Located in the South West corner of Alberta, right next door
to Glacier National Park in Montana, Waterton Lakes National Park is a place, definitely
worth a second visit.
Neither of us can remember the exact year of our first visit but we can
certainly remember the month as it was Valentine weekend.
We stayed at the 100 year old Kilmorey Lodge. It was old, dusty, smoky,
creaky and very romantic. Sadly, in 2009, it burned to the ground.
We arrived on a beautiful sunny afternoon only to see the
weather deteriorate into a full-on snow storm that would last for the whole weekend
as well as the ride back to Penticton which we fondly remember as the 10-hour
ride from hell.
Since we had already visited the park in the dead of winter,
it seemed only appropriate to visit when the weather was nicer. At the same time, we included a roll through
Calgary for a visit with one of our nieces and a drive by of Fairmont Hot
Springs for a dip and a visit with an old friend.
The Trans Canada highway through the Rocky Mountains has to
be one of the most scenic rides in all of Canada.
Overcome by its beauty we stopped in Golden for the night
leaving us a short drive into Calgary the next day. Partied with a rogue elk we met at the hotel.
Calgary has changed quite a bit since we were last there in the
late 70’s. Albertans have grown a lot since then
but they still retain their unique pioneering
spirit
and their genteel demeanor with life.
A couple of days in the big city and we were ready for the peace and
quiet of Waterton.
Arriving at the park is an event for your senses. There are
no foothills to ease your way into the park. In a very short span you go from the flatness of the grasslands into majestic snow capped mountains. The weather was
wonderful and it remained that way all weekend.
I had one goal for this trip. It was called the Crypt
Trail. Voted best hike in Canada in 1981, I had read about it on our first trip and
immediately put it on my bucket list. I may have forgotten to mention it to Nonie as there is a reason it is called the Crypt.
The hike starts with a short 15 minute, water taxi ride from the town to
Crypt Landing. From the landing, the hike is a 17 kilometre round trip
with a 2,300 foot elevation gain.
The trail crosses several small creeks before coming to a very high, very steep scree slope where the trail narrows to about 50 centimetres. I don't believe I mentioned this to Nonie
At the end of this section of trail, you must climb a small steel ladder then crawl through a 100 foot natural mountain tunnel. Did I mention, I didn't tell Nonie about this.
On the other side of the tunnel, was a traverse along a sheer cliff with only a slim and rocky trail between you and a 1000 foot drop to your death. I think I may have overlooked telling Nonie about this part.
This trail petered out to a small rock ledge with a cable transverse. I definitely did not tell Nonie about this section.
At 65 and she can still climb mountains.
We were rewarded with a stunning view of Crypt Lake where I told Nonie that we would have to return along the same route.
It is a trip that we will brag about for years.
Day 2 was a much quieter day. Our leg muscles were complaining loudly, so we kept our hikes short and simple.
At dusk we headed out of town a few kilometres where we had been told that it was rutting season and the elk would gather to, you know, to do stuff. I discovered the male elks make really girly noises when courting.
Bear warnings were posted everywhere we went. We spotted fresh scat here and there but no visual sightings. Our bear spray remained holstered except for some practise bears we found along the way.
One more stop before heading home, Fairmount Hot Springs. Our muscles were looking forward to a soak in the springs. Luckily, our friend Gail had a pass that got us into the resorts private pool. It was great spot to catch up.
With our newly loosened up muscles, we were able to enjoy a few more hikes.
The ride home was a much nicer ride than our first one. All in all, a memorable road trip.
