Day 311. June 13, 2014. Waterton, Wildflower Capital of Alberta

LOCATION:  Waterton National Park in southern Alberta

WEATHER:  Mostly sunny. High around 60

We biked to a nearby waterfall.  Beautiful.   In the winter, this park stays open.  One of the winter sports is climbing frozen waterfalls.  Not for me!

Then we took a 3-hour hike on a trail overlooking Waterton Lake.  We met back country hikers continuing on to the Montana border, about 10 miles.  The wildflowers are at their peak.  There is a wildflower festival here next week.  There were signs of bear and avalanche warnings at the trailhead.  We saw lots of globs of bear poop along the trail (extremely large and fresh), but no bears.  We walked by an avalanche path.  It was so strong that it had come all the way down the valley, then took out trees on the other side, going up.  

Waterton is supposedly the windiest place in Alberta.  It has been calm, but today lived up to its reputation.  There were white caps on the lake.  The afternoon turned blustery, so we did laundry in a warm laundromat, occupied by a backpacker warming up.

We are really appreciating the electricity hook-up.  It is amazing how something like that is so important....easy hot water, toast, heating pad to keep warm. 

In the evening, we made a fire in the picnic shelter and used our pie iron to make turkey/cheese paninis.

Here is George getting started....

Toasting away.....

And the finished product....

They turned out perfectly.  I think the cast iron has become seasoned.  (The first few times we used it, food stuck and burned)

DINNER:  The paninis with some canned soup that I doctored up.

Day 310. June 12, 2014. Wildlife in Waterton

LOCATION:  Waterton National Park in southern Alberta

WEATHER:  Sunny, nice. Highs in 60s

We took some scenic highway drives around the park.  It was a good day for wildlife spotting.

On our way, we saw this bear along the highway.  

The road ended at a mountain lake, where there is still ice.

Many of the hiking trails are still closed due to snow and avalanche debris like this we saw along the road.

The avalanches are so powerful that they tear down huge trees.

On this same drive, we saw this group of big-horned sheep.  They say that the sheep

and the deer have become a real problem in town, begging and butting the tourists to get food.  So the town has hired a woman with a sheepdog to herd them away.

Later in the day, we took another drive, this one to a beautiful canyon where we hiked.  Lots of hikers wear bells on their belts, making noise to scare away the bears as they walk.  On our way back, we saw this bear and followed him a bit with the car

Then, back in a picnic area in town, we saw a mother bear and her 2 cubs.  She seemed pretty calm

OK....enough bears. Now for real wildlife....George has been anxious to cook road kill.  The trick is to get it fresh.  We watched a car in front of us run over a prairie dog, so knew it was fresh. George was excited, planning the prairie dog menu, but I convinced him otherwise!

In the evening, we strolled around town and ate bison brisket in a restaurant.  Surprisingly tender.

Day 309. June 11, 2014. Oh, Canada!

LOCATION:  Waterton National Park, in far southern Alberta

WEATHER:  Cold and rainy in PM.  Sunny and beautiful in PM.  Highs in 60s

We packed up from Glacier National Park in the cold rain.  We drove about 40 miles to the Canadian border.  Immigration was surprisingly easy.  

In another 10 miles, we arrived in beautiful Waterton National Park.  It and Glacier share the border marked by a Rotary International  Peace Park.  We are in a campground in the village and right on the lake.  Absolutely breathtaking.  This is the view from our campsite.

We took another killer hike....a rise of 700 feet in 3/4 mile.  I think one reason that these hikes are so brutal is our altitude.  

We were rewarded with this view of the town, lake and mountains when we reached the top.

Then we took a 2-hour boat ride. We actually re-entered Montana, and then back to Alberta.  Beautiful. Tomorrow we will visit this Prince of Wales Hotel. 

The campground is really nice, and very practical.  Instead of individual grills at each site, there are picnic shelters with wood-fired stoves that people share.  This set-up is how we met our friends from Nova Scotia while hunkered in one of these shelters in cool, rainy Newfoundland last summer.

DINNER:  George roasted wieners inside the stove.  This is the first time we have eaten hotdogs on this trip.  Un-American?  I doctored up a can of black beans with sautéed green peppers, onions, garlic and chipotle, which we had on the side.

Day 308. June 10, 2014. More Glacier National Park

LOCATION:  Glacier National Park in northern Montana

WEATHER:  Mostly sunny and cool. High around 60

We spent the day in the western part of the park.  We stopped in a section called Two Medicine.  George tried his hand at fly-fishing.  No luck

 We tried to take a hike, but there was a big snowdrift in the path.  Lots of snow still here

We stopped in Whitefish, a ski resort town. Pretty classy....a lot like Jackson Hole.  We had lunch at a brewpub, and used their internet.

The western section of the park is woodsier.  Really pretty, too.  Beautiful waterfall.

Another good day for wildlife spotting....these mountain goats (with a few babies) were grazing along a stream.

These wild horses (with some colts) grazed along the highway.  Then, a moose jumped in front of the car.....quite exciting!

We didn't get back to our campground until late.  Full day on the road.

DINNER:  Fajitas.  I sautéed chiorizo, leftover chicken and pork, green peppers, mushrooms, and onion slices with cumin and chipotle.  Warmed some blue corn tortillas and sprinkled with cheese.  Muy bueno!

Day 307. June 9, 2014. Big Sky Montana!

LOCATION:  Glacier State Park in northern Montana

WEATHER: Sunny, nice. Highs in 60s

We had an unusual, and delicious breakfast......toasted bagels with jalapeño cream cheese and smoked trout.  Yum!

We drove to a different section of the park called Many Glacier.  There used to be 150 glaciers here, but now only 23 small ones that you cannot see.  Global climate change?  

We took a 2-hour hike.  We saw a mother moose with her 2 babies.  This is birth time in the animal kingdom.  We also saw 2 pronghorn antelope  with their babies frolicking along behind them in a field.  Driving along the highway, we saw a baby calf that had somehow gotten through the fence and was trying to return to its mom on the other side.

Then, we took another hike that was supposed to be short.  It was a mile each way, but was a 700 foot rise, meaning that it was very steep the whole way.  At the end, we had to trample through snow, and then finally saw our destination, some magnificent waterfalls.

There are neat tourist cars here, like in Yellowstone.  They look like elongated London taxicabs.  The tops are open so that the tourists just stand up inside the car to take pictures.

Beautiful lakes next to mountains.  All in the big sky that Montana is famous for.

Back at the campground, we made a nice campfire and relaxed.

DINNER:  Several months ago, we went to a Whole Foods store (in Texas, I think), and I bought a bunch of dried beans and grains from the bulk food section.  I bought these gigantic beans, favas, I think.  I had soaked them overnight and boiled them.  So tonight, I made a fava bean risotto. It was a traditional risotto, adding some of the fava beans puréed while cooking, and some whole ones at the end.  I served that with slices of leftover chicken and pork.  

To use the remaining cooked fava beans, I'm experimenting with pickling, as I have seen in olive bars.  I put a few in a jar with garlic-stuffed green olives in a Chardonnay brine.  I'll let them marinate a few days, then try them as an appetizer. 

NOTE:  We don't have internet here, so my posts are delayed.  Soon, we are crossing into Canada where I won't  have cellular service.  I will use WIFI when I can find it....like in a MacDonalds parking lot or at a Tim Horton's restaurant......these are Denny's style restaurants all over Canada, and many Canadians are ardent fans. 

Day 306. June 8, 2014. To Glacier National Park

LOCATION:  Northern Montana, about 35 miles from Alberta border

WEATHER:  Sunny, nice. Highs in 60s

We started the day with breakfast overlooking the lake where we were camped, near Helna.  

Since we hadn't unhooked, it was easy to get an early start.  

We drove about 200 miles north.  The Rockies were all around us.

George is excited because Montana just passed a law that permits picking up road kill.  Thankfully, other animals have beaten him to it, so far!!

We are in Glacier National Park for three days.  Disappointedly, we will not be able to take a drive across the park called "Going to the Sun  Road", supposedly one of the most beautiful drives in the world, as the roads aren't plowed yet.  The pictures show about 10 feet of snow on the high mountain passes.  We are going to hike/bike part of the way.  

Our site is beautiful, with a great view of the mountains

Nicely located next to the bathrooms and shower house, too!

We had a near disaster......George had cranked up the camper and unhooked it from the car.  He told me to change the button on the refrigerator from gas to battery.  I jumped inside to do that and to open windows when THUD, the camper jolted, rolling forward, and the tongue buried itself in the dirt.  He had forgotten to put the chocks in front of the tires.  We were in trouble.  Thankfully, the site is gravel.  Had it been pavement, it really would have been bad.  He figured out a way to get it back, which involved using levelers and campfire logs.  Whew!

We made a nice campfire and grilled our dinner.  

DINNER:  Grilled boneless country ribs that I had marinated in a chili/garlic sauce that we picked up months ago while visiting the Tabasco factory in Louisiana.  We baked potatoes by wrapping them in aluminum foil, and nesting them in the coals.   A side dish of sautéed mushrooms, green beans and onions rounded out the nice meal.  A Cabernet Sauvignon complemented it all.  This is called Glamping"   :-)

  

Day 305. June 7, 2014. Montana beauty!

LOCATION:  Central Montana

WEATHER:  Gorgeous sunny day.  Highs in 60s

We packed up at Yellowstone.  As we were leaving the park, a mother and baby elk crossed the highway.  So cute!

We drove  about 200 miles north through Montana.  It is really pretty.  Mostly we were in valleys with snow capped mountains around us.  We followed the Yellowstone River for quite awhile, then the Missouri River. There are lots of fishing and ski lodges.  Huge ranches with cattle and large irrigation equipment.  I think they are growing alphalfa.  We also saw domesticated bison.....I guess they need to raise them so tourists like us can eat bison burgers, brats, nachos, etc.!

Lunch was at a brewpub in Bozeman, a cute college town.  The pub was on the Montana State University campus.  We caught up on internet work, then hit the road again.  

We are camping just one night at a beautiful campground on a lake north of Helena.  

Most of the campers are families from Helena who have come out for the weekend to fish.  They are catching a lot of rainbow trout.  Our site overlooks the lake.  Very spacious sites, I think so that the boat, camper and car can all fit.  We were hoping that someone would give us one, but mo luck.  No hook-ups, but we are fine.  The only downside is no flush toilets or showers.  The vault toilets are actually the cleanest I have seen.  Is the word vault toilet supposed to connote something nicer than pit toilet?  They are all called vault toilets now.

We built a campfire and talked with a few neighbors.  Beautiful temperature for a fire and for sitting outside.  No bugs.

Tomorrow, we will continue north to Glacier National Park, on the Canadian border.  

DINNER:  I added spinach, carrots, and celery to the leftover meatball/veg soup to finish that up.  I added a few chunks of Parmesan cheese to thicken it up, with some toasted Italian bread on the side.