Day 19
Chief Mountain |
We left Glacier NP yesterday about 8:45am and headed
north. Once north of Many Glacier access
road, it was all new territory for us.
We turned on to Chief Mountain Highway for scenery and to cross the
US-Canada border. We had seen Chief
Mountain more than 120 miles from the east as we approached Glacier NP on June
22 and the boys had seen it from the deck on the back of the MOHAB
headquarters, more than 120 miles south.
It is a spectacular sight. We
crossed into Canada just north of there and had no issues at all. Spent about 15 minutes answering a few
questions and they did a quick search of the truck for any contraband. They forgot to hand us our passports but we
caught that before leaving the parking area.
They were a little embarrassed. We had a long descent into the Waterton Park
area and again were greeted with some spectacular scenery. We are camped at the Waterton Townsite CG
with a site in partial shade and next to the lake. Pure chance selection and we are not
complaining. The only downside is that
there are ground squirrels throughout the camp ground so we put Sparky to work
while eating outside by keeping him tethered to the table. The squirrels did a lot of complaining but he
couldn’t hear them and was content to lay in the shade. Since the campground is in the town, it is an
easy hike to the different shops and to the marina. On our walk around town, we made a short side
trip to the falls here. We scheduled a boat tour to Goat Haunt, in
Montana, for Thursday evening. Almost three
hours roundtrip. As it is an evening
cruise, we hope to see some wildlife on the shoreline.
Today,
we did a couple of sightseeing trips in the park to Red Rock Canyon and
Akamina Parkway. Both about 15km
drives, we are still getting used to using the metric system of distance and
speed. Both very worth the time and
spectacular mountain scenery. At Red
Rock Canyon, we did a 1km hike up to see the falls which the park service has
made accessible with some very fancy platforms for viewing. We came back to camp and took it easy this
afternoon but are looking forward to an evening talk in the Prince of Wales
Hotel overlooking the lake.
Lots of people interested in our trip as we talk to new
aquaintances along the way. Some have
been to some of the areas and have lots of suggestions as to what to see and
do. Unfortunately, too many things to do
and see in the time we have this summer.
Will keep you all posted on what we actually get to see and do.
Enjoying the description of your travels and especially the photos. If I follow your route correctly, it seems you went North on route 17 which turned to route 6 at the border? Glad you thought of your passports before getting very far! Just traced the Alcan highway on Google maps - you'll certainly get to see a lot of Canada before getting to Alaska.
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