Day 15, July 24: Glacier & Waterton

Today was fantastic. Where as the previous days were hot and hazy (including yesterday), today was breezy, comfortable if not cool, and the air was very clear. We took a Red Bus tour to the Prince of Wales lodge in the Waterton portion of the International Peace Park (Glacier / Waterton). Although the lodge was fantastic, the destination was not the real objective: the trip was. What can I say. The views were spectacular, the mountains very rugged, and we saw Grizzlies! We saw lots of Grizzlies. The bus tour started here at Glacier Park Lodge where the three of us were the only passengers. On the way to Waterton, we stopped at St. Mary then Many Glacier Hotel for additional passengers. At Many Glacier we saw a grizzly sow and her cub a couple hundred yards up the hill on the way in. Then on the way out, we saw what was likely a male about as far away at another location. We stopped at both lodges for potty breaks and to check out their gift shops.

We got to Prince of Wales Lodge around 1:30 pm. The Canadians charge CAN$5.20 for entry into their parks. Today the US and Canadian dollars were on par with each other. Seems like a pretty good deal. Most US National Parks charge at least double that. Of course my National Parks old person pass did not work there. We had lunch there and spent time enjoying the fantastic views there. After leaving the lodge, our driver went down into Waterton (the town). He stopped at a little store that sold ice cream, chocolates, home made pies, fudge, etc. I can't believe we all had ice cream and chocolates after the lunches we ate.

On the way back to the United States, we saw the smoke from a small forest fire. The guy at the border said they had just discovered it about an hour and a half before we came through. It has really been hot and dry all through this area and fires are a big problem right now. Today's wind certainly didn't help matters. One of the areas we drove through was the scene of the Red Eagle fire last year. It was a huge are of devastation.

So we got back to Many Glacier Hotel and saw another grizzly just ambling through the woods headed toward the lodge. That was the closest we got to one. Then on the way out, we saw what we think was the same sow and cub from this morning, but much closer to the road (about 100 yards away). Mary spotted this one for us. We got lots of good pictures of her.

We finally got back to our lodge at about 7:45 tonight. We had a quick meal of appetizers and desert in the restaurant and now it's off to bed. We need to rest up for another bus tour tomorrow over Going to the Sun Road. Again, it is the trip that is the objective. Details to follow.