Waterton Lakes National Park

After a short drive, all functions on the van started to work again. Then at lunch David used the Ultra-Gauge to read the error codes on the van computer, and found that all error codes could be cleared. We are really puzzled about what is going on, but are going to continue on and will bypass Calgary unless the problem reappears.

We have never been to Waterton Lakes before, so this is a treat. We visited the Waterton Village and the waterfall there. Lots of goats, sheep, and deer keeping the lawns mowed around the cottages. I noted that few people tried to grow any foundation planting, but one house had a 2-ft wide vegetable garden on the south perimeter of their house protected with a 3.5 foot fence.

We found (easily) a camping spot right on the river in the Crandell Campground. There are probably 15 other campers here spread out among 150 or so spots. Our view at dinner was of the snow covered mountains on the other side of a meadow dotted with flowering strawberries and dandelions.

They have an interesting way here of handling the problem of wood, therefore bugs, being moved by campers. If you are going to have a fire, you must buy a $10 “fire permit” for each night you plan to have a fire, but with the permit comes two large bags of wood – plenty for cooking and an evening fire. What a great way to keep bug migration down. Unfortunately the wood was a damp soft wood so it didn’t burn all that well, but David managed to cook dinner in spite of the handicap.

-- Janet (text) and David (photos)