12 June – Many Glaciers to Waterton (Canada)

We drove out of Many Glaciers and up toward the Canadian border. On the way we saw a baby deer on the side of the road. The poor little beggar didn’t know what to do or where to run, so we stopped and waited til he sorted himself out, trotted up the road a bit and jumped a fence into the forest. 

We crossed the border at Chief Mountain – all the customs people were wearing flak jackets. Must get some desperate people trying to get into Canada! J

Coming into Waterton, our first stop was the Prince of Wales Hotel, completed in 1927. The hotel is amazing – built right on a cliff top overlooking the Waterton lake, the mountains and the township below. The view is just awesome.

We headed down into town and to the campsite, right on the edge of the lake. The town is quaint and small, just a few touristy shops and lots of hotels and restaurants. We parked up, and as we were getting settled a herd of deer came trotting through the campground, herded along by border collies in red coats. Apparently these are the town deer herding dogs, keeping the deer out because they are getting too pushy with people. 

There were lots of little Columbian Ground Squirrels around, they dig holes and tunnels and the place is swarming with the little critters. They squeak a lot too.

We got the scooter off and rode back up to the Prince of Wales for high tea. We were seated in the big windows, overlooking the most incredible view! We were served sandwiches, scones and biscuits, with tea. The food was nice and the panorama just lovely. All the hotel staff wear kilts in the Stuart tartan.

Following high tea (which was actually a late lunch for us) we scooted back to the RV, left the scooter and went for a walk through town. We saw a fox, just wandering through the campground. We intended to do a boat tour of the lake, but the wind was fair up, the water was very choppy and the rain had started, so we decided to give it a miss.

The rain cleared pretty quickly, so we went back to the Prince of Wales for dinner and another gawk at the view. The hotel is high above the valley, looking straight down the lake, with towering mountains all around. It is like a painting, or a movie. We expected Sister Maria and the Von Trapps to start singing “the Hills are Alive” at any moment. 

The dinner was nice, and we sat in the restaurant, and then the bar, just looking out the windows. We had a chat to some of the staff and found out that the hotel is only open for 4 months of the year, and only opened for the season on Friday. A maintenance man (the assistant GM) lives on site all year. Some interesting facts we found out: The hotel was built during prohibition so rich Americans could cross the border and drink legally. The hotel has 2 ghosts, haunting rooms 608 and 510. The lady in 608 was stabbed to death by her husband, who worked as a chef. He did a runner and was never caught. The lady in 510 jumped to her death, either from the fourth floor balcony or the clock tower. The hotel has a massive chandelier in the lobby, and until about 10 years ago when a pulley system started being used, the bell boys took turns being lowered through a hatch in the ceiling to clean the glass, and change light bulbs. During construction, the hotel blew off its foundations twice, until the engineers discovered an anchoring system to hold it down. We noticed big cables running along the roof beams. The first time it blew right over the cliff. Attempts were made to pull it back up using teams of horses, but it was too heavy. The actual Price of Wales has never visited the hotel. Just some trivia for you all!