We reached the Canadian border around 11:30 and crossed into Alberta. The customs experience couldn’t have been easier—it took about a minute with the customs officer, and just like that, we were back in Canada.

We stopped in Cardston for groceries before making the final 45-minute drive to Waterton Lakes National Park.

Once we arrived, we got set up in site A7 and quickly started meeting a few of the dogs in the neighbourhood. The “neighbourhood” was basically an empty campground because it was very very early in the season for camping in Canada.

The sky had looked beautiful as we came into Waterton, but the weather soon changed and the rain moved in. We walked around town and along the lake before heading back to the motorhome for some tea as a thunderstorm rolled through.

Our first full day back in Canada, May 5th, was a beautiful one, with sunshine and temperatures reaching 16°C. After breakfast, we headed out for a quick 20-kilometre bike ride to the front gate of the park. Along the way, June spotted a black bear in the meadow, which was a pretty exciting way to start our time in Waterton.

We also took the time to fix the undersized Alaska sticker on our travel sticker map on our trailer. Thank you Toni for printing this out on your Cricut printer and cutter.

We got back just before Pat arrived, and after chatting for a while we decided to change our plans and go for a bike ride instead of the hike we’d originally talked about. The Red Rock Canyon Parkway was still closed to cars, although we learned that it would be opening the following day. That meant we had what felt like our own private mountain road for a spectacular 40-kilometre round-trip ride.

After getting back home, we made supper using some of the halibut we had caught in Alaska, along with roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots and seaweed salad. Later, we looked through our pictures from our Cuba cycling trip with Pat, followed by our North of 60 summer pictures. It was a great evening of reminiscing about some of our previous adventures.

May 6th brought a completely different kind of day. It had rained overnight and continued raining all day in Waterton, so hiking wasn’t really on the agenda. Pat picked us up around 10:00 and we headed out toward Coleman in the Crowsnest Pass.

We stopped at a pottery club sale and came away with five pieces for $50, which we thought was a pretty good deal. From there, we stopped at the Cinnamon Bear Café for coffee and a cinnamon bun, did a little thrifting, and then made our way toward Pincher Creek. We made a quick brewery stop around noon before continuing into the mountains to visit Pat’s friend Denise, who lives outside of Pincher Creek.

We made it back to Waterton in time to head out for dinner at Kilmory Lodge Restaurant, making the most of our rainy day by enjoying a nice meal.

The weather had improved by May 7th, although June wasn’t feeling good, so she decided to take it easy that morning. Pat and I took the opportunity to drive up toward the Chief Mountain border crossing. The crossing itself was closed, but the drive was spectacular. Along the way we spotted a mother black bear with her baby, giving us yet another wildlife encounter.

We got back around 11:00, and June was feeling up to joining us for a hike. We headed up Bear’s Hump, which is only about 2.5 kilometres round trip but climbs roughly 200 metres. The short hike was definitely worth the effort, with an incredible view over Waterton.

We then drove the Akamina Parkway as far as the closure and walked the remaining 2.5 kilometres back toward Cameron Lake. By the time we got home around 3:30, we’d had a full day of exploring.

We said goodbye to Pat, who had been a great companion for our first few days in Waterton, and then called Ann to wish her a happy 70th birthday.

May 8th started beautifully, with sunshine and some wind mixed with the clouds. We headed out around 11:00 with plans to hike the Boundary Bay Trail all the way to the border. But our plans changed when we reached the intersection with the Bertha Lake Trail.

A couple coming back down the trail told us they had just passed a grizzly that was hanging around on the trail. That was enough to make us reconsider our route. Instead, we headed up the Bertha Lake Trail, and from above we could actually see the grizzly still on the trail below us.

We continued up to Bertha Lower Falls and a little farther toward the lake until we came across a large patch of snow. Then we spotted another grizzly up the hillside above us. At that point, we decided we’d had enough excitement and it was time to turn around.

We hiked back down until we had a good view of the falls, stopped for lunch, and then continued down toward the village. Just before reaching the village, we walked through a herd of mule deer and encountered a few big horn sheep. Waterton was certainly living up to its reputation for wildlife.

Once back in town, we started up the Alderson Lake Trail, which took us above Cameron Falls. We went about 1.5 kilometres up the trail, where we stopped to watch some big horn sheep playing on the incredibly steep hillside across the valley. We could also see rain moving in, so we decided it was time to head home.

Our total for the day was 10.8 kilometres with about 500 metres of elevation gain. Back at the motorhome, we sat at the picnic table with a cup of tea, looking out at the beautiful mountain surroundings. It was hard to complain about our hiking plans changing when we were seeing grizzlies, sheep and deer along the way.

May 9th was supposed to be a rainy day, but we woke up to blue skies instead. We decided to stay close to town and headed out for another hike, following the water as far as we could go. Eventually, we ran into snow on the other side of the Prince of Wales Hotel, so we turned around and climbed up Bear’s Hump before making our way back along the water.

It was a nice 11-kilometre hike, and we took our time enjoying the scenery. In the afternoon, we checked out the visitor centre and the general store. Best of all, the rain that had been forecast never arrived.

On May 10th, it was time to move on again. We pulled out a little after 10:00, after putting the spare tire on the trailer, and headed west toward British Columbia.

Our time in Waterton had been a great way to ease back into Canada—beautiful mountain scenery, some fantastic rides and hikes, a good friend, plenty of wildlife and just enough unexpected encounters with bears to keep us on our toes.