Waterton Lakes National Park

Alberta’s Waterton Lakes National Park and Montana’s Glacier National Park span the border and are administered with that sensitivity.

Several of us hiked up Waterton’s Bears Hump (as punctuated by the park), a 738 ft elevation gain trail 1.8 miles long and leading to spectacular panoramic views. That is Larry with the big camera, and Barry and Shirley in the group shot. Barry is a retired pharmacist and Shirley was a school teacher; they both live in Lincoln and travel a lot in their Airstream, with their cat Oilcan. Larry, as I may have already mentioned, is a retired teacher and California park ranger.

On the way back down we spotted a mother black bear and cub.

The hotel is the Prince of Wales. The prince never visited this hotel, but he did own a ranch next door to the Bar U in Alberta. According to locals, his Montana born wife preferred Paris and New York to Alberta, so he was rarely even at his ranch.

The hotel looks best from a distance. Up close modern carpentry substitutes for traditional craftsmanship. The knob to the left of the hotel in the profile photo is Bears Hump.

My Buffalo Burger was fantastic; after three tries, finally got one right. We had a gooseberry-topped dessert.