Waterton Lakes Trip : Photopost
Sep. 7th, 2009 05:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yuuagoGood gods. Took me long enough, eh? Well! This will (finally) be about my trip to Waterton Lakes. You know, that one with my parents, month or two back. Heh. Anyway! This entry will be quite photo-heavy. I took a ton of photos (even had to delete the Fort McMurray photos from my camera to make room), and while only maybe a small amount of them turned out, that "small amount" is still a lot. Okay, moving on!
Going to Waterton Lakes from Fort McMurray is a very, very long drive. According to Google Maps route, if you go straight it's over 1,000 km (~630 miles for you American folk) and about 14.5 hours. But we didn't go straight, so the distance (and time) was probably, technically, longer.
Since the trip would take two days no matter what (like hell we were going to drive all the way there in one day) we took a detour to Drumheller, where my gran used to live. Since it was still daylight when we got there, we took the time to go to the cemetery, and then after we were done there I took some photos.
Drumheller is a desert-y area in a valley maybe an hour away from Calgary. It's a tiny town, but it has an amazing dinosaur museum (one of the biggest in the world). Unfortunately we didn't have time go to there this visit. I've been there about a million times, but it never gets old.
When I say "desert", I do mean desert. They have cacti and rattlesnakes and everything. Though the cacti isn't easy to notice - it's usually small and low to the ground. The sagebrush is more common and easier to see (that would be those fluffy blueish-green grassy plants in the first hill photo).
One thing I love about the hills is the fact that they're so colourful. They're all run through with coal and quartz and sandstone, and the effect is just plain beautiful.
Sometimes the wind and weather erodes the hills in such a way that they make some pretty interesting shapes. You can see a small hoodoo being formed here. Not as impressive as the ones outside of Drumheller, though (there's a photo at Wiki here, so you can see what I mean).
All these photos were taken directly inside the town, just down the road from where my gran lived. Once you get outside of the town, the geography gets more interesting, but unfortunately we were too tired and the day was getting short, so we weren't able to go anywhere else that day.
So, we stayed overnight in Drumheller, then headed out bright and early the next morning. We wanted to get to Waterton in the early afternoon so that we would be able to enjoy our first day there. But first, we stopped in Vulcan for breakfast.
Saw this neat mural in Vulcan, had to get a photo of it. If you look closely you can see a space-ship on the top right side. In case you're wondering, yes, Vulcan is named that because of Star Trek. The whole situation is a little weird and I can't remember the exact circumstances, but whatever. In short, it's a tourist trap, but kind of an amusing one. And there's a place there where you can buy all sorts of Star Trek-related things. Kind of cool, but I must admit, I'm not a fan (I'm more of a Star Wars kind of guy). Apparently my parents are fans, though, and I never knew.
After that it was a few hours to Waterton.
Endless Fields of Wheat. Yep. This part of the province looks a bit like Saskatchewan, only not quite as flat. It's kind of startling for me to see. The Alberta that I'm more familiar with is full of forests, then a little farther south there are rolling hills punctuated by forest and river valleys. But here, we're getting right toward the bottom of the province (Waterton is right on the border between Alberta and Montana).
As we got closer, we were able to see mountains in the distance. This photo (as well as the one before, and the one following) was taken from inside the car while we were driving, by the way. Sooo it isn't quite so good.
Aaand closer. I found it kind of amazing how things can look so close, but so far away at the same time. This was the closest to mountains that I have been in a long time (Nova Scotia mountains don't count - we have foothills in Alberta bigger than they are) so I was a bit awed.
Shortly afterward, we arrived in Waterton. We were sick of driving, and wanted to stretch our legs, so we went out walking. What we saw was just spectacular. I'd never seen anything like it, ever. I mean sure, we went to Banff when I was 11 or so, but I can barely remember that, and even at that point Banff was crawling with tourists. Though there were people here, there were not many, and the place was just so peaceful.
This is one of the many lakes in the Waterton area, and it's the one you see immediately upon walking around. The water is glacier water, so it's very clear, very bright, and very, very cold. The day was hot and so I went wading in it, soaking my jeans (I did not think to pack shorts with me), but after I came out they dried almost immediately.
The above is a view down a long the same lake. It goes on for quite a ways. In the evening, the way the setting sun hits the mountains is spectacular, but I'll get to that later.
The above is the Prince of Wales hotel. We didn't stay there - far too expensive for us - but it's quite nice to look at. The place is huge, and you can see it from quite a ways away. The hill that it sits on is covered in wildflowers, many of which - we discovered when we walked there - are ones that my mum grows in her garden. It was kind of a strange experience to see Lamb's Ears growing wild.
View from another direction, away from the lake. I think I took this one from on top of the Prince of Wales hill, but I'm not sure.
The wildlife in the area didn't seem to care about people being around. Deer would wander all over the place, eating the grass or the trees in the town. Businesses and such had chicken wire coverings over their flower pots, so the deer would not be able to get at them.
When we were there, we didn't see many bucks (male deer), but we did see a lot of does, and tons of fawns. Strangely, all the deer we saw in the town were mule dear (with the black tip on the tail), no white-tails at all. It was only until we went out into the mountains directly that we saw any white-tail deer. I didn't get photos though, as they were too far away.
And there were other animals in the town too - mostly gophers.
Before turning in that evening, we went to see the water fall located just inside the town.
Because it was almost dark, I wasn't able to get a good photo of it. This was the best one.
The day after we arrived, we headed up to Cameron Lake. Unfortunately I didn't get a lot of awesome photos there, but I did get one or two that turned out okay.
The above was taken on the way up the mountains to go to Cameron Lake. The view was pretty nice, so we stopped a while. I hated driving up the mountain, though, because the roads are very steep and winding. I get anxious enough in vehicles as it is, so this wasn't so pleasant.
Here you can see a bit of snow up on the mountain. The lake was, like the other one, very clear and cold, and it was very very windy that day. One could rent rowboats or canoes to go out on the lake, and though it would have been nice, it was far too windy - we would not have been able to get very far in much time - and quite expensive. Not worth it.
The above is more of the same area, from another direction. That's my father, there. He often had his binoculars out, looking for animals and such.
When we were heading down the mountain we came across something unexpected.
That's a bighorn sheep. I took this photo from the car - it walked out right behind our vehicle, so I stuck my head out the window and photographed it. This is one of the animals that I was really, really hoping we would see. Deer are a dime a dozen, and I've seen grizzly bears before, but I'd never seen a bighorn in the wild. I was so excited. (I wanted to see a mountain goat too, but unfortunately I didn't. My father did, though).
Later that day we went out to see the Red Rock Canyon. Around the canyon is a hiking trail - short, with the lowest elevation of all the trails. I was pretty happy to go on it, because I wanted to go hiking and had thought that I wouldn't be able to, because my mother didn't want to. So we did that, and unfortunately my mother still complained, but anyway. That doesn't matter.
The red rock canyon, from directly above. You can probably see why it's called that.
More of the canyon, from a direction down toward the main valley.
Same location, but looking a bit higher. You can't tell from this one, but the sky was so beautiful that day, very clear.
That evening we went out to the hill where the Prince of Wales hotel is. From that hill you can get some of the most amazing views in the area (of the ones that are easily accessible, that is).
I loved the way the colours played on the mountains. It was pretty amazing.
I can't remember much about what happened the next day. The only thing I really recall is that my father went fishing, and I went with him. Unfortunately for me, he had only packed one rod with him, so I just watched.
But at least it was a very nice day. At first we tried on the open side of the Prince of Wales hill, but it proved too windy for fly fishing, as you can see by the choppy water.
So we went to the "closed", sheltered side, on the other face of the hill.
The water was beautiful that day.
While I was watching my father fish, a fawn came out of the bushes and walked along the shore. It stopped when it was about ten feet away from me.
It watched me a while, then ran away. I guess I must have moved or something and startled it.
And that was the last day at Waterton.
The next day we started the trip back. As before, it would take two days. We decided to take a detour through Lethbridge, because mum wanted to see the Japanese Gardens there.
It was beastly hot that day.
Though I must admit, the gardens were pretty nice.
Though they were smaller than I had expected.
We stopped overnight in Fort Saskatchewan. The next day we took way too long to get home, because my parents decided to drive through buttfuck nowhere, going from tiny town to tiny town, visiting every antique store between Fort Saskatchewan and Fort McMurray. I was not pleased, let me tell you. But on the whole, that was the only directly unpleasant part of the trip.
I definitely want to go back to Waterton someday, but probably by myself, because that way I'll be able to appreciate it properly, relax, and do what I want.
Going to Waterton Lakes from Fort McMurray is a very, very long drive. According to Google Maps route, if you go straight it's over 1,000 km (~630 miles for you American folk) and about 14.5 hours. But we didn't go straight, so the distance (and time) was probably, technically, longer.
Since the trip would take two days no matter what (like hell we were going to drive all the way there in one day) we took a detour to Drumheller, where my gran used to live. Since it was still daylight when we got there, we took the time to go to the cemetery, and then after we were done there I took some photos.
Drumheller is a desert-y area in a valley maybe an hour away from Calgary. It's a tiny town, but it has an amazing dinosaur museum (one of the biggest in the world). Unfortunately we didn't have time go to there this visit. I've been there about a million times, but it never gets old.
When I say "desert", I do mean desert. They have cacti and rattlesnakes and everything. Though the cacti isn't easy to notice - it's usually small and low to the ground. The sagebrush is more common and easier to see (that would be those fluffy blueish-green grassy plants in the first hill photo).
One thing I love about the hills is the fact that they're so colourful. They're all run through with coal and quartz and sandstone, and the effect is just plain beautiful.
Sometimes the wind and weather erodes the hills in such a way that they make some pretty interesting shapes. You can see a small hoodoo being formed here. Not as impressive as the ones outside of Drumheller, though (there's a photo at Wiki here, so you can see what I mean).
All these photos were taken directly inside the town, just down the road from where my gran lived. Once you get outside of the town, the geography gets more interesting, but unfortunately we were too tired and the day was getting short, so we weren't able to go anywhere else that day.
So, we stayed overnight in Drumheller, then headed out bright and early the next morning. We wanted to get to Waterton in the early afternoon so that we would be able to enjoy our first day there. But first, we stopped in Vulcan for breakfast.
Saw this neat mural in Vulcan, had to get a photo of it. If you look closely you can see a space-ship on the top right side. In case you're wondering, yes, Vulcan is named that because of Star Trek. The whole situation is a little weird and I can't remember the exact circumstances, but whatever. In short, it's a tourist trap, but kind of an amusing one. And there's a place there where you can buy all sorts of Star Trek-related things. Kind of cool, but I must admit, I'm not a fan (I'm more of a Star Wars kind of guy). Apparently my parents are fans, though, and I never knew.
After that it was a few hours to Waterton.
Endless Fields of Wheat. Yep. This part of the province looks a bit like Saskatchewan, only not quite as flat. It's kind of startling for me to see. The Alberta that I'm more familiar with is full of forests, then a little farther south there are rolling hills punctuated by forest and river valleys. But here, we're getting right toward the bottom of the province (Waterton is right on the border between Alberta and Montana).
As we got closer, we were able to see mountains in the distance. This photo (as well as the one before, and the one following) was taken from inside the car while we were driving, by the way. Sooo it isn't quite so good.
Aaand closer. I found it kind of amazing how things can look so close, but so far away at the same time. This was the closest to mountains that I have been in a long time (Nova Scotia mountains don't count - we have foothills in Alberta bigger than they are) so I was a bit awed.
Shortly afterward, we arrived in Waterton. We were sick of driving, and wanted to stretch our legs, so we went out walking. What we saw was just spectacular. I'd never seen anything like it, ever. I mean sure, we went to Banff when I was 11 or so, but I can barely remember that, and even at that point Banff was crawling with tourists. Though there were people here, there were not many, and the place was just so peaceful.
This is one of the many lakes in the Waterton area, and it's the one you see immediately upon walking around. The water is glacier water, so it's very clear, very bright, and very, very cold. The day was hot and so I went wading in it, soaking my jeans (I did not think to pack shorts with me), but after I came out they dried almost immediately.
The above is a view down a long the same lake. It goes on for quite a ways. In the evening, the way the setting sun hits the mountains is spectacular, but I'll get to that later.
The above is the Prince of Wales hotel. We didn't stay there - far too expensive for us - but it's quite nice to look at. The place is huge, and you can see it from quite a ways away. The hill that it sits on is covered in wildflowers, many of which - we discovered when we walked there - are ones that my mum grows in her garden. It was kind of a strange experience to see Lamb's Ears growing wild.
View from another direction, away from the lake. I think I took this one from on top of the Prince of Wales hill, but I'm not sure.
The wildlife in the area didn't seem to care about people being around. Deer would wander all over the place, eating the grass or the trees in the town. Businesses and such had chicken wire coverings over their flower pots, so the deer would not be able to get at them.
When we were there, we didn't see many bucks (male deer), but we did see a lot of does, and tons of fawns. Strangely, all the deer we saw in the town were mule dear (with the black tip on the tail), no white-tails at all. It was only until we went out into the mountains directly that we saw any white-tail deer. I didn't get photos though, as they were too far away.
And there were other animals in the town too - mostly gophers.
Before turning in that evening, we went to see the water fall located just inside the town.
Because it was almost dark, I wasn't able to get a good photo of it. This was the best one.
The day after we arrived, we headed up to Cameron Lake. Unfortunately I didn't get a lot of awesome photos there, but I did get one or two that turned out okay.
The above was taken on the way up the mountains to go to Cameron Lake. The view was pretty nice, so we stopped a while. I hated driving up the mountain, though, because the roads are very steep and winding. I get anxious enough in vehicles as it is, so this wasn't so pleasant.
Here you can see a bit of snow up on the mountain. The lake was, like the other one, very clear and cold, and it was very very windy that day. One could rent rowboats or canoes to go out on the lake, and though it would have been nice, it was far too windy - we would not have been able to get very far in much time - and quite expensive. Not worth it.
The above is more of the same area, from another direction. That's my father, there. He often had his binoculars out, looking for animals and such.
When we were heading down the mountain we came across something unexpected.
That's a bighorn sheep. I took this photo from the car - it walked out right behind our vehicle, so I stuck my head out the window and photographed it. This is one of the animals that I was really, really hoping we would see. Deer are a dime a dozen, and I've seen grizzly bears before, but I'd never seen a bighorn in the wild. I was so excited. (I wanted to see a mountain goat too, but unfortunately I didn't. My father did, though).
Later that day we went out to see the Red Rock Canyon. Around the canyon is a hiking trail - short, with the lowest elevation of all the trails. I was pretty happy to go on it, because I wanted to go hiking and had thought that I wouldn't be able to, because my mother didn't want to. So we did that, and unfortunately my mother still complained, but anyway. That doesn't matter.
The red rock canyon, from directly above. You can probably see why it's called that.
More of the canyon, from a direction down toward the main valley.
Same location, but looking a bit higher. You can't tell from this one, but the sky was so beautiful that day, very clear.
That evening we went out to the hill where the Prince of Wales hotel is. From that hill you can get some of the most amazing views in the area (of the ones that are easily accessible, that is).
I loved the way the colours played on the mountains. It was pretty amazing.
I can't remember much about what happened the next day. The only thing I really recall is that my father went fishing, and I went with him. Unfortunately for me, he had only packed one rod with him, so I just watched.
But at least it was a very nice day. At first we tried on the open side of the Prince of Wales hill, but it proved too windy for fly fishing, as you can see by the choppy water.
So we went to the "closed", sheltered side, on the other face of the hill.
The water was beautiful that day.
While I was watching my father fish, a fawn came out of the bushes and walked along the shore. It stopped when it was about ten feet away from me.
It watched me a while, then ran away. I guess I must have moved or something and startled it.
And that was the last day at Waterton.
The next day we started the trip back. As before, it would take two days. We decided to take a detour through Lethbridge, because mum wanted to see the Japanese Gardens there.
It was beastly hot that day.
Though I must admit, the gardens were pretty nice.
Though they were smaller than I had expected.
We stopped overnight in Fort Saskatchewan. The next day we took way too long to get home, because my parents decided to drive through buttfuck nowhere, going from tiny town to tiny town, visiting every antique store between Fort Saskatchewan and Fort McMurray. I was not pleased, let me tell you. But on the whole, that was the only directly unpleasant part of the trip.
I definitely want to go back to Waterton someday, but probably by myself, because that way I'll be able to appreciate it properly, relax, and do what I want.
Yuu. Fic writer & book lover. M/Canada.