Resolution #1 : Embrace Winter
What better place to strengthen my resolve than Waterton Lakes National Park? Six-foot drifts and a weekend on snowshoes should do the trick. I had never visited Waterton in the winter, but had heard tales of a ghost town, shuttered for the season, with snow reaching the eaves of cabins and burying vehicles. This should be an adventure! I gathered my gear, some friends and took off.
Mt Dungarven and Cloudy Ridge from Highway 6
The highways – all 270 some-odd km from Calgary – were bare and dry. Great for travelling, but the lack of snow anywhere in sight was beginning to worry me. The overlook on Highway 6 revealed a definite lack of snow in the region.
Looking down into the Waterton Valley
And when we arrived in Waterton, there was little snow there either. Apparently rain – rain! – earlier in the week had eaten it all up and completely crusted any drifts that remained.
At dusk, looking down at the town, there is very little snow. Vimy Peak rises above the lake.
There was no gas, no groceries, no ice cream. Most of the town really was boarded up tight.
Looking like a ghost town.
The Fireside Lounge has decorated their windows, rather than simply boarding them up.
Wildlife had the run of the town (which, truth be told, they really do in the summer, too), even the Prince of Wales Hotel. Nope, this big horn sheep is not a statue.
What a poser! This female bighorn sheep will not shed her horns. Her age can be estimated by counting the lines or annuls on her horns, kind of like the rings of a tree. But I didn’t dare get that close!
I had expected the lakes to be completely frozen, yet scuba divers defied winter (and logic) in Emerald Bay.
Scuba diving in January – fun!
But I was in search of winter. So we tossed our rented snowshoes in the car and drove up the Akamina Parkway, looking for snow. The road was dry and dusty. Waterfalls were only partly frozen.
After the flood of 2013, heavy duty avalanche abatement was installed.
As we drove along the 16-km parkway, the snow gradually became deeper and by the time we reached the Little Prairie picnic site (and the end of the road in winter), I had found it! Here was winter. And here were all the other park visitors, looking for winter adventure. We strapped on the snowshoes (which I had never done before – I kept wanting to glide down the slopes), and explored.
Cameron Creek babbled and burbled, free of ice.
It was a beautiful, invigorating afternoon. We rewarded ourselves with dinner in Vimy’s Grill and a night at the Waterton Lakes Lodge – with the 46 other people in town for the weekend.
Eggs Benedict Poutine!
