Buffalo and Mounties

 Our next day at Crooked Creek finds us boarding a bus to take us to Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump World Heritage Site.

Entrance Sign

Yes, you read that correctly.  This is a historic site preserved by the Blackfoot peoples to commemorate and preserve the heritage of their ancestors' way of life.  This site is where annually they would come to harvest Buffalo meat, hides, bone, etc.  They used virtually everything and let nothing waste.  There's a film that portrays how the Blackfoot would follow the Buffalo herds to this area and then go through an elaborate setup to funnel the Buffalo towards a cliff that would end up stampeding them over the cliff to kill them.  At the bottom of the cliff the women would immediately start the processing of the meat and hides to carry the tribe throughout the winter.

We had an amazing guide during the tour of the facility and cliff site.  His 'americanized' name was Donohue Troy, he quipped his mother was a big movie fan and didn't quite get the order of the name correct.  Don't even ask me to pronounce or spell his native Indian name.  His parents died when he was quite young and he was raised by others in the tribe, one of which taught him the stories he shared with us.  His role in the tribe is to keep the storytelling tradition of the people so the history remains.  He was very engaging and interesting to listen to the stories he shared with our group.  What at first sounded cruel and messy, ended up being a beautiful story of survival and necessity. 

Representation of Cliff inside the facility

One of the actual cliffs used during the annual jumps

Our Blackfoot guide, Donohue Troy

At the end of our presentation, we asked one of the native girls at the entrance desk to tell us where the Blackfoot name of the people came from since it sounded so English.  She told us a couple of stories she had heard about the moniker.  The one I liked best was related to the 'white' man coming and forcing themselves into the areas.  Of course, the Indians did not like the attempt to push them out of the land so they would burn down the houses, crops and settlements then run away.  As they ran away after the fires, their feet would turn black from the burned ashes and so the 'whites' started calling them, Blackfeet.  

After this visit we were taken to a local livestock auction house where we ate a delicious lunch.  If you've never tried eating at an auction house, they are usually quite good.  We saw an interesting sign on a drink machine.  To this day, I do not know what it is talking about.  Notice the upper left adjacent to the coin insertion area says, 'No Toonies'.  Then there is further explanation on the sheet of paper attached to the machine.

Oh well, I didn't want a Dr. Pepper anyway.  So we proceeded to our next stop at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police museum and store at Fort MacLeod.  We were supposed to see the Mounted Patrol do a musical ride on horseback.  This was called off because it was too hot.  The temperature had reached 92 degrees and they said it was too hot for the horses.  Of course, this is not Texas so 92 is probably too hot for these horses.  Anyway, the museum was interesting but our guide was a young lady who would read her presentation.  We got really bored listening to that and went off to explore on our own.  After listening to Donohue Troy's stories, her presentation just didn't measure up.

Our next day was a free day to explore.  Beverly and I decided to go to a lake high up in the mountains inside the Waterton Lakes park.  We thought we might get lucky and spot some wildlife along the way or at the lake.  After a lot of twists and turns we arrived.  The scenery was beautiful but we cut our visit short due to the number of flying gnats and mosquitos around the lake itself.  

Selfie Time

Yes, still ice and snow up here in July

Next house site

On the way down, we spotted a car on the opposite side of the road and it was stopped.  Beverly was intently staring at it and its occupants to determine why they were stopped in the middle of the road, when she asked me what did I think they were looking at.  I calmly responded, 'that bear right there beside your window,' which was literally 6 feet from the car.

Oh the flurry of activity that ensued as she attempted to find the camera phone and get pictures.  As it turns out this was a mama grizzly with three cubs.  She was blondish and all three cubs were black.  Try as she might, Beverly was unable to get pictures of all four at one time.  She did however get quite a few good shots, as shown below.

Very Close

We have been spotted

And the family is close by

One of the youngsters keeping an eye out

Continuing our way back down the mountain, we went into Waterton town itself to get a bite to eat.  More wildlife awaited us.  As we got to the edge of town, another bear was spotted close to a parking lot.  This was much further away and moving away from us.  Then as we pulled into town, we spot these deer.  Including mama and her babies just wandering from place to place.  Not disturbed at all by the people and vehicles around them.

After we ate, we returned to Crooked Creek to rest before the cookout.  After the cookout we had a drivers' meeting to discuss the trip tomorrow from Waterton to West Glacier.   Come back to see what we see at West Glacier in the good 'ole USA as this is our last night in Canada.

Good food and good times

Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada

 At the drivers' meeting last night, they specifically told us they were providing us a route that is more scenic than driving down the main highway.  It definitely was more scenic as we drove south with the Rocky Mountains on our right in the distance.  The countryside was rolling and avoided larger cities but we did go through some smaller communities.  We had a surprise moment when we happened upon Longview.  We thought we might have taken a wrong turn somewhere and ended up back in Texas.  But no, this is Longview, Alberta, Canada.

Scenery with Rocky Mountains in Background

Well what do you know?  It's Longview

We did not stop in Longview as we had another stop along the route to visit the Remington Carriage Museum in Cardston, Alberta, Canada.  Check in time at Crooked Creek Campground was around 2 PM so the group had time to stop and view the museum.  Of course, a carriage ride was in store as well.  Our driver was from Texas and had been in Canada for the last 20 years or so.  Something about a horse-drawn conveyance that is very pleasant and relaxing, apart from the obvious smell of course.

Clip Clop Clip Clop

Crooked Creek Campground is located just a few miles from the entrance to Waterton Lakes.  We were pleasantly surprised at the views and ambiance in the park.  We were only there for a few days and were kept so busy with the group that we didn't have much time to relax and enjoy.  We did have a nice evening sitting out and visiting with the couples in the tour group from Massachusetts.  Then the Wagonmasters and Tailgunners had a cookout for the entire group another evening.  These are some of the views from our RV site.

Sunset changes the color of the mountains

Hard to beat these views

Our first visit to Waterton Lakes was as a group.  We went to Waterton, the town, to board the boat for a lake tour of the park.  This park is the Canada side of Glacier National Park which is in the U.S. and our next destination after leaving Canada.  We spotted a bear while on the boat but without binoculars it was impossible to see clearly or to get a good picture without telephoto lens.  The guide on the boat explained that if you are hiking, the best way to avoid surprising a bear is to make a lot of noise by talking and being in a group.  He said the bells are not any good and bear spray isn't effective either.  I personally am not willing to test his statements for voracity.

Ready to board, Prince of Wales hotel in background on cliff

During the boat ride, we actually crossed from Canada to the U.S. while on the water.  Every year, the U.S. Park Service and the Canadian equivalent get together and cut the area shown in the photos below which is the US/Canada border.  Don't have to worry about illegal border crossings here, the nearest road is over 30 miles away and there's lots of rugged terrain and bears to contend with before reaching any form of civilization again.

View of border from one side of boat

View from opposite side of boat

After entering US waters, we came to a landing that is for Canada and an adjacent US Park Ranger office and residence.  This sign below says, no entry and I for one, believe they are serious.  I wouldn't even step behind the sign cause I was skeered.  Yep, a true coward for breaking the rules.  The vistas and beauty is impossible to describe or capture on a two-dimensional image.  Here we are with Waterton Lake in the background surrounded by the mountainous terrain.

Landing on Waterton Lake for US/Canada Rangers

Entry Verboten unless with proper authorizations

Location of our next house

After eating lunch and meandering around Waterton, we boarded the bus back to the campground.  Tomorrow promises to be another adventurous day.  We are close to leaving Canada for the US but still have a couple of days to explore left.  Come back  for some more adventures in the next post.

Calgary-other than Stampede

Not everything we did in Calgary revolved around the stampede.  We had free time to explore the city, have evening get togethers at the stadium campground, the group visited Heritage Park in Calgary and had a day trip to the city of Banff in Banff National Park.  The Heritage Park began with a breakfast on the second floor of the museum.  We then had a guided walking tour of the museum’s first floor and the main park area behind the museum.

This park is committed to preserving the history and heritage of Alberta, and particularly Calgary.  It is like a living history experience.  The employees are in period costumes and there are buildings with historical significance that were moved to the property along with a steam locomotive train that operates continuously around the property.  The property is laid out like a town in the early twentieth century and has both old automotive vehicles and horse drawn vehicles that make the rounds in the town. 

Horse drawn wagon with updated wheels

Street scene with historic buildings

Modern transportation

Beautiful old house

The steam locomotive travels around the park property

The day trip to Banff was on a motorcoach.  We took a side trip to Bow Falls on the Bow River.  Since we had visited the area earlier before the tour began, we did not take a lot of pictures during this outing, but we had these taken by John so we could have some with both of us in the picture.  The area is beautiful.

Bow River with mountains in background

One last look at Bow River Falls

We were given time to explore Banff Avenue, a street blocked off for regular traffic.  Only the public buses could make stops on the street.  The area is loaded with little shops and restaurants.  We ate a delicious lunch at Melissa’s Missteak on the avenue.  It’s a second story steakhouse with an interesting name.  Spellcheck wants to correct it but this is the way it is spelled. 

After lunch, we stopped and purchased a Beaver Tail.  After watching several YouTube videos, we had to experience this pastry.  It is a fried pastry, like a donut but in the shape of a beaver’s tail, that can be customized with all sorts of toppings.  I went for the standard sugar and cinnamon, but Beverly opted for the Choco-Vanilli.  It was a drizzled chocolate and sugar delight and yes that is the correct spelling too.  Obviously, these Canadians want to confuse the spell checkers of the world.

We ate the Beaver Tails so there is not any photographic evidence of these culinary delights.  I personally could go for more steak in lieu of the sugary confection.  Back at the stadium campground that evening, there was a driver’s meeting about the trip the next day to Crooked Creek Campground just outside the Waterton Lakes National Park.  National to Canada that is; but more on that in the next post, see you there for information on that trip.

Panoramic shot of falls and Bow River that's John on right shooting a picture

Stampede

 It’s the morning of the Stampede Parade, the official kick-off to Calgary Stampede activities.  Like many of the parades in the US, the route is jam-packed with people.  Some of them have been out there since the night before to stake their claim to a certain spot on the route.  Lucky for us, we have reserved grandstand seating in a prime location.  However, we had to get up early to board the bus to arrive at the seating a good two hours before parade time due to streets being closed to traffic.  Good news, we were right in front of Tim Horton’s with fresh donuts, etc. and close access to restrooms.

Interestingly, there was a mini parade of sorts to whet the appetite to the main event.  Like all parades it was started with the traditional police siren escort, banner and grand marshal riding in an auto.  Let the fun begin!

Notice the White Hats?

Former and current Miss Calgary Stampede Queens

Royal Mounted Canadian Police minus the mounts

There are many bands, horses, floats, groups and specialty acts.  A lot of the bands were the drum, bagpipe and fife complete with kilt regalia.  There’s a lot of Scottish influence in this part of Canada.  Also interesting to me, the number of varied Asian influences.  To keep their culture alive there are several Asian clubs that are in Calgary and they each had their own unique presentations in the parade.

A group of Shriners on Segways

Stars of the parade are the horses and costumed riders

Did I mention they had horses?  As you might expect horses and more horses was very evident.  They had big horses, work horses, little horses, decorated horses and just plain horses.  Enough horses that they ran street sweepers along the parade in groups of three to pick up, you know, the evidence during the parade.  The sweepers were even decorated and were great crowd pleasers, as I’m sure the parade participants were very happy too, jus’ sayin’.  The sweepers in teams of three were strategically placed and after the parade was complete, they dutifully made sure the streets were auto and pedestrian worthy once more before the streets were returned to normal traffic.

Real stars of the parade the team of street sweepers all decked out

We visited the Stampede grounds that afternoon after the parade.  The best way to describe this is a State Fair type of atmosphere.  There are exhibits, animal shows, other entertainers, a midway full of games and food, vendor hall, rides and of course, daily rodeo activities.  The grounds are the former 1988 Olympic venue that was held in downtown Alberta.  The first afternoon was free admission for the populace so the crowd was intense.  From our perspective, I did not recognize a decrease in crowd size anytime we visited while we were there.

Entrance to Stampede grounds, that's me in White Hat on right

Of course, the major draw is the Stampede Rodeo.  There are daily rodeos that begin in the afternoon.  Our day to go had a lot of Texas cowboys competing.  So many, that it seemed as if it was Texas versus Canada day.  It was great fun to watch and even though our seats were high up in the grandstands, you could watch any one of three giant screens that would give you a close-up view and replay of the contestants attempts.  What was interesting was that there was not a Team Roping competition in this rodeo.  Even more interesting was the Bull Riding competition.  The bulls won the day this day.  There was only one rider who managed to stay on for the full eight seconds.

Saddle Bronc competition, big screen above stands too

Our seats at the Stampede Rodeo

Later in the day, after the stands have been cleared and the arena grounds properly prepared, the Chuckwagon Races are held.  This was my favorite event at the Stampede.  I had never seen this before and was certainly glad the rules were explained in advance.  It’s kind of like a sport you don’t know about the rules, it makes for a more interesting experience if you understand what to look for during the competition.  The daily heats and times are kept so the winning teams can compete in a finale.  Of course, the horses are the real stars.  These are highly trained thoroughbred teams that pull the wagons plus there are two outriders that are part of the race using specially trained horses for their role in the competition.  Quite exciting to watch!

Start of the Chuckwagon Race, loading the stove!

Amidst a flurry of activity they are off, don't knock over the barrel

Leaving the arena to round the track with outriders behind them

The finish and Team 3 in yellow wins this heat

After the Chuckwagon Races are complete for the day.  The arena is groomed to allow a portable stage to be brought in for the night’s extravaganza.  This is a sensory presentation with loud music, dancers, singers, fireworks, light display and a drone display to overwhelm your senses.  We didn’t stay for all of it because we did not want to wait on the train platform forever to catch the train back to our RV.  We saw enough to say we were there and able to beat the crowd.  The Calgary Stampede has now been checked off the bucket list.  Glad to have been there, done that, but probably would not go back.  Getting too old for that much fun!  More to come in the next posting, see you there.

This will get your attention for sure