My second national park stop on my big trip was in Canada at Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta. Of course I had to take a photo of the Alberta sign and share it with you all.

My original plan was to hike around Cameron Lake and the surrounding area, but unfortunately in August 2017 the area was hit hard by a huge forest fire and hasn’t reopened to the public since. I had to make alternative plans and decided to take a boat ride around Waterton Lake.

The boat I took was the International and has been in commission at the park since 1927! The ride itself was about 2 hours and 15 minutes and included a stop at Goat Haunt, a port on the American side of the lake and part of Glacier National Park. Below are pictures of the boat dock with the International and the Goat Haunt Visitors Center.

After we docked at Goat Haunt, a ranger came on board and mentioned that most of the area was closed due to a fire in the surrounding area. However, we were able to get off the boat and roam around the beach area near the dock. Below is a photo of the ranger giving his speech on the boat.

The next photo below shows a clearing in the middle of the forest, going from the beach and all the way up into the mountains. That clearing is the line that separates Canada and America. On the left side of the photo is America and on the right Canada. You may notice that there is quite a bit of smoke up in the higher area of the mountains. That is where the fire was burning at the time. I’ve also included two photos of the Canadian helicopters that were taking water from Waterton Lake and dropping it on the fire.

The last two photos are of the amazing mountains surrounding the lake and of the Prince of Wales Hotel that sits high on a hilltop above Waterton Lake. The hotel is open all year round, but is probably hard to get to during the snowy season. I bet it’s beautiful in the winter! 🙂

Have a great week everyone!