Today's adventure involved crossing the Canadian border into the adjoining Waterton Lakes National Park, which together with Glacier NP forms the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. We woke up early to start our drive through the customs checkpoint since we planned on catching an early boat tour.
As the name implies,Waterton Lakes is best known for the beautiful bodies of water surrounded by mountains and forest. Since the lakes are the key feature, we wanted to spend some time on the water and a boat tour seemed easiest since we only had a couple of hours in the park.
Once on our boat tour, the entertaining guide (who may or may not have been intoxicated) provided a brief history of the area and began pointing out wildlife along the way. Soon, we spotted a bald eagle soaring over head even though we were in Canada and eagles are clearly American. Hopefully, he'll fly home soon.
On our way to the tour's destination - Goat Haunt USA, the boat crossed the U.S.-Canadian border, which is clearly marked along the lake shore. Every twenty years (according to the guide), some poor souls mountain men clear a straight line through the forest. In the picture, it looks like an area for a chairlift or power lines.
After crossing the border back into the U.S., our boat soon approached the dock. Several hikes depart from the Goat Haunt location - including multi-night trips back into Glacier NP. With only a short time to look around, we headed immediately to the border patrol station and skipped the hiking trails.
Since hikers can enter the United States through this location, a small border patrol station welcomes you. Never passing up an opportunity for a Passport stamp, we eagerly stood in line with the other tourists. Hopefully, future customs officers won't mind the very unofficial looking mountain goat stamp now prominently featured alongside other cancellations.
After our boat tour, we decided to stretch our legs and headed to a nearby trailhead. Bear's Hump hike, which is described as "short, but strenuous" (<--understatement), climbs 550 feet in under a mile. Ashley wasn't mentally prepared for the vertical ascent, but appreciated the views at the top nonetheless.
From the top, we could see the town of Waterton, Prince of Wales hotel, and Upper Waterton Lake stretching south into Montana and Glacier NP. Goat Haunt, our earlier destination, is located at the verrryyy end of the lake.
As a reward for the strenuous climb, we visited the Prince of Wales Hotel, a Canadian National Historical Site, for afternoon tea in the lobby. Unfortunately, neither of the princes of Wales were anywhere to be found.
Ashley never passes on an opportunity for high tea even if slightly dismayed to be wearing sweating hiking clothes rather than a dress and tiara. It provided a refreshing afternoon break - and the views weren't too shabby either.
Before driving back across the border on our return to Glacier NP, we enjoyed one last view of upper Waterton Lake from the bluff on the hotel's property.
Although we did not see any mountain goats in Goat Haunt USA, we found an entire herd at Oberlin Bend Overlook along Going-to-the-Sun road that evening. Although they no longer had their shaggy, winter coats, we had a great time watching them play, eat, and relax in the sunshine. Some of the adult goats were clearly not camera shy and seemed to pose for pictures near the boardwalk. Prepare yourself for an onslaught of goat photos.
What started as the baby goat's attempt to nibble on some high tree branches soon turned into a battle between the tree and the baby goat. The tree might have won.
As the crowd grew, the goats eventually moved into a more forested area along the boardwalk and out of sight. While some scampered across the boardwalk without issue, the baby had more difficulty keeping up.
Soon, the remaining solitary male climbed up the rocks and out of sight. We were struck by how gracefully and quickly he navigated the sheer rock wall.
Continuing down Going-to-the-Sun Road one last time, we stopped to view Bird Woman Falls.
As we drove, we enjoyed the golden light cast along the valley below.
After dinner, we sipped our Montana beer from the front porch while watching the sunset over Lake McDonald. Glacier, although a little out of the way, easily made our list of Top 3 Favorite National Parks.
Providing ample opportunities for a variety of adventures, any traveler, from the avid hiker to National Park newbie, will be enchanted by a visit to Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, and Glacier National Parks. These parks provide something for everyone - water activities, hiking trails, wildlife viewing, geothermal features, people watching, microbrews, etc. While we still have many National Parks to visit, we can't imagine that many will surpass our experiences on this trip.
Loved your story. Hope to heading up that way from Southern Louisiana next fall. I would love to follow your blog to read more but didn't see a follow button.
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