Waterton Lakes National Park

As a child, I was lucky to have grandparents who lived 60 km away from Waterton Lakes National Park. On hot summer days, my siblings - or cousins - and I would beg one of the adults to take us there for the day. We would head straight to the outdoor pool, rent green bathing suits for one dollar, and go for a swim. After that, a picnic of fried chicken and baked beans made for a perfect summer day.

Waterton seemed to be mine. We roamed freely, there was nothing to trouble us. We learned to respect the wilderness, were taught by our parents that bears needed their distance, and learned the hard way that the water in the Waterton Lakes is freezing, always freezing, no matter how hot the day. I’ve been working on my rock skipping skills my entire life, and nowhere, absolutely nowhere that I have been, has rocks as smooth and round and pancake flat as does Waterton.

Waterton changed very little since my childhood until recent years. The 2017 Kenow Fire burned 80% of the hiking trails, many of which are still to reopen. That fire also destroyed the original Visitors’ Centre, a charming stone building nestled beneath The Bear’s Hump on the edge of town. Now, three years after the fire, Waterton’s beauty is even more unique.

A hike on one of the trails will take you through a kaleidoscope of wild mountain colour. Imagine a patchwork quilt with blue lupine and purple bee balm blooming in vast drifts, with the bright green of ash-fertilized grass and nodding white daisies sprinkled with the pink of Alberta roses. All this colour is set against black tree trunks and backed by an Alberta blue sky.

Waterton is unique. Wildflowers grow there that are found in few other places in the Rockies. It is part of the Crown of the Continent ecosystem, biologically and physically diverse, and then... there’s that wind. Strong enough to blow a two-burner campstove, lit and with a pot of bubbling porridge on it, across a picnic table, or to lift a tent with a sleeping family of five right off the ground, Waterton’s winds are legendary. They shape the

The 2017 Kenow Wildfire impacted Waterton Lakes National Park areas and facilities. To find out what is currently open and closed in the park, please visit pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/ab/waterton/visit/ideale_best

forests and sculpt the hills. There’s a local saying, “If it isn’t windy, it isn’t Waterton.”

Waterton Park was set aside in 1895, nestled in the southwest corner of the Province of Alberta, it borders Glacier National Park in the State of Montana, USA. In 1931, Rotary Clubs from each region suggested the two parks be joined, creating the first International Peace Park in the world. A symbol of friendship, this partnership also creates cooperation in the stewardship of this unique area. Hikers can put their boots on in Canada, and hike in the United States.

It is also a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The Triple Crown Hikes: Crypt Lake, the Carthew-Alderson and Akamina Ridge trails are all world-class bucket-list hikes. The Triple Crown Challenge of completing all three hikes – a total distance of 55.2 km – in one summer, will get you bragging rights, a commemorative pin, and your name in lights a local café.

Waterton has a year-round population of about 300. In summer those numbers swell into the thousands, but it was made for walking. The town itself is only six by four streets wide, so park your car and walk everywhere. Walk the path on the shore of the lakes, find a perfect skipping rock and see how many times you can make it bounce across the water. But study the rock and notice the colour of it before you send it off. Waterton’s fascinating geology has resulted in names such as Red Rock Canyon, and colourful red and green argillite stones that inspired this name can be found on the beaches, sand, riverbeds, and waterfall-cut canyons, as well as in man-made habitats, put to use forming old rock walls, the foundations of the older buildings in town, even as part of sidewalks.

Waterton’s unique character is a treasure. A designation as respected as the UNESCO Biosphere term should be coined to commemorate its charm, beauty, and simplicity. So, Happy Anniversary Waterton! May your gentle charms remind us to slow down, wild winds make us feel alive, wildflowers dazzle us, your many bears demand our complete respect (and very safe distance) and may your representation of peace as well as cooperation help us to understand one another. By: Lisa Christensen

PLENTY OF