We are officially on tour! This morning up at 6:00, suitcases ready for pickup by 6:45, breakfast beginning at 6:30 and we’re off! There are 38 in our party and at breakfast everyone introduced themselves and from whence they came to be here. Of the 38, 16 are from Ohio! We also have Florida, California, Texas, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Mostly on the older side so Luke and Jake have become the darlings of the group which they are enjoying most graciously. We left the hotel at 8:00 to travel to Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump. You ask – What in the world is that? Well, have you ever seen lemmings follow each other over a cliff? That’s basically what the Blackfoot Indians did, before there were horses and guns, to harvest buffalo for everything they needed to live.
We spent a couple hours at the Jump. A First Nations native names Lucas was our guide and, although new at the job, he was really knowledgeable. Seems a pretty gruesome methodology but, as we all know, nothing went to waste and it was the only way for the tribes to make it through the winter. Interestingly there was an exhibit with the caption “Tribes of the First Nations knew that to survive, they had to cooperate – thus forming the communal hunt” If only we could get the world to adopt that philosophy today right?
On our way to the Jump we passed field after field of golden yellow canola pods and in many of the fields were planted wind turbines! Canola is Alberta’s biggest export other than oil. It has helped to make the Province very wealthy. There were also many cattle ranches very reminiscent of Yellowstone. According to Daniel, our tour guide, some are indeed legacy ranches while others are corporate or cooperative-owned. However they are owned, these ranches own a LOT of cattle!
As we continued toward our destination for lunch and our hotel, we drove ever closer to the mountains. Another spectacular day brought incredible vistas. We arrived in Waterton Lakes about 1:30 and were on our own for lunch so we walked down the quaint little town’s pedestrian main street to The Thirsty Bear. Had a lovely lunch served by a lovely young Kiwi girl in Canada on a student visa. The boys chose to have a beer and played some pool.
We returned to the bus at 3:15 after wandering through various shops and Daniel took us to see Cameron Falls. Just beautiful and if you look very closely at the first picture – in the upper right you might be able to see Rach, Luke and Jake who raced each other up the walkway to the top of the falls. When they came back down, Grandma got in the picture!!
From there Daniel took us to the Prince of Wales Hotel – very famous in the area having been built by the Great Northern Railway in 1927. Again – incredible views and the far end of Waterton Lake is actually in Montana! The Cleveland label on the bricks isn’t 3190 miles to Cleveland (which would have been funny!), it’s the height of Mount Cleveland in meters. You can see Mount Cleveland from the Prince of Wales Hotel.
We had a little free time – I actually walked into the Lake up to my knees – very cooold but refreshing, Luke took a brief nap, Rachel took some sun and Jake ended up playing cornhole with a complete stranger! Never know what’s going to happen in a small town. On to dinner which was braised short ribs or grilled salmon – both very nice. Then, somehow, some people we had met talked to the boys and Rachel and all of a sudden they were going to hike the Bear’s Hump. A 1 1/2 mile switchbacked hike up one of the mountains – Another 70-ish mother and I walked up to the start of the hike and then sat, chatted and had a fine time while the young-uns made it to the top. Quite an accomplishment from what they reported after coming down but I chose the easier route and simply had my pic taken at the sign!!
Tomorrow Glacier National Park and riding a Jammer – whatever that is! Should be another great day of adventure. Good night!!
How fun to see your posed pictures as well as the gorgeous scenery. The view down Waterton Lake is perfect!
What fun you all are having! Love it!