Bali Bound

Today we switched things up and explored the SW Alberta area instead.  No hiking for us today.  I think that my legs are okay with that though.  We headed Northwest up to the Crowsnest Pass area using the Cowboy Trail.  Which extends from around this area all the way north to Mayerthorpe.  It was some really lovely country where the prairies meet the mountains.  Which is the motto around here! We had to head through Pincher Creek on our way out and saw another deer grazing on the side of the road.  That's at least 3 we've seen while going through there. We had a random visit to Leitch Collories (an English word for coal mine).  Figured it would be a quick stop but they were offering free tours so we went for it.  I didn't know what to expect but it was a walk through of an old coal mine and they brought the mine back to life really well despite the fact that very little remains.  I feel like I have a really good understanding of how a coal mine runs now.  They had ma

Today we learned the lesson of looking in front instead of up for animals.  When we were heading back to Waterton townsite we turned a corner and there were 2 bighorn sheep right in front of us on the road.  And here Dad has been using his binoculars all the time scanning the basins that looked good for potential sightings.  The sheep stared at us and then ran past and stood in front of another car for a bit.  We were extra close that time!   We started our day out with more hiking.  Hey, Waterton has a lot of awesome hiking and aside from the Waterton Lakes and Cameron Lake you have to hike in to see things, no driving option at all.  We picked Crandell lake first.  The one map I had found online was telling me about how there was a waterfall half way and the waterfall route was the shorter one to get to the lake.  Sold.  We were only going to go as far as the waterfall, only as we were following the signs we realized that there was no waterfall.  On either side.  So we went to

Today was an exceptional wildlife day.  We haven't seen too much yet, aside from a deer on a road in Pincher Creek and the infamous bear rock.  Mom noticed an odd rock in the grass, we slowed down and sure enough, it was furry and moving!  Also, Dad spotted a moose in the slough off the road yesterday and we started a bit of a traffic jam.  That's a good rule in national parks, if there are cars stopped, especially with open windows, chances are really good it's wildlife.  We also saw a few bears, one on the way into the park, which had cubs hiding in the grass we later learned from another tourist, and a bear on the way out of the park.  In the townsite we saw another 2 deer, oddly with a big blue mark on it's head, as well as a deer out in the wild.  I spotted it heading into the trees at Oil City and my Mom went in and flushed it out and we watched the doe eat grass for awhile, and Dad let the tourist who told us about the bear cubs know that the deer was there.  Ar

Today was our first full day on holidays.  The day started out a little strange.  We had breakfast and just as we were cleaning up it clouded over and we had an impressive thunderstorm.  Luckily it was a short storm and the skies cleared and it was a picture perfect day after that.  The storms were a bit of a blessing, as it meant that we had a head start over many people visiting the park.  Being so close we could see that the storm had passed the park so it was really quiet by the time we arrived. Right before you head through the gate to go into the park they have the Bison Paddock Loop.  It's a little roadway through a Bison Paddock.  We did our little drive through and sure enough there were all the bison!  They only had 10 or so and they all seemed to travel as one giant pack through their pasture space.  Except for one.  Mom noticed an odd shape on a hill and Dad pulled out his binoculars and said it looked like a burrow for an animal.  And then as we got closer, sure

We headed out early this morning.  Not too early, but soon enough to beat the traffic.  It was a good 8 hour drive from my house to the campground.  And my parents had an extra half hour on top of that.  It's a little surreal, as when I think back to the Europe trip where I hit 3 countries in a day.  And all we did in a day was drive through about half of the province.  Crazy times.  Although, Dad was impressed we used less diesel than he expected. It wasn't all just driving and watching the flat farmland turn to mountains.  We made a detour through Okotoks to see the Okotok Erratic.  What a random tourist attraction.  It's really just a big chunk of rock in the middle of a field.  But it was nice to get out of the truck to stretch our legs.  And get us started on the tourist things.  They do have really big hopes on the potential.  The have a very impressive handicap ramp to let people down the small hill to see it.  I can't say that I would put this on the top of a

Hey everyone! I'm doing this blog a little different.  Mostly because no wifi means I couldn't do it while I was gone.  So I did it old school and made notes so I wouldn't forget and will post one day at a time, even with pictures!  Look at me go. I went down south to Waterton Lakes National Park for 6 days with my parents.  The weather was gorgeous and the park and surrounding area are lovely, which everyone I'd spoken to before I went told me. Now to get onto the actual blogging...