#21 Get Your Motor Movin’ Head Out on The Highway

The Train The Train

Since we arrived in Canada each campground has had one evident thing in common, there is a train, a train that passes nearby blowing the whistle through the night. I think it’s a campground requirement. Oh, you want to build a campground? Sorry no, there must be a train. It took us a while to become accustomed to the woo woo sound. It’s almost comforting now.

Welcome to Pincher Creek. It’s a small town in Alberta but It has a lot to offer. I really had no idea what to expect before I booked our site and that meant no expectations. So let’s go explore.

We stayed at Veterans Memorial Campground. It was a small community park close to downtown. There weren’t any amenities like a pool, corn hole or tiki bar but it was clean and had lots of big trees for shade. It was the perfect layover spot for us. Pincher Creek has a hiking/biking path that encircles the town and the path was only about 20 yards from our campsite. Who needs amenities?

Is that a lovely large site or what? There were only about 18 total RV spaces and 8 of those had full hook up which means water, electric and wastewater dump. And that is why we reserve our sites early. We love full hook ups.

Our neighbors were super nice. She, and I never got her name, grew up in Pincher Creek and her mom and dad still live in town. She gave us lots of good suggestions for places to go and things to do.

Our first order of business was to find a place to grab some dinner, a place where we could sit outside with Lucca. Right on Main Street we found a cute cafe with an outside patio and dinner was delicious.

The next day we hopped on our bikes, got on the path and cycled around exploring the town.

Pretty neat mural right?

Downtown Pincher had lots of little shops, very little traffic and that small town feel. I loved seeing all the beautiful hanging baskets of flowers. Remember where we had dinner last night? Well our bikes steered us right back there for breakfast. Those E-bikes are persuasive.

Do you think I look more like the cat or the cat looks more like me?

We didn’t expect to find a rodeo but when you have no expectations you never know what you’ll encounter. As we rode further from town on the bike path, we stumbled on a rodeo in progress. It wasn’t the pro rodeo that was on the Pincher sign, it was the youth rodeo. Gotta start somewhere.

I love rodeos and we climbed into the stands just in time to see the last of the barrel racing competitions. They didn’t use barrels, they had tall sticks instead but the competition was the same. It was pretty warm but enjoyable day in the stands. When the last rider competed we rode off and concluded our bike ride for the day.

Let’s Take An Excursion

Our neighbor suggested we go to one of the provincial parks nearby and she also mentioned a place called Castle Falls. That evening after we rested from our bike ride, we took a little trip out of town to Beauvais Provincial Park.

We parked our truck to take a short hike down Scott’s trail to Beauvais Lake, the main attraction of the park. “Pam, do you feel like we are being watched?” Eyeball or camera?

“Pam do we have any bear spray?” “Nope, just pepper spray.” Better than nothing, I hope.

Off we went on a trek in bear country. I think bears like little dogs but we figured her chances of running free from a black bear were better than ours so onward we went.

There it is, one more beautiful Canadian Lake that we can share with you on this trip. You can’t see them but lots of people were boating, camping and picnicking. They were on the other side of the lake. We were on the bear side.

As we left Beauvais Lake I said, “Pam, you want to go to one more place? It’s not too far.” Why she listens to me, I have no idea. Off we went to find Castle Falls. I think I forgot to mention that Pam was so proud of her clean truck, the truck she cleaned yesterday.

That’s not fog or smoke in the picture. By rights, how was I to know Castle Falls was at the end of a 3 mile gravel and dirt and super dusty washboard road. Do you ever have those feelings of nausea when you know you have screwed up? Too late now, we were on our way and to her credit Pam said, “Oh my poor truck” only a few times.

And there it is. Castle Falls. You really don’t need to add this to your list of places to go. It was nice but the drive made it less than an ideal tourist location. It was surprising how many locals were camping and swimming here. They must not mind a very long impossibly dusty road. I felt like I needed a lavage nostril treatment I had inhaled so much dust.

While we were there we heard chanting. JUMP, JUMP, JUMP!

And so she did. You can see her on the left side of the of the picture dangling above the watering hole. I would need lots of margaritas to jump off that cliff. It was higher than it looks.

It was another long way back down the dusty trail. We made it back to the camper that night around 9p. We did a lot and we were all pooped and ready for bed.

Waterton National Park

The next morning we enjoyed our coffee. Our neighbor came by to ask how we had spent the previous day. I think she was pleased to know we were listening and taking her advice. Today we were going to a National Park that was on my short list of things to do here. On the way out of town we stopped by our favorite cafe and picked up chips and egg salad sandwiches for a picnic.

One of the first places you’ll see when you arrive at Waterton National Park is the Prince of Wales Hotel. The hotel was built in 1927 by an American company. It’s purpose was to entice tourists, including the Prince of Wales, to come for a visit. The Prince of Wales was making a tour through Canada and once again, the local Canadians were unrequited, The Prince chose to stay somewhere else. But you can spend the night in a luxury room for $400 a night.

Pam and I went to the gift shop and the bathroom. We ordered lattes and donuts to go. Big spenders.

Our neighbor recommended that we take a couple of her favorite short hikes. Bear’s Hump was super crowded and had a pretty steep grade so we opted for a more moderate hike, Blakiston Falls. Throughout our drive to the falls we saw enchanting vistas and streams.

Pam and Lucca were eagerly on their way to the falls. You probably noticed some fire damage surrounding them. Waterton National Park was almost completely engulfed in flames and severely damaged in 2017. You can see some low regrowth of grasses and small trees. That limited growth in 8 years clearly illustrates how long it can take a forest to grow back to its full stature.

We reached the famous Blakiston Falls and sat down on a bench to enjoy our picnic lunch, egg salad and chips.

Lucca was not happy about laying on a grate and I can understand how uncomfortable that metal might be. We had a cooling sack from our lunch that we laid out for her but she still did not look happy.

Oh no, first the grate and now it’s raining. Is anyone having fun here? Lucca is scared to death of rain. She was shaking and trying hard to hide beneath the bench. I put my jacket over her to shield her from the drops. However, the fun picnic mood was broken so we gathered our belongings and to Lucca’s relief, we left.

I didn’t think things could get worse but sure enough the rain turned to hail. Can that tail get anymore up her butt? This wasn’t a pleasant afternoon for any of us.

Before we left, I took a picture so you could see the falls. It was the least I could do.

Red Rock Canyon was a short hike that continued from blakiston Falls. Pam and Lucca wanted to get out of the rain so they went back to the truck. Me being me wanted to hike on the trail and see everything there was to see. Even in the pouring rain Red Rock Canyon was a busy place. I had a difficult time finding a spot that was free from humans climbing on every rock.

Here ya go. That was the best I could do. The layers of rock were neat to see. A little more soaked than before, I hiked back to the truck. Pam had it all warmed up and I changed into some dry clothes.

In the middle of Waterton National Park is a village, aptly called Waterton Village. We had heard wonderful things about the village and decided to go. We visited the gift shops and then stopped at a wine bar for a glass of wine and some Moroccan soup. We arrived early, left early and evaded the crowds pouring in. All in the plan.

Pam hanging out on the side of the road in Waterton Village.

On our way to Waterton, we had spied the perfect place to stop for a special treat. So on the way back to camp, we did just that.

Yummy ice cream on homemade waffle cones at the Grumpy Goat.

We had lots of adventures in Pincher Creek. Not too bad for a place where I had no expectations. But if you think we are done, we have one more place to visit before we leave.

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is a World Heritage Site. they have found buffalo skeletons in these North American plains that have been preserved in the earth for 6000 years.

The people who lived in the area at that time used the buffalo jump as a way to quickly kill 1000’s of their prey. They would steer the buffalo through a path, get them fired up and run them off the cliff, Head Smashed In.

This was a depiction in the museum. The indigenous people who lived here, used the buffalo for food. In fact, they used every part of the buffalo and wasted nothing.

That was the top of the cliff. I realize it is a sad thought when you put yourself in the buffalos’ shoes but I’m not so sure it is much different than what we do today to our cattle, pigs and chickens.

You have seen everything there is to see in Pincher Creek except for the 5 mile road we traveled to get to the buffalo jump.

Once again, that cloudiness in the sky is not fog or smoke, it’s dust. Honest, I don’t do these things to Pam intentionally. Dusty gravel roads come with the territory. I think she was probably more than ready to move on down the road, away from dusty gravel roads to US Customs and the great state of Montana.

I was a little sad to leave Canada. I had such an amazing time and enjoyed the people, the weather and the terrain. But I perked up a bit when we arrived in Buffalo Hot Springs where I had the best steak I have ever had in my life. I took a picture, you’re gonna want to see it so come along.