Day 8-Canada
We went to the Cardston Temple in the morning and it’s a beautiful building. Then we had some lunch and headed to Waterton while Brian had an all-day rehearsal-the last of the season!
Waterton turned out to be an adventure. We had a map and wanted to hike to Bertha Falls but the map was unclear where the actual trailhead began. Scott tried to ask at a nature association building that turned out to be unattended, so we forged out on our own. Scott says he naively thought the Lakeshore Trail, which Bertha breaks off from, actually laid along the lakeshore, so we started along a paved trail that ran by the lake. It soon ran out at a cove and we were stymied. I sat down declaring I would not walk another foot in the wrong direction because I felt my energy draining quickly. Scott gallantly set off to get the car and bring it to my resting place. Along the way, he asked a passerby and discovered I was actually pretty close to the trailhead but it was up a street. The townsite is businesses in the center, then homes, then campgrounds, then the lake. The Lakeshore Trail goes along the lake but up on the ridge. Oh. So Scott parked the car and we walked a few hundred yards in the other direction to find a small parking lot and the trailheads. Hallelujah!
We started up the trail to Bertha Falls and didn’t get far when we noticed black clouds rolling in and heard thunder. Awesome. We were debating whether to turn back when the rain started and our decision was made for us. We turned around and went back to the car, wet, but not soaked. Then we had to decide what to do next. Scott suggested a drive along Red Rock Canyon road to possibly see some more bears, but they were hiding in the drizzle. We got to the end of the road without spotting any wildlife and decided since the storm had blown through and we were at the canyon, we should just walk the Red Rock Canyon loop trail above the streambed we had hiked previously. It gave a nice view down into the canyon, but the view from down below was definitely better.
Having accomplished that, we got back in the car and headed back out, still hoping to see a bear. We found a ranger standing by the road with binoculars so we pulled over to check it out. It turned out to be a female moose in a pond grazing on water plants along the bottom. 
The ranger mentioned that there was a black bear up the road so we moved on to check that out but it had moved over the crest of the hill and was out of sight. Bitterly disappointed, we climbed back into our car to move on. But fate intervened as we got to a pullout and Scott yelled that there was a bear. He slammed on the brakes and jumped out to snap some photos and we got to watch him for a couple minutes before he disappeared. Bear sighting total: 3.
We also saw a beaver swimming to a giant lodge on the river. Plentiful wildlife in Canada. 🙂
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