Waterton Lakes National Park--Seeing the Wildfire Destruction Two Years Later

Our camping spot at the Great Canadian Barn Dance is just a thirty minute drive from one of Canada's national parks, so we pointed our wheels that direction early the next morning. We love the mountains, so our excitement mounted as the views of the Rockies got closer . . .

and closer on the short drive this morning.

We loved this picture of a little white church framed by the peaks on our way to Waterton Lakes National Park.

We've actually visited this park before. We were here for a day-trip from Glacier National Park in the summer of 2017. But just a few days after our visit, a lightning strike started a fire that burned almost half of this national park. The charred trunks of the trees are testament that this inferno caused great damage throughout Waterton.

The bad news is that both of the roads that take visitors to sights around the park are still closed to cars.

The good news is that visitors with bicycles are welcome to ride these roads, with majestic mountain views all around them.

The other good news is that the wildflowers are just gorgeous right now! While the fire destroyed the trees, the charred ground makes a great bed for the smaller plants to flourish.

The ranger told us that this display of wildflowers is extraordinary for this park.

We are blessed that we first saw the blue bonnets in South Texas in March, and now in July we get to enjoy their cousins again in Canada. We certainly live a charmed life!

It is great to be able to enjoy a bike ride without worrying about car traffic on this road. But when we drove this road in the car two years ago, we certainly didn't remember it being uphill. It is 14 kilometers (that's 8.4 miles) and we are working hard to get to our destination this morning.

At times this is more like a bike-assisted-hike, as we have to dismount and walk our bikes up many of the inclines. Between the thinner air at this high altitude and the long uphill stretches of this road, it's a workout!

These mountains certainly look different than they did two years ago. All those toothpicks standing on the sides of the mountains were healthy forests two years ago.

Our destination is Red Rock Canyon. We're not sure where that name came from. (just kidding!)

We remember taking pictures in the canyon two years ago. It was hard to get a shot without lots of other visitors in it. Now with only hardy bikers allowed to enter, this feels like a ghost town.

From the canyon, we took the short hike to Blakiston Falls. It was sad to see all the blackened trees in the forest. But the ground under the trees was amazingly green and lush.

Now walking instead of biking, Denisa can take even more pictures of the wildflowers at her feet.

Denisa learned a new flower name. This dainty little purple flower is harebell. That explains why one of the main streets in the town of Waterton was named Harebell Avenue.

The metal viewpoints at the falls are still intact, but the area around it is sadly blackened. We took a picture of Blakiston Falls today . . .

and compared it to the one we took in 2017. What a difference a forest fire makes even two years later!

As we saddled up to make the return bike ride, Denisa was dreading that 14 kilometers. But then we realized that we had already done most of the work, and it was going to be largely downhill back to the car. We stopped for some more pictures of the mountains and the rivers around us.

We also stopped to do a little hiking, like this walk through the lupines. We like to take pictures of the places that we stop to eat, and this made for a delightful spot for a snack.

The Red Rock Canyon drive is notorious for bear sightings. With our slower pace and less traffic we were sure we were going to see bears today! But alas, we were skunked in the bear department today. The only picture we got was of this wooden cut-out bear on the side of the road. We heard later from our neighbors that they had seen a bear on the golf course today. I guess we were looking in the wrong place (again).

The only wildlife picture today was of two deer that bounded onto the road in front of us. We saw them for just a couple seconds, and then they were gone again into the tall brush. We wonder how many times we missed other momentary animal sightings on our ride.

We made it back to our vehicle, and our legs were glad to use our car to do the rest of the touring around Waterton. That would include a stop at the Prince of Wales Lodge.

A monumental effort saved this grand old hotel from the flames, while the national park visitor center across the road burned to the ground. Even though it's a big lodge, it is dwarfed by the even bigger mountains and clouds around it.

We had yet another picturesque picnic spot today, as we ate our lunch on the lawn, overlooking Waterton Lake.

Two years ago we took a boat cruise on the lake, and we thought about launching the kayak here. But the gusty winds and clouds kept us on the shore today.

The other road that takes visitors deeper into the park is also closed, so our only other sight-seeing was to Cameron Falls right on the edge of town,

and the water-side walk along Lake Waterton.

So it was a minimized trip to Waterton Lakes National Park, but we're glad we made the drive. We bought our Canadian National Park pass today, as we'll be visiting seven national parks during the next six weeks. But we're guessing that none of those other parks will have more beautiful wildflowers than we have enjoyed today.

On the drive back home, we passed this pole with a big nest on top.

It was fun to see the osprey family that lives on top of that pole. We drove by this intersection three different times, and each time one of the adults was standing guard at the top of the pole.

We spotted two babies in the nest, looking quite vulnerable in that open nest if it weren't for the watchful eyes of the parents.

Even after seeing the terrible destruction of wildfires, we have been blessed with another reminder of new life as we wander God's wonders!