Keeping Current: Glacier to Waterton

The next day we headed out to see a glacier on our way to Waterton National Park since we were in Glacier National Park afterall.

In the parking lot for the Jackson Glacier overlook, we saw another one of the red tourist busses that needed to be photographed.

I recall being in awe last time I saw this glacier back in 1995. I almost laughed at this being considered a glacier since it was so small compared to the Alaskan glaciers we had seen last summer.

The glacier looked a bit more comandeering when I zoomed in with the telephoto lens.

Yeah, you're right, glaciers are cool no matter how big they are. Christina obviously thinks so, too ;-)

As we continued north/eastward we had noticed a turnout for Sunrift Gorge and Baring Falls on the map, and couldn't resist stopping. I donned my Tevas and off we went. The water was amazingly clear.

You can't go wrong with a photo of a waterfall, especially when a bridge is in the picture!

Baring Falls was a little further along the trail.

On our way back to the car, we saw a few more waterfalls......

And of course we had to snap another photo of the bridge....

And some more falls on the way to the car....so much for a 'quick' stop.

Before reaching the town of St. Mary and the east entrance to the park, we stopped at an overlook of St. Mary Lake. We snapped a quick photo in a moment of sunshine.

Pat & I took a little hike down to the shoreline. I look like I should be on a crab fishing boat bundled up in my rain jacket. 'Waves' of rain, then sun, then rain kept rolling by.

We caught a glimpse of the beautiful color of the water when the sun peeked out for a few seconds.

Couldn't resist another photo on the way back up the trail.

Photo-op. Thanks Quent/Christina for taking the photo!

Another glimpse of sunshine.

Enjoying the view.

Ok, enough photos Pat!

Between the Lake lookout and the town of St. Mary's, the terrain turned flatter, which made this mountain stand out.

As we headed towards Waterton after leaving Glacier, there were several of these butte-type mountains that I thought were neat.

The Canadian border - as seen from the backseat. It was probably better that I was sitting in the backseat so I was not on the receiving end of passports being flung at those in the front seat by the non friendly border guard who basically told us 'sign your passports to make them valid! [and be on your way dumb Americans]'

I literally snapped this picture without really looking in an attempt to catch this sign after the border station. I thought that I would have plenty opportunity to see more of these signs, so I wasn't too worried. Of course I didn't get a photo of another sign the rest of the trip.

On our way to the Crandell Lake Campground, we saw a bunch of tourists pulled over on the side of the road looking at a brown speck up the side of a mountain. We pulled out the telephoto and found the brown speck to be a rather large bear.

Our campsite at Crandell Lake. This is were we first noticed it was a bit windy while trying to setup the tents.

Christina didn't think this was too bad of a spot for a little reading.

On the way to the town of Waterton we passed the bear again. This time there were also two cubs.

The combination of golden grass and mountains with the blue sky in this view just outside of Waterton was beautiful.

We were greeted to Waterton by this majestic view of the Prince of Wales Hotel.

Of course after seeing that view, we had to stop there. According to Wikipedia, the Prince of Wales hotel was constructed in 1926-1927 by the Great Northern RR to lure Americans north of the border during prohibition. The Canadians named the hotel after the Prince of Wales (who later became King Edward VIII) in hopes he would stay here on his tour in 1927, but instead stayed at a nearby ranch. You think they would have changed the name after that!