Day 15 - 3 Countries in a Day

Up early after spending the evening cowering in our hotel room watching a spectacular thunderstorm over the Rockies. Also cowering in fear of getting charged another £9 a pint for cider ... still they were very good, the Canadians really seem to have gotten the hang of the frozen glass enhanced drink.

Today we are heading out for a boat trip on Waterton Lake, for more fantastic scenery, and hopefully before the next set of storms hits.

The boat trip has the added bonus of allowing us across the US border (another state - Montana: tick). The border is marked by the (real) monuments below. Apparently if you line the two up, that gives the line of the 49th parallel. Little border nerd fact there. Also of course, it means that we have the opportunity to be in 3 countries today.

Line up for the 49th parallel…

Someone really wants to make that border clear…

Also spotted a bald eagle on the lakeshore, so another tick on the Canadian fauna list. Still no moose though :-(

Best not to look too closely what is being snacked on

Wonder if the US border people keep this here for symbolic purposes?

Of course we are still several hundred miles from Calgary with a full itinerary to get in post-boat trip.

Next stop, Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump. This appears to be be simalar to Creswell crags in that the hunting method was to chase the beasts over the cliff edge and then wander down and finish off any that are still alive. I had assumed that hte Head-Smashed-In part of the name referred to the Buffalo, but apparently it comemorates a young,curious brave who wandered a little too close to watch the Buffalo fall. Fail.

Does what it says on the tin

Moving on to our final stop of the day, the Big Rock glacial erratic. Also very much as advertised, a couple of huge rocks dropped here by glaciers rolling over the Alberta prairie. As if to demonstrate the prairie point, the field in front is riddled with prairie dogs. I hope they haven't tunneled under the erratic, or they may be in for a nasty surprise!

It is indeed a big rock

So what have we learned about Canada in the last two weeks?

1. It's a remarkably friendly country

2. The legendary politeness is real

3. The country is so stunning that Canadians must be ruined for travel elswhere when it comes to viewing scenery

4. Four seasons in a day is definitely a thing

5. June is not summer in Canada

Finally, I think that this farmhouse spotted on the way back to Calgary just about sums it up...