Day 63 - We enjoyed Waterton a TON

 Based on the warm, dry air we had when we went to sleep, it was shocking to wake up and walk out of the camper to find a cold, foggy/misting morning.  It was quite a change from most of the summer we’ve experienced.

Once we were moving, we started our day with the breakfast of champions - Timbits and leftover pizza - we’re locking up the parents of the year award for sure.  From there we drove into the park, paid our fee, and made it to town.  Just like Banff, there was the town of Waterton that was inside the National Park so we’ve decided that this mixture of National Park nature and people living is just the way Canada rolls.  Again, whatever works!  We stopped at the Visitor Center and got some suggestions for how to experience the park and where to go.

Our first stop was a drive up to Red Canyon.  Spoiler alert, it’s ACTUALLY red (not orange like some of Utah/Colorado try to pass off red)!  We did a hike down to see the waterfall which included a few great overlooks.  As we hiked, the clouds/mist baked off and the sun came out which REALLY changed the view of the park.  The beauty of the park became very apparent.  We finished the hike and played in the river/creek area which had some chilly water but looked great rolling down the red rocks.  

We stopped on our way back for our second hike which was a hike up to Bear’s Hump.  This hike isn’t very long, but it is STEEP.  The sun had come out and the day was pretty warm which led to a lot of complaining and general fatigue.  We had to take a break near a big white rock, but eventually we plowed on and made it to the top.  From the top, we got a very scenic view of the town of Waterton Lakes from up above.  One part I liked was the narrow connection between the lakes and just how small the passage was for boats to go through.  

After a few minutes at the top, we hiked down (much easier this way) and then headed into town.

While we were in the town earlier, Sebastian noted the Surrey bikes and really wanted to rent one.  So, after parking, Amy and the boys rode one around for 30 minutes.  They had a great time, but found out that it’s HARD to go uphill with one gear and three people in the surrey

While they rode, I wandered around time and saw the memorial of the Peace Park aspect of Waterton/Glacier.  The two National Parks share an international boundary, but there’s an agreement to share resources and generally be cool to neighbors on the other side of the imaginary line (imagine that!).  It was really great to see when country boundaries can be crossed for the betterment of all.

After riding the Surrey, there were complaints of fatigue and hunger so we stopped off at a local tradition, Beavertails.  These are basically a flat fried piece of dough that they cover in some sweet treat.  In the boys case, they were covered in ice cream and sweet syrups.  Needless to say, they were a MESS.  But they were enjoyed by both.

One aspect of Waterton Parks that Robinson really enjoyed was that it was very dog friendly.  We likely didn’t ever take more than 25 consecutive steps walking around town before we stopped as Robinson asked “Can I pet your dog?”.  The better news was that so many of the dogs were friendly so Robinson had a great time.

As we wandered the town, we eventually found the splash park that we had heard about and seen from the top of Bear’s Hump.  It was connected to the playground which had a view of the mountains which allowed us to understand where Bear’s Hump got its name.

The boys tried to play at the splash pad, but it would appear that Waterton Lakes channels their glacial water directly into the splash pad.  I was taking a picture when I was alerted to the fact (by the water coming down, not my helpful family), that I was standing underneath the bucket that had filled with water and dumped it over.  Seriously, that water was COLD.  It wasn’t long before we had to drag our two ice cubes out of the park.

We left the park and headed back to the car.  On the trip, we had been playing the license plate game and on our walk, we crossed off the Northwest Territories.  The license plate is in the shape of a bear.  How cool is that?!!! 

Once back to the car - we started our drive to one last section of the park for us - the road to Cameron Lake.  We didn’t make it far before traffic got in our way.  No joke, we had to come to a complete stop as there were some folks that believed that they owned the road.

Eventually, the road cleared and we could continue our drive to Cameron Lake.  The lake is beautiful and it would have been great to rent a boat and explore the lake, but alas, we had limited daylight (and kid energy levels) so we took a look at the lake and then got back into the car.

Back at camp, we relaxed for a bit, had some dinner, and watched an episode of Simpsons.  Sebastian hung out in the camper and did some reading while Robinson hung out with a new friend and met the dogs of camp.  As the sun set, we read some books and headed to bed.  

Quick shoutout to our friends Karl and Emily - they suggested we stay on the Canadian side and enjoy Waterton rather than fight the crowds of Glacier.  THANK YOU both - all four of us are thrilled to have been in Waterton - we really liked it!