This year flights to Europe was incredibly expensive --- I did spot a flight in January to Copenhagen for $750, but one day's hesitation cost me that flight and I was never able to find anything less than $1500. On top of that, Bowen complained that he didn't like sitting on a plane for that long. (Yes, my kids are spoiled and have first world problems) Brad Silverberg recommended visiting Whistler. I would have been happy to spend an entire 2 weeks in Whistler just on the basis of his recommendations but the rest of the family was skeptical that anyone could like mountain biking that much. We compromised. We'd visit Waterton Lakes and Banff National Park for a hiking vacation (the hiking would ensure my bones get sufficient weight bearing exercise), and then visit Whistler for 5 days, with 3 days of committed MTB for me and the kids. The savings from not having incredibly expensive flights would almost (but not nearly) offset the much more expensive accommodations and car rentals necessary in Canada that I wouldn't have to pay for in Europe, and the expensive lift tickets and bike park access would be offset by a decade of not skiing. I'd never been to a bike park before, and don't even own a dual suspension mountain bike, so there was no question of bringing our own bikes. We'd rent and learn.
The flight was uneventful, as was the drive to Waterton Lakes. The forecast for the next two weeks called for rain, so I'd packed raingear, and left most of the short sleeves at home. Indeed on the drive to Waterton Lakes, the windshield wipers were on for most of the drive. The rental car company had given me a Hyundai Avenue, which despite the marketing as a mid-sized car, was actually a tiny SUV with even less luggage space than a Toyota Corolla. I accepted it only because it had 4WD capability which I didn't anticipate needing. Fortunately, the kids are skinny and I could fit the fourth piece of luggage in between them.
Our first full day called for rain, so we decided to do the ranger-recommended Crandell Lake hike.
It was cloudy but we never felt anything more than a light sprinkle, and the hike felt refreshing ---- no mosquitoes, and we finished around 11:30pm, after encountering no more than about 4-5 parties on the trail. Xiaoqin was very worried when we were the first car in the parking lot that we might encounter bears without help, but by the time we arrived back at the parking lot the lot had more than a few cars.
There was still much time left in the afternoon, and I suggested we drive the Chief Mountain Highway, but the kids wanted lunch. I'd seen the ad for the Prince of Wales high tea, so we drove over to the hotel, where we were told that parking was $10. Well, the Bear's Hump parking lot was literally 200m down the hill so I dropped everyone else off and then hiked up --- the easiest $10 I ever saved.
The kids had a history of not eating that much, so we ordered 2 adult high teas and to our surprise the kids scarfed nearly everything savory down, leaving us with the desserts! We then tried to walk back to the car but made a mistake and ended up hiking around Linnet Lake instead, which was still quite pretty.
The rest of the park had been burnt by a huge fire in 2017, but the area near the Prince of Wales was spared by the valiant efforts of the firefighters. After that misadventure, we drove over to Many Glacier National Park, crossing the US border easily, and seeing a bear on the road!
This was Boen's first bear sighting and he was delighted. We went to the Many Glacier hotel, where I had seen many bighorn sheep sighting way back in 2010, but in the afternoon traffic in the summer, there was none to be had. Nevertheless it's a pretty place and well worth the visit, though the wind and rain put a damper on things.
After that we drove back to the US border with no incident (though many pretty spots to stop and and look). We finished dinner and spent some time walking along the lake.
