When I visited Waterton in September, something was missing. Actually, a few somethings were missing, the most obvious of which were the mountains.
Berries were nowhere to be found. Following last year’s Kenow Fire, the berry crop has been devastated, leaving bears searching for other sources of food.
This young black bear looked fat and healthy, despite the lack of berries along the Red Rock Parkway.
And the mega-herd of elk that usually gathers on the Blakiston Fan area couldn’t be found. In three hours of searching on horseback we heard a couple of bulls bugling and caught a glimpse of one – a lonely sight compared to previous years when 900 or more would congregate for the rut.
The crowds were missing too, leaving the streets quiet and mopeds idle.
And for the entire four days, the wind ceased to blow, leaving the clouds, mist and rain to sink down over the mountains and into the valleys, stopping the spread of the Boundary Creek Fire.
