Waterton National Park ........ sorry but caged it

[ZTS-Ceptor]

..... So for Easter i decided to go on a solo ride down to Waterton National Park as I have never ben there and had only driven by it once ( Montana ride last July ). Originally my wife had no plans for easter and the weather was good so i thought i would get out of her hair for a day and come home early evening. Well, she had changed her plans and decided that she wanted to get out as a family ( which is good ) so we hopped in her car and headed down the route that i had originally chose to ride ............

Route Driven

here are some of the pics from along the way......im sorry for bad pic quality ... im not a very good photographer and alot of pics were while on the mive in the car

here is the three of us ....

My wife Kristen



Me ( look away if you have a weak stomach )



and my little guy Colten ( taking in the first jaunt in true toddler style )



some pics of Highway #22 south of Longview











about an hour later we came to HWY #3 and were greeted by one of man most beautiful intrusions into nature...... wind power generation .....









I dont know if you can see them but there is about 50 wind turbines in this pic ....... there are literally 100's of them in southern Alberta as the wind always blows there



Continued .................

[ZTS-Ceptor]

........ continued

after we turned south again into Pincher Creek ..... stopped for goodies we continued south on Hwy #6 ......







Now i had to take this pic just because of the last one that i took from this location .......
new pic .....



old pic ......



...... a little less snow .... anyhow i digress ...... i shall continue with the pics





When we came to Waterton National Park shortly after the turn off we came upon this ......



after driving a bit further ( 8KM ) we arrived in the community of Waterton ...... Now just for a little insight into Waterton Alberta ......

It is a seasonal tourist town so simple put pretty much the whole town was boarded up and reminded me of a modern ghost town ..... the only people there were park rangers, RCMP, and a very small amount of locals .... nothing was open ...... and the wind ...... a constant 50+kph ( 30+ mph ) ..... one guy actually had his camper shift in his pick-up as he turned into the town ...... the wind made driving a car a handful so im kinda glad that i came here in a car and not on the bike as i had a hard time standing in it little long trying to drive in it .......



if you look closely at this one you can see the 'Frozen Yogurt' sign ... i laughed ......



just a little bit of snow .......





yes i know i need to replace my headlight .....











in some spots the packed snow was over 10' deep .....



This Hotel was ... ummmm .. WOW !!!





The View from the Hotel ......



we left shortly after the above was taken ...... only snapped a couple more on the way home .......







after this it's all flat barren prairie so i didnt take anymore .......

I completely recommend to everyone that if you can come this way in the summer definately try to hit southern Alberta and northern Montana ..... the ruggedness of the Rockies and the treasures that are the hidden lakes and small towns are there for exploration ....... gonna be takin' a fews rides down here for sure when it gets warmer.

Cheers

Desmond

p.s. sorry about the cage pics lol

[Sbyllek]

Wow. What gorgeous mountains...very different from the Sierra Nevadas (Which we look at every day!!!)
Thanx for taking us along...

[chilkoot]

Very nice pics, Desmond. I visited Waterton once, probably about 15 years ago. Enjoyed a nice cold beer in the bar of that very hotel (the "Prince" something... Albert? Charles?)

Thanks for posting!

[demenshea]

Desmond, I was there last summer and it looked very different!!

Thanks for the winter view!

[ZTS-Ceptor]

Donna , you ( and many others on this site ) are an inspiration to me ........ i only wish that i had the time ( and money ) to be able to go on a motorcycle adventure ( lol i even have a gereral route picked out and planned on google maps lol ) but for now it going to have to stay a dream ....... in time ( and believe me im working on it ) it will happen ....... but life happens and sometimes we get caught up in the day to day routine that sometimes we forget about the freedom and joy that getting away from can give ........

[isaacoomber]

Great Journey, thanks to sharing this great picture of your trip and after seeing you,i am also planning a trip with my family.

Thanks
http://www.waterton.ca/

[vintagebob]

Thanks for posting the picture of the Prince of Wales Hotel in Waterton. It brings back some good memories!

http://www.glacierparkinc.com/prince_of_wales.php