2023 Waterton Lakes - Bear's Hump

 

In the morning Boen and I went out to get breakfast at the corner coffee shop and then headed down to the marina to buy tickets for the cruise. It was another beautiful weather day --- clearly the forecasters calling for rain weren't getting lucky.  Today was the first time the Crypt Lake hike was opened after mainteneance so there were a number of excited hikers buying the water shuttle ticket.

The cruise itself was non-landing, and went over the history of the 2017 fire, and international boundaries and the origin of the park, as well as the recent sighting of the first wolves migrating over from Glacier National Park. The boundary markers were shown, but we saw no wildlife sightings except deer on the lake shore in the village.

After the cruise was over we drove over to Bear's Hump, spotting a couple of pretty bedraggled goats on the along the way. In retrospect, doing the cruise first and the hike second was a mistake. The day had warmed up considerably and with the fire damage the entire trail was unshaded. Still, it was a short hike, but Xiaoqin was worn out from both the previous day's hike and had caught a virus so she turned around 20 minutes from the top.

Once the hike was over we headed back to the village for lunch at the hot dog place, which this time Boen was not enamored of. After lunch the others went back to the lodge to rest but I wanted more hiking so I went for a walk, following directions in the village for Cameron Falls. The falls were impressive and there was a breeze building making the walk quite pleasant.

When I got back to the rooms I suggested I drive everyone over to Cameron Falls, and then the Cameron Bay before visiting the Bison Paddock and then driving over to Cardston for dinner at the Cobblestone Manor. We took a few photos, and then drove over to the Bison Paddock and to my surprise we could see the Bison there even prior to entering the Bison Paddock loop. In fact, there must only have been one herd in the paddock as driving around the loop didn't grant us any more sightings.

The drive over to Cardston was uneventful though we arrived a little early and had to cool our heels until the Cobblestone Manor opened for dinner. The buffet dinner was decent --- the kids ain't sufficient desert to justify paying for the meal.  I'd last come here around 1995, and the food was fabulous but since then the place had been sold and the food wasn't nearly the delight it was. The new owner, having owned it for 20 years now wanted to sell it, and Bowen out of curiosity asked how much it was and we all blanched at the prices.