There was Wednesday, the day of the snowstorm. The day of visibility of maybe 100 feet. We couldn't see the lakes. We couldn't see the mountains. The snow finally stopped after dropping more than a foot of the white stuff.
We had traveled prepared for some chilly weather, which meant we had fleece jackets, hats, and gloves. We most certainly did not have snow gear. We trekked about a bit--to get to dinner, for example--but, for all intents and purposes, we holed up.
It was all kind of interesting and exciting, in the way we all get a little excited at a heaping load of snow coming down. But we were only slated to be in Waterton the day we arrived, the day we left, and one full day in between. That was our primary chance to see the beauty that is Waterton. Wednesday, the day of our arrival in the park, was now essentially a write off. Friday would be the day to drive to Helena. We might have a little bit of time for some looking around, but not much.
That meant Thursday--the day between our arriving and departing--had all our hopes pinned on it. When we went to bed Wednesday night, we knew the snow had essentially stopped. We knew it was supposed to warm up. But Thursday was forecast to be the colder and cloudier of the two days we would be there, and Friday (the drive away day) was forecast to be the warmer and sunnier day.
When we awoke to sunshine and clear blue skies on Thursday morning, we were pretty excited. Soon after breakfast, we headed to the marina to find out if the lake tour boats were running, but didn't hold out much hope. Imagine our pleasant surprise to find the boats up and running, as if nothing at all had happened. What snow storm? We signed up for the 1pm cruise and headed off to see what other sights we might be able to visit in the couple hours before our check-in time. We had no time to waste.
There are two scenic parkways in Waterton Park. The longer of the two drives was closed with a barrier, but we could see a plow set to do something at the beginning of the road. We drove on and found the shorter of the parkways had been plowed and was "open for business." We drove the Red Rock Parkway to its end, enjoying the views of mountains in every direction. We could see that wildlife had been very busy; there were animal tracks crossing the snow everywhere we looked. The animals themselves, however, were not in sight. It seemed almost impossible not to be tripping over some of the dozens of animals that had left tracks for us to see, but we managed to see only a few deer in a small meadow.
We returned to the marina in time to get into a humming queue, including a fairly large German hiking group. As soon as our boat headed out, our guide announced that a bear had been sighted swimming across the narrows just a short way from the marina. So we started our cruise with a little detour to watch a young black bear land on the beach immediately below the Prince of Wales Hotel.
Then we sailed on down to the far end of the lake, crossing the international boundary. It was bracingly brisk--42 degrees and very breezy, sitting open air on the top of the boat. But the views were nothing if not spectacular. With the sun and clear skies, the lake was blue and the mountains were particularly showy in their coat of new snow.
We arrived back in Waterton after 2-1/2 hours, a little cold but unable to say enough but the stunning scenery we had just experienced.
We decided to see if the Akamina Parkway had been opened while we were tootling around on the lake, and indeed it had been. So out we went to its terminus, Cameron Lake, which is a striking lake surrounded by a cirque of rock walls. As we headed back toward the village, we saw some cars stopped--usually a sure sign that some wildlife has been spotted. We stayed in the line of cars, but couldn't see anything. I was sure it was either a bighorn sheep or a bear, partly because people were being pretty circumspect about staying in their cars and partly because not that many people would be so patient for a group of deer (no offense to the charming deer population, of which there are many roaming the village streets). The several cars in front of us and the cars heading the other way all drove off, so I assumed the sighting was over. Feeling quite sad to have missed whatever creature had been enthralling these folks, I looked up the ridge as we started to leave and got a short but exciting view of a black bear walking along the rocky cliff, just before he took off into the brush. Two bears in one day!
Cameron Lake
At the end of our return from the Akamina, overlooking Waterton Village
It was a day full of the most stupendous scenery, and it was only enhanced by the fresh snow that made everything even more beautiful. Especially given the rather grim conditions of the day before, we felt truly blessed to have been able to see it all.
As we came outside on Friday morning, we found it had warmed up some, but it was windy and it was very gray and overcast. We felt so, so lucky to have been able to see the lakes and mountains (and even the bears) in the sunshine and clear air. As it turned out, our Thursday, our day in between the two days of less propitious weather, was a very lucky day indeed.
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