Day 3 - 5 June 2009

We departed the Buffalo Plains RV Park at 8 A.M., but not to the “Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump,” but back toward Fort Macleod because we discovered that the interactive center at the Buffalo Jump did not open until 10 A.M. We thought that we might as well use the time to see the fort museum at Fort Macleod and then come back after the interpretive center opened.

On the way to Fort Macleod we changed our minds and decided to save any further perusal of Fort Macleod and the visit to the “Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump” until we came back to Calgary at the end of our trip since we have to come by this way anyway.

We decided to go on to Waterton Lakes Provincial Park. We drove through part of an Indian reservation which had all the earmarks one is shown of Indian reservations - small run-down dwellings with lots of rusting cars and pickups around them. On the other hand, there were clean little Western towns like Fort Macleod or Pincher Creek that stood in contrast to the blight around them.

When we arrived in Waterton Lakes Provincial Park, we took a one hour hike along one of the lakes to Bertha Falls, water gushing down from Bertha Mountain. We tried to have lunch in style at the Prince of Wales Hotel, the finest address in town, but the place was closed. Extensive renovations were under way; later I found out that it would not open until the 15th of June - I guess we were a little early. So we had lunch in the RV. That is the nice part about an RV, you always have your home with you - like a snail or a turtle. A prerequisite is that you always have food in the refrigerator.

The only wild animal we have seen so far was a solitary deer on the way to the Prince of Wales Hotel.

After a short nap (another plus when traveling per RV), we set out for Montana and the Glacier National Park. When we got there the nice lady at the park entrance told me that as a senior (US) citizen I could get a lifetime pass to all the national parks and any other park operated by the US government for only $10. I jumped at the chance because we planned to visit a number of national parks during the rest of our trip and the entrance to all of them would be free, to say nothing about the lifetime aspect of the deal.

We drove to the Many Glaciers Hotel and hiked for more than an hour around the lake near the hotel, had dinner at the hotel, and found an adjacent campground. The campground was cheap - actually free - because a nice young man offered us the space he had paid for without accepting any money. He and his good-looking female companion had changed their minds about staying there. Maybe they preferred the luxury of the hotel.

The campsite only cost $5 and soon we found out why; because there were no hook-ups, that is, no electricity or water (maybe that is why the young couple decided to move on). Good enough, we were self-sufficient in our RV. There are bathrooms in the park, but no showers. We will not take a shower in our RV (the provision is there) because you can hardly turn around in the bathroom which becomes the shower and everything gets all wet.

We (or at least I) will not go to the public toilet at night because there are signs warning about bears everywhere. Each campsite had a “Food Storage Container” beside it. These are metal boxes like safes, for tent campers to store their food in so as not to attract bears, or to occupy the bear with the strong box rather than to rip the tent and its contents apart.

Four young kids from Vermont just set up their tent across from us, started a fire, and cooked some food. I’m expecting a bear alert tonight.

By the way, it is supposed to snow tonight. Thus ends day three.