From Here to There and Back Again

Day 36...leaving the mountains was sad...

It is amazing...you get soooo attached to the Mountains when you are there...luckily our next stop out of Canmore was Waterton Lakes and there are plently of mountains there. We changed what we consider our favorite place a couple of times...at this point we have decided that Waterton Lakes is our favorite, with Jasper a close second and Canmore taking third place...It is a great little town and according to the people who live there it is going to stay pretty small. It practically closes in the winter time with a hotel and the liquor store the only open establishments in the winter months (essential service and all...).
Our campsite was outside the town which allowed us a spectacular view each time we headed in.

Our campsite is the residence of a number of species of animal from bear to deer and back again and we had a number of encounters. One night as we were doing dishes inside Pauline noticed a black bear just at the back of our site not far from the picnic table.
Another night we went to a presentation on Wolves in Waterton. Dogs were not allowed in the building where the presentation was being given so Simon and our new friends James and Finn the dog were sitting outside listening through the open door. Another camper came along to tell us there was a bear about 50 feet behind us...sure enough there he was nosing his way through the bush bowling over anything is the way of his berry picking. Finally when he looked up at us from about 10 feet away we decided dogs or no dogs we were taking them into the building and closing the door. James got some very good pictures. Unfortunately I did not have my camera...
The next day we decided to go kayaking instead of hiking and it was amazing...the mountains and the water...what can I say. It was the best day to be on the water as the next two days it was very, very windy so we really lucked out. The hotel in the picture is the historically famous Prince of Wales hotel which is in most of the tourist information brochures and on their website...

Pauline took two hikes with a guide which allowed me and Simon to wander around the town so much so that people so thought we were locals and asked us for directions. Pauline is writing her accounts of her exploits in a blog to come...

All in all Waterton is a place we would love to revisit...

So eventually say adieu to Waterton. The van compass says east so off to Saskatchewan we headed...We were booked in at Cypress Hills National Park and that's where we spent a couple of days R&R doing laundry and cleaning the van before heading off to Grasslands National Park which is where we are at the moment. We pulled in yesterday and will be here for the next two nights. The landscape here is quite different...almost moonscapish (it's a real word...ok maybe I made it up ) but it describes the desert like vistas. It is about 37 degrees here and there is no shade in the campsite but we are in the Grasslands...that's about all there is...but at night...wow...the stars are amazing...all the constellations are there (if we only knew them...)

Today we started a hike in the morning called the Broken Hill. It is about 11 km but is was too hot for Simon so after 4 kms we turned back.

On the way out we spotted a bison ahead on our trail and thought we  should probably turn back but we decided to get a better look before giving up. By the time we got to the spot, he was no where to be seen. How does a 2000 lb animal hide...??? As we were making our way back, we saw him in the distance making his way below the ridge...
This is the best I could do for a picture...can you spot the bison ?

Tomorrow we are off to a presentation on the Bison herd and Bison management. I'm sure this will come in handy someday...
So...all is well in Southern Saskatchewan...
more later...
P&P&S