a moose grazing on the other side of the lake...Yay...finally more wildlife!  Steve really had to zoom in and then we cropped the picture...so it’s somewhat blurry...

This is the lake...the moose was way over on the far left side...

Once back at the parking lot, we went to the truck and got the cooler bag (yes, we use our handy, dandy Piper’s Pale Ale bag all the time)...we ate lunch while sitting on a bench by the lake.  Here is Steve checking out mountainside with the binoculars...

After we had finished our lunch, it was time to embark upon our next hike.  We chose the Lakeshore Trail which follows the west edge of the lake for 2 kms.  This picture shows the sign as the end of the trail.  They do not want you to hike any further than that spot due to the Grizzly bear habitat....

This picture is looking back at the north end of the lake...that’s the kiosk with the beach and dock out front... 

Here I am...actually using my hiking stick today...

At the end of the trail, we walked down to the lake...here’s Steve with Mt. Custer in the background...

Waterfall way in the distance on Mt. Custer...

There were tons of small black flies...they loved the flowering Cow Parsnip....

There were lots of people out kayaking on the lake...

We had a great hike...on a very easy trail...it was sunny off and on...really quite nice for hiking but a little more sunshine would have been nicer for the pictures.

On our way back, we ended up stopping numerous times (again) for pictures.  This little guy was not afraid of Steve at all...

I did not like where Steve had to go to get this picture...the edge of a very steep cliff...

The road followed a steep canyon edge as we headed back down to the townsite...

There’s that hotel again...and that is where we are now headed...

The Prince of Wales Hotel...

We decided to go into the Windsor Lounge for a drink...

After enjoying ambiance inside this very old hotel...

...we headed outside for more pictures.  Steve went all of the way to the top of the fire escape to take some great pictures...

This picture shows where Middle Waterton Lake meets Upper Waterton Lake...

It was REALLY windy standing out on the point in front of the hotel...

It was close to 4:30 by the time we got home.  We’d had another great day!  The sun was shining so we thought we would take advantage of it and sit outside for a bit.  We had put the awning back out (you definitely do not leave your awning out unattended...it is so windy here!) but before we knew it, the wind had come up again...so back in went the awning. 

I was sitting at the table with the laptop after dinner trying to get yesterday’s blog posted...uploading the pictures is very slow with the Internet connection I have here...when I noticed big dark clouds coming in.  I guess the weather forecasters were right...next thing we knew, it had started to rain.