Saturday, August 1, 2009

Waterton National Park






More photos of more lakes and mountains, just in case you needed another fix. One can never get enough of beautiful views I think. Food for the soul.



View over the village, taken from the car park of the Prince of Wales Hotel in Waterton. Love the change in colours of the water. I think this might be more spectacular in about May when there must still be snow on the mountains. Note to self to re-visit at other times in the year.


And the building in the background of this daft picture of prancing children is the Prince of Wales Hotel. Old by Canadian standards really, opened in 1927. Looked nice, too pricey for our budget at this time, and potentially more in keeping with an adult weekend away with no kids in tow!


Doe, a deer, a female deer; Ray, a drop ...... oops, came over all musical there. Here is my inspiration. There is a notice at the entrance to the park to keep away from the deer. The females are apparently pretty aggressive in protecting their little ones at this time of year. Mind you, they are obviously very comfortable wandering around the streets of the town, I lost count of how many we saw (or maybe it was just one or two of them playing their favourite game of hide and seek with the dumb tourist).

Excuse quality of next couple of photos, but you don't like to hang around.




One 'downside' to having these four-legged ladies and gents wandering the residential areas is that they probably don't have a too discerning appetite. I suspect they will happily munch on just about anything that anyone plants and tries to grow. Hence, virtually every tree and shrub, and all the planter boxes were wrapped in chicken wire. Kinda goes against the point of making it look pretty!!



For my botanical friends, this is the lesser spotted Milliner's Tree, part of the Hataceae family. The non-fragrant flowers open spontaneously throughout the year and can be different colours, sizes and shapes depending on location. Some sightings in other areas have been reported and include small five-fingered flowers similar to gloves, long colourful leaves resembling scarves, and small, hard cased and colourful nuts similar to a children's drinking beakers and dummies.



And finally, oh cootchie coo, a picture of cuteness. Isn't he (or she) gorgeous? I didn't see mum around this time, but she was probably lurking in the shadows, sharpening her hooves, just in case ...






4 comments:

  1. Very sweet photos of the deer, but as you intimate they can be a nuisance. So much for planting veggies or flowers to beautify the area because the deer will eat most of it. We don't have that problem so much in my town but in one west of us there are many deer in the neighborhoods. Thanks for the tour.

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  2. Beautiful photos Ann... that flower planter shot is hilarious!

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  3. A few years back I was working with a company that produced the wind turbines in Pincher Creek. I was only ther for two weeks but they finished at three every day so I had lots of time to explore.I drove down to Waterton Park. I was enthralled! It was so beautiful! The deer, the hotel the mountains, rivers and lakes! I was very glad I took the trip and time to go there. My boss was a bit curious as to why there were so many miles on my rental car. LOL!

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  4. "My boss was a bit curious as to why there were so many miles on my rental car"

    Ha - sounds like a plan to me Lorac - on company time and mileage. Well done you!

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