Waterton Lakes

August 28, 2016

We had crossed into Alberta, Canada and camped in a field of tall grass the night before. By morning, enough condensation had gathered that both motorcycles were soaked.

My buddy Josh had come up from Colorado to meet me in Bozeman, Montana for the ride. Our plan was to ride through Glacier National Park, ride Going-to-the-Sun Road, cross into Canada at Chief Mountain, and continue north.

Glacier was already enough reason to make the trip. I knew Waterton Lakes National Park was on the other side of the border, but I didn’t know much about it. I figured since it was a national park, there must be something worth seeing.

Glacier National Park, Montana → Chief Mountain border crossing → Waterton Lakes, Alberta

Waterton village, Prince of Wales Hotel, and the two sections of Upper Waterton Lake

I had no idea how beautiful it would be.

The approach into Waterton was green, with glimpses of the lake beginning to appear through the landscape. As we got closer, the view opened up and the lake seemed to stretch forever between several mountain peaks.

On arrival, the chalet-style hotel stood above the water. It looked out over the lake from a ridge, so Josh and I rode up to take a closer look.

I pulled the bike near the edge of the parking area and walked out onto the ridge.

From there, the lake divided into two distinct sections. One wrapped around below us like a smaller lake of its own. From the overlook, I could see nearly its entire perimeter, along with the village sitting across the bay.

The other section ran south between the mountain summits. It continued for miles before eventually crossing back into the United States.

The village was in front of me. The lake and mountains stretched away to the south. Behind me was the hotel overlooking all of it.

I wandered around the ridge for a while, trying to take in how beautiful the place was. Waterton had only been another stop on the route that morning. Standing above the lake, it had quickly become one of the most memorable places on the trip.

At the Prince of Wales Hotel overlook above Wateron village.

As Josh and I rode into the village and we could hear drums. We followed the sound toward the Waterton Community Centre, where a powwow was taking place on the lawn.

The event was already beginning to wind down by the time we arrived, but there were still dancers, singers, families, and booths spread around the grounds. Many of the dancers wore full traditional regalia. As we walked closer, I could hear the metal cones on the women’s jingle dresses chiming along with the drums.

Waterton sits within the traditional territory of the Siksikaitsitapi, or Blackfoot Confederacy. The annual gathering brought together people from Blackfoot communities on both sides of the Canadian–U.S. border, including the Kainai, Piikani, Siksika, and Blackfeet nations.

Several generations of singers gathered around the large drums, carrying the rhythm for the dancers. There were different styles of dancing and regalia throughout the gathering, but what I remember most were the children. Some of them were very young, dressed in full regalia and participating alongside the adults.

I wandered through the booths and watched what remained of the dancing. We’d arrived too late to see much of the event, but even the short time we were there gave us a glimpse of something we had not expected to find when we rode into Waterton that afternoon.

After the event, we found a place along the edge of the water and stopped for lunch.

We were traveling on a tight schedule and wanted to make it as far north as possible, so we left the park after lunch and continued farther into Canada.

I definitely wished we had more time.

Waterton felt like the kind of place where it would have been easy to stay for a few days, walk around the village, explore the lake, and see what else was there beyond the short visit we had managed.

I’d love to get back there someday. The world is a big place, though, and a lot of places I want to see before I can make it back!

For now, I am glad Waterton found its way into the ride at all!

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