Points South: Kimberley & Waterton

 Where has the time gone?  The summer is past and we're staring down another winter with continued COVID-19  restrictions in place.  

Looking at my posts from last summer, this year is a reprise in some ways.  But each trip has different highlights.  

We began the camping season heading to southern Alberta.  The first night was spent at Riverbend Campground right along the Sheep River in Okotoks.  The fisherman was all excited, until he learned that the fishing season doesn't begin until the day after tomorrow.  Thankfully we had A/C in the trailer to beat the +30 weather.  

The next day we met up with our good friends Paul & Mavis and after a bit of retail exploring in Nanton we all made our way to the Riverside Campground in Kimberley, B.C.  After a bit of a stressful parking experience, we got ourselves set-up, a couple of sites apart, ready for an awesome adventure together.  

Over the next couple of days we went for a hike along the St. Mary's River, rode bikes along the Rails to Trails network, enjoyed the coffee shops and farmer's market in the Platzl, and just generally relaxed and enjoyed ourselves.  

The campground is right along the St. Mary's River.  

The hiking trail we found took us to the top of the cliffs and down to the shoreline.  

The bike ride on the old railway between Marysville and Kimberley was a continual climb.  And then coasting all the way back to the starting point.  

From Kimberley we moved on to the Crooked Creek Campground at the edge of Waterton National Park.  

On the way, we ducked into Fernie for lunch.  Downtown Fernie has some wonderful art shops and several cafes to choose from.  The locals recommended the Big Bang Bagels and they did not disappoint.  

The next day looked a bit gloomy, but we thought we'd beat the rain and explore Waterton.  Not so fast!  Our truck had a flat tire that needed to be repaired first!  Fortunately, there was a tire shop open in Cardston on a Saturday morning.  

So now it was raining.  Oh well. Might as well go exploring between rain showers.  We walked around town, to the Cameron Falls and a little bit up the Bertha Lake trail. The Akamina Parkway is open again since the fire so we drove up to Cameron Lake and Red Rock Canyon.  And then, of course, a stop at a coffee shop!

Cameron Falls with Paul, Mavis and Molly.

It's starting to rain!

Along the Bertha Lake trail.

Cameron Lake

Along the Akamina Parkway

The next day was much nicer.  We hiked up the Crandall Lake Trail.  A number of years ago we'd tried doing this hike but had to turn back because of a bear.  Now that the trees were burnt, you could see where you were along the trail and hear other hikers and potentially scare away any bears.  The lake was beautiful and Molly had a blast retrieving sticks from the water.  

Back at camp we were joined by Marilyn and had a wonderful relaxing afternoon and evening.