June 14, Sunday: Waterton Lakes, Canada

It poured around midnight and then the hail started, but it didn't last long and no damage was done.  Woke to dreary clouds and cold - the RV said 51 inside.  Turned on the furnace, but since I didn't do a lot of driving yesterday, the batteries are not fully charged.  Even though the furnace is propane, the fan uses a lot of battery charge, so one quick warm-up would have to do.

I was planning my most vigorous hike here - 750 feet elevation gain within 1 mile, but the weather is not cooperating.  The trail is steep and the rain may have made it slippery plus the views are compromised by the low hanging clouds.....well, that sounds like two good excuses, right?

 I stopped at the visitor center and he said he thinks the weather should hold and I may want to try it and even if it starts to rain, coming down doesn't take very long....yeah, right.  He said the views would be "sweet" even with the clouds.  Well, I am way too old to do "sweet" and I certainly am not going to put myself through the agony of a 750 feet climb (oh, did I mention we start at over 3,000 feet so oxygen is not the same as in Charleston?) in the rain.  So there.

I did stop and tour the Prince of Wales Hotel up on the bluff.  Impressive from the outside, gorgeous location but the interior doesn't even come close to the National Park Lodges...Did love the bellhops in their tartan skirts and wish I could have been there for the afternoon tea.

Weather continues to look threatening, so I headed out of the park and generally north towards Edmonton where I will be picking Jack up Tuesday evening.  I stopped at a campground that has electricity (yeah, first in many days), WiFi, and a laundry.  Housekeeping chores and updating this blog is on the agenda for today and tomorrow morning.

Jack and I will be heading northwest from Edmonton to pick up the Alaska Highway through Yukon, so the blog may be quiet for a week or more until we get internet, hopefully in Alaska!