Initially today we had planned on hiking part way around Cameron Lake, where we were on Friday before we were interrupted by rain and wet snow. However before we headed there we stopped at the town dock to inquire about a boat cruise on the Miss Waterton, a tour boat we had seen on the lake on Thursday. As it turned out the next cruise was departing an hour later and we booked ourselves on it!

Today the sky was clear, with a projected high of 20C (68F) but there was a strong wind, making the air quite cold near the water. We dressed appropriately; insulated vests, windproof jackets and gloves, and though we chose to sit outside, we remained quite comfortable. Once we reached the more sheltered south end of the lake the wind had calmed considerably and it warmed up a lot.

The cruise took us roughly 10 km. south, down the lake to the Goat Haunt ranger station located inside the Glacier National Park in Montana. Though we docked there, we didn’t have to clear customs, something we would have had to do had we planned to hike into Glacier Park. The landscape was breathtaking and though we saw no wildlife with the exception of three mountain goats (so far away they looked like white dots even with the zoom lens) and one eagle (again quite far away), it was a really enjoyable trip. Our tour guide shared a lot of interesting information about the area and the native animals as well as pointing out the various landmarks.

To our surprise, folks come from around the world to visit Waterton Lakes National Park, yet it is not widely known about here in Canada. So far we’ve met several folks from the US, Britain, Wales and Europe where it seems to be better known. Today we met an interesting couple of hikers from Switzerland, visiting Canada until January traveling around in their Mitsubishi camper that they brought with them from Europe. According to the locals, it seems Parks Canada does little to promote Waterton as they want to keep it in the unexploited condition it is in today, unlike some of our other national parks (like Banff for instance). Though, I suppose with the advent of the internet, this “little secret” will be no more!