Oh, DEER!

Deers are all over the town of Waterton. We had a fun time watching them in a variety of places. Ms A was most excited to see the babies. Ms E and Mr P had fun counting the deer, doe or fawns.

Little Fawns crossing the street

In the town proper

Lunch at the motel

I looked out the window and what did I see?

Enjoying a hot summer day

Butterfly Hunt

Once a year in Waterton Lakes Park, they go out and count the butterflies. We were fortunate to be there that day. After we hiked/walked along Lake Cameron, we found the butterfly hunters/identifiers. We were tickled when they had a few extra nets for the kids. They each caught a butterfly with Ms A being the last one. The people had a hard time identifying her butterfly, it had common characteristics of a couple of species. I think the butterfly hunt was the highlight for Ms E and Ms A.

Canadian Tiger Swallowtails

Oh, Canada!

On the 15th we went to Canada's Waterton Park. We had great time seeing the park minus communication about one of the roads. We drove 30 minutes down the road only to find out we couldn't park at the trail head. They provided a bus back in town.

Reed and Ms A hiked to the top of Bear's Hump for amazing views of Waterton. They went to the top of the mountain in the picture. While he was there he took pictures of the Prince Edwards Hotel, Waterton Lake and the town of Waterton. Later that evening we went to Cameron Falls which was a 15 minute walk from our motel.

While we were there, we hiked along Lake Cameron and Red Rock Canyon. (I stayed home from Red Rock, all the hiking was a bit difficult with my foot.) Lake Cameron was beautiful. The colors in Red Rock Canyon were spectacular. Blakiston Falls was along the canyon loop.

We had a good laugh at some of the signs. It's a bit of a tradition for Reed to take pictures of some of the signs we see in other countries.

The kids wanted us to rent one of the surreys for us to tour the city, but the price and the fact that we wouldn't all fit in one made our decision. Instead, we had the kids pose on the bike for pictures.

As we left the park, we stopped for one more picture of Chief Mountain. We saw it earlier, but didn't stop. When we woke up and got ready to leave, it was cloudy. Thankfully the clouds disappeared and the fog rested on the bottom for a fabulous picture.

Logan Pass and St Mary Lake

Logan Pass is where the Going to the Sun Road meets the Continental Divide. When we arrived, the Visitors' Center was packed. Reed ended up driving around looking for a place to park for 15 minutes while I took pictures of the mountains, bighorn sheep and valleys. We finally gave up and he picked me up to drive to St Mary Lake. We had an nice little hike out to Sun Point, which was a promentory that stuck out over the lake and gave an excellent view of the lake and mountains. The turquoise color of the lake comes from the little bits of rock that were ground up by the glaciers and left as the glaciers melted.

Going to the Sun Road

Going to the Sun Road was beautiful, breathtaking, and provided excellent picture opportunities. It was also under construction, one lane roads next to steep canyons.

Going to the Sun Mountain

Jackson Glacier

Triple Arches was built in the 1920's. The original plan did not call for the Arches but rather a retaining wall was to be built and then fill added to span the gap in the mountain face. The Triple Arches are probably the most renowned structure on the road.

Weeping Wall was interesting to see the water coming out of the rocks. It was funny when we asked Ms A what she was seeing: "Snow, mommy and some trees."

Trail of the Cedars

Trail of the Cedars is a hike/path off the Going to the Sun Road. It is a loop that goes through a 500 year old cedar forest that grows near Avalanche Creek. It hasn't had a forest fire since 1500 because of the dampness from the creek. We enjoyed the stops around the way that pointed out animals, trees and unique aspects of the forest. When we saw the uprooted cedars, Sara and I talked about the talk by Joseph B Wirthlin, Deep Roots.

We were amazed at the speed and power the water exhibited as it carved the gorge and the rocks. It was breath-taking. Reed, Sara and the kids went on the hike to Avalanche Lake. When they returned, we finished the loop and took a couple of pictures of the kids inside the hollow cedars.