August 27, 2007, Monday
Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta
It would be hard to top the ride from the previous day on Going to the Sun Road. Today's ride would take us from Glacier National Park in the U.S. to Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, Canada, and while there was some excellent scenery, we were spoiled from the day before. We started the day with a relatively quick buffet breakfast with Julie and Mike from Michigan. They are world travelers, having visited over 50 countries.
Brandon gave us the route talk outside the hotel under beautiful, clear skies, a rarity lately due to the smoke from the forest fires and rainy weather.
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Brandon's route rap |
We rode the rolling hills and final climb to Chief Mountain Viewpoint to refill the water bottles and to gather for the ride to the border. The guides wanted us to stay together to reduce problems at the crossing. We crossed in two phases, the van and Bicycle Adventures bicycles with their riders, and those of us who brought our own bikes. As our passports were being checked I snapped a photo of two of the border guards and was scolded about not taking photos of border staff and was told to delete the photo. Who knows what would have happened had I been using film. At the border a wide swath of forest was cleared, to allow easier patrols.
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Break at Chief Mountain overlook | Entering Waterton Lakes Park | Those who brought their own bikes |
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Bear Country | Canadian/U.S. border. Notice the faint cleared line along the border | Gathering at the border |
After we took advantage of the 5-star bathroom on the Canada side it was a short ride to another good lunch at Belly River Campground. At this point the temperature had lowered and we were all freezing, some huddled in the vans, others next to the pot of water being heated. Kathy checked her onboard computer and announced that the temperature was 58 deg.
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Newsstand chipmunk |
The Prince of Wales is another classic old national park lodge, with a large, high-ceilinged lobby and lots of character. We dropped the bikes off out front to be put onto the vans for the shuttle ride tomorrow to Banff National Park. After a soak in the tub we took a walk into the village. Our corner room has a great view of the lake and village below.
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Lunch at Belly River Campground | Terry and others on the long straight stretch to Waterton | Prince of Wales Hotel on Waterton Lake |
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Reindeer out for an evening walk around town |