Day 30 (June 17) and Day 31 (June 18/17)

Day 30 - Saturday June 17/17

(Written and posted Monday June 19/17)

This day was our first scheduled “Personal Maintenance Day”. Liesurely morning; trip into Lethbridge for haircuts; got the truck washed; shopping at Canadian Tire for a replacement waste water drain hose; got ‘Personal Introduction Cards” with our contact information printed - to hand out to people we meet on the road; walked around a festival in the park; had a walk around the lake a Park Lake Provincial Park.

Day 31 - Sunday June 18/17

(Written and posted on Monday June 19)

Today, Fathers Day, was a travel day, from Lethbridge to Waterton Lake National Park, with a stop at Fort Macleod’s North West Mounted Police Museum Fort. (see map)

Before leaving Lethbridge we learned that city has the world’s longest and highest railroad trestle bridge of its kind in the word (photos)

Our visit to Fort Macleod both confirmed much of the information we had already picked up along the way about the inception of the NWMP, and offered some new information (sometimes the information from different locations seems to be a bit contradictory!) In some regards, we have been following “The Long March West” which the first NWMP troops took in the 1870’s to establish their presence and jurisdiction in the west to combat ‘the whiskey trade’ and establish good relations with indigenous peoples on behalf of the Canadian government.(photos)

After a summer salads and cold chicken lunch in the the parking lot near Fort Macleod, we travelled on to Waterton National Park. As we drove west, the mountains loomed ever larger before us (photos)

We arrived in good time at about 3:30, but there was a line-up at the registration booth and we got to our campsite at about 4. while the sites themselves are not remarkable, the setting and the view certainly are! (photo)

We took opportunity to drive up into the Red Rock Canyon and walk both along the canyon (photos)

and to the Blakiston Falls (photos)

Note how clear the water is!

Arriving back at the campsite at about 9 pm, we deferred our Fathers Day supper of steak, baked potato and corn on the cob until tomorrow, and instead had a light supper of assorted cheeses, smoked mussels and crackers before tumbling into bed!