We couldn’t start our adventures in the Canadian Rockies more South: Waterton Lakes National Park is situated close to the US border South and next to the British-Columbia State West. It’s the smallest of all National Parks in the Canadian Rockies yet, we are about to discover striking landscapes and wildlife.
Friday, June 3rd, 2022
We are not even officially in the park that we already make some pics stops. Here, the Alberta’s meadows meet the Rockies, without any transition. From the road, we enjoy stunning views on the snowy and steep summits!
We are been driving in the National Park for 5min and something crazy happens: three brown bears! Or rather two cubs and the mommy bear. Our first brown bears!! 😍 I spot them from the road, I say to Rémi to stop. He pulls up short, turns on the pathway and we stop a few meters away from two cute “little” cubs. They are curious and playful, climb to the trees and bicker. Higher in the bushes, the mum is carefully watching us. We spend a crazy moment watching them. Unbelievable!
We have to finally leave them in order to give them some peace. It's now time to get a higher overview of the park. We leave the car and take a steep path that brings us to the top of a small mountain "Bear's hump". On our way up, we meet anothers residents of the park: a herd of mouflons!
From up above, the view is sumptuous! We can see one of the Waterton Lakes and all the breathtaking surrounding mountains. This year, spring is one month late! Therefore there is lot of snow on the summits and some trails are still closed.
The Red Rock scenic Parkway offers us gorgeous views on the park.
In September 2017, 35% of the park has burnt in a huge forest fire triggered by a lightning. Five years later, we can still witness the consequences of this fire. All the trees on the side of the road are burnt and dead, but life is slowly taking over again. Retrospectively, forest fires have some positive aspects on the nature and the wildlife: they allow to a younger and healthier forest to grow by removing ancient and sick trees.
It’s then time to go and encounter some of the most emblematic animals of the West: buffalos! The park has... six buffalos. How sad to think that Men has nearly exterminated them and that, once, they were running in these grasslands by millions...
After encountering three bears this morning, we take care of finding a well open spot for tonight, so that we can see anything approaching from far away. Surprises are nice, but not anytime! We do well because once the night is here, we see two black bears in the nearby field. We sleep safely in the car 😅
Saturday, June 4th
As soon as we wake up, we leave! We go and take breakfast at the very same place where we have seen the bears yesterday. Yes, we like to try our luck! 😜 For now, nobody is here, but we cook our sausages-eggs-beans while looking very often around us.
We have a problem with our auxiliary battery: it doesn’t charge anymore. The fuse burnt. We are quite concerned about it, that’s why we decide to shorten today’s hike in order to go to town and find and change the fuse. After 5km hiking, we turn around.
After 1 hour driving, we arrive at the closest town and are lucky enough to find THE fuse we need. We immediately change it then drive to a spot for the night. Here, bad news: the battery didn’t charge... Would the issue be coming from the car’s battery? Or worse, from the alternator? 😨
We spend the night in a dry river’s bed and, as no one is around, we take our first shower with our solar shower. There is no sun, so we heat the water with the stove and enjoy a nice warm shower. We spend the evening under the awning, protected from the rain and listening to the mooing of the nearby cows. Who said we cannot be happy under the rain? 😊
Sunday, June 5th
Our battery is still not charging. But we still have 70%, enough power to let the fridge work for a few days. As yesterday’s shortened hike feels like an unfinished business, we decide to go back to the park and finish it. After all, why not? We are totally free!
After 1 hour driving, we are back to the park and take breakfast at the same place as yesterday. No bears. We realize we have been really lucky on the first day.
🥾 Bertha Lake Trail – 10km, 450m D+
It’s (finally) sunny and we take the same trail as yesterday in a quite steep path until the first point of view. The trail snakes on the side of the mountain and is super nice to hike, with an incredible view on the mountains. We will never get tired of that view!
After 5km, we arrive at the Bertha Falls. From now on, it's the unknown!
To reach Bertha Lake, we have to go higher in the mountain. The trail is very steep as it goes up and up. The last meters to the lake are snowy and particularly steep. Now is not the time to slip! We didn’t think we would hike in the snow, in June and in t-shirt! At the top, surprise: Bertha Lake is still frozen! We take a break on the bank and are joined by chipmunks that try to steal some of our nuts. Hey, do you really think we didn’t see you? The fine is 25000$ for feeding wild animals, so we hurry to close the jar! 😀
Maybe because it was our very first National Park in the Rockies. Or maybe because it was the first we were confronted to such beautiful and wild landscapes. But we really loved Waterton Lakes. We loved the magnificent sceneries, the mountainous landscapes and the fact that we can encounter wildlife at the turn of a trail. This is just the beginning, but we already love the Rockies.
4 commentaires
Quand je vois ces magnifique bisons, paisibles, calmes, je ne peux m’empêcher de penser au film “Danse avec les loups” la scène où ils courent en troupeaux à travers les plaines….
Toujours cette photo où tu sautes comme un cabri sur le côté. Je m’entraine pour faire pareil mais je suis moins légère …. Bon j’arrive toujours pas à insérer des émoticônes 🙁
Quelle chance de voir de si beaux paysages tous aussi époustouflants les uns que les autres, et ce n’est que le début….
Merci de nous faire vivre cela.
Chacun son style : moi cabri, toi grenouille mdr !! 🥲🥲 PS : tes émoticônes marchent très bien ^^
Mamie
Je reste bouche bée devant ces paysages grandioses et ces animaux “sauvages” en liberté. !!
Profitez au maximum de cette chance que vous avez tout en restant prudents. Comment va la batterie ?
Gros bisous.
Hello ! On a toujours notre problème de batterie 🙁 Le problème vient bien de notre batterie portable, pas de la voiture. On discute avec nos contacts à Montréal pour passer la pièce défectueuse sous garantie, mais c’est long !! Encore 50 % de charge, pour l’instant nos courgettes sont toujours au frais xD