In 1932, Waterton Lakes National Park and Glacier National Park were officially joined together as Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. The Peace Park celebrates the peace and goodwill existing along the world's longest undefended boarder, as well as a spirit of cooperation which is reflected in wildlife and vegetation management, search and rescue programs, and joint interpretive programs brochures and exhibits. The park is one-fifth the size of Glacier National Park.
Rugged, windswept mountains rise abruptly out of gentle
prairie grassland in spectacular Waterton Lakes National Park. I decided it would only be fair to show pictures of this park along Akamina Parkway the main road leading into the park.
Amid the peaks are the lakes of Waterton Lakes National
Park, carved out of the rock by ancient glaciers. The
Perfect place to view spectacular scenery, wildlife and enjoy outstanding
recreational opportunities.
A place like no other, the uniqueness of Waterton Park is a
blend of unusual geology, mild climate, rare wild flowers, and an abundance of
wildlife.
Kathy caught this great photo of a mule deer prancing round the park.
Black Bears eating dandelions, along side Akamina
Parkway.
We actually observed several bears at different locations along our drive. These two bears were observed together. Sows normally keep their cubs for two years before kicking them out of the den.
We caught this guy down near the campground by Cameron Lake.
Speaking of Cameron Lake, the water is crystal clear and provides boat and canoe rentals.
This is a photo of Middle Waterton Lake. There are three lakes in the park, two lakes are composed of two bodies of water, connected by a
shallow channel known locally as the Bosphorus. The two parts are referred to
as Lower Waterton Lake, and Upper Waterton Lake, the latter of which is crossed
at the tip by the Canada-United States border.
The Prince of Wales Hotel was built as an extension to the
chain of hotels and chalets built and operated by the Great Northern Railway in
Glacier National Park, Montana. Louis Hill, President of the Great Northern
Railroad, picked the site for the hotel in 1912. It took until 1926 to get the
land leased from the Canadian Government and construction began immediately
thereafter.
Hiking the Hump
This trail starts from the visitor center parking lot and is the most popular short hike in probably all of
the mountain parks. It's also the steepest, climbing 800 feet in just over 0.9 miles. The trail swithbacks up Mount Crandell to a prominent outcropping
reminiscent of the grizzly's hump.
Here you can see Akamina Parkway as it enters the park along Middle Waterton Lake.
The views of the Prince of Wales hotel, the townsite and
down the length of Waterton Lake are spectacular.
Once known as Bear Mountain by the Piikani (Blackfoot) tribe
for its hump like appearance, this rocky trail becomes a veritable staircase by
the half way mark yet ends on the flat dome of the "Hump".
If you're one who likes to count switchbacks to know how
close you're getting to the end - there's 18!!! Some are very close together
but that's how steep it is. Just take your time and you'll get there.
At
the end of this climb, you will be greeted by spectacular views of Waterton
Valley and Mount Cleveland, the tallest summit in Waterton-Glacier
International Peace Park.
Here's a view of the town and its surroundings.
The luminescent Middle and Lower Waterton
Lakes glisten from this vantage point.
A fellow hiker took this photo of us. The views of the
rolling prairies to the north will give you unique and breathtaking insight as
to why Waterton is described as "where the mountains meet the
prairies".
A slice of history, a helping of mountain splendor, all
served with high tea. Who could ask for more? The Prince of Wales Hotel fits the bill when it
comes to location, location, location! This swiss chalet - all seven stories of
it.
You can see many of the steps we had to navigate on our hike down the hump.
Some information regarding Bear's Hump. Bear's Hump is a great way to start off your Waterton trip if
you have never been.
Kootenai Lakes Hike
The only practical way to get to Goat Haunt Montana, which
is located on the northern border of Glacier Park, is to take the Waterton Boat
Tour originating at Waterton Township in Waterton Lakes National Park, Canada. When we arrived at the dock there was one other person other than Kathy and me. The lady said please inform them I have four people for the cruise. She mentioned that they required a minimum of eight people to guarantee the trip.
Here's a photo of the boat setting at the dock. By the time the boat departed at 10:a.m it was completely full. The fee was $40 dollars Canadian which I thought was a little pricey. We informed the staff that we would like to return on the 2:25 p.m. departure from Goat Haunt.
We decided to sit down near the back of the boat under the deck cover. Our cruise down to Goat Haunt was beautiful. The sun was
out, a little cool breeze, and the water was not too bad.
It
was an incredible day for a cruise. The reflections on the water were amazing
the colors were great!
When
we got to the US and Canadian Border, the guide on the microphone pointed out
the line that shows the border.
They clear the trees in that spot and go right up to and
above tree-line on the mountain. It is really something to see. They also have
a plaque/statue/marker there that marks the border.
We
docked and cleared customs. Kathy had her National Parks Book and got the Goat Haunt Ranger Station Stamp and away we went. We also had our Passports stamped entering U.S. territory.
Here a photo of the Goat Haunt Trail head display.
I never took any photos on the way to Kootenai Lake. The
first thing we noticed was that people were not kidding about the mosquitoes.
They were so thick that we wasted little time spraying repellent over our long sleeve shirts and around our face and neck.
One thing that brought us to this lake was the possibility of seeing moose grazing along the lake. We had seen many other wildlife in the park but we both wanted to see a moose. After waiting about 20-30 minutes without seeing any wildlife we decided it was time to hike back.
There were several streams that we had to cross during our trip to and from the lake.
It
became immediately clear on the way to the lake that this was not going to be a trail like we had
walked on our previous day hikes.
The trail was thick with underbrush and narrow. Though it
was difficult to see our feet at times, the trail was fairly easy to hike as we
covered the 5.6 round trip hike in less than 2.5 hours.
We decided not to use our hiking sticks on the return hike because the trail was thick with underbrush and narrow at times.
The
back country customs rangers welcomed us back to the US. We talked with them for 20 minutes and decided to return to the boat staging area. We decided to get up front for boarding as we wanted to get on the top deck for our return.
On our return trip, the crew gave interesting information about the area on the
45 minute ride and pointed out many interesting features of the lake and its surroundings.
The scenery throughout the cruise was fantastic. Here's a few pictures for you to enjoy.
I managed to capture a photo of wind sail as we entered the final leg of our trip. I can honestly say that Kathy and I enjoyed our visit to the Waterton Lakes National Park as much as our visit to Glacier National Park.
