Today we leave Glacier National Park after four sensational days. We had places to go so there was a goal of leaving at 7am. We pulled out around 7:45 and I consider that a HUGE success.
Driving through Montana east of Glacier National Park toward the Canadian border was some different scenery than we were used to this week. Once you get out of the mountains, all you have is rolling plains. Looked great to me.
Big Sky Country
We finally saw Bison!
When we pulled up to the Canadian border, we were the only cars in line. We got questions like how long will we be in the country, do we have any weapons, do we have any alcohol, etc. It didn’t take very long. We were all a little surprised that the border is closed between 11pm and 7am.
Leaving the USA
Immediately past the border is a duty-free shop. We checked it out. Lots of alcohol, perfume, and candy. It was fascinating how this worked. All purchases in the store had to be exported to the United States. If a person buys a bottle of liquor, you leave the store without your purchase, and drive past the Canadian side to an area in-between the two checkpoints. Then the duty-free store will put your purchase in a van, and drive it to the in-between area where they will give you the purchase. Then you will drive your purchase over the border. They go to extremes to make sure everyday Canadians are not purchasing duty-free alcohol!
Get your goods at the duty-free shop
Canada also had the foresight to provide a very large welcome sign to Alberta. A true photo opportunity.
Welcome to Alberta!
Our first stop in Alberta was the Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump. This is a World Heritage Site, and a very interesting stop. This was an area that Plains People had been using to kill buffalo for around 5,700 years. Due to the terrain and the wind, this was an exceptional area to run buffalo off the cliff. We were able to walk up and see the very spot where the buffalo would leap to their demise.
Buffalo Jump
Watching a Video at the Visitors Center
Ellery pets a Buffalo
Steve finds his Canadian K-Dawg counterpart!
The Kings visit Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump
After leaving Buffalo Jump, we made our way to Calgary to pick up Miles and Peyton. They are both working this summer, but managed to join us for a long weekend on our trip! Stephanie and Erin picked up Miles & Peyton while the rest of us made our way to Canmore where we are staying.
Miles and Peyton visit Canada!
I was riding with Scott and we were looking for a gas station. From our observation, Canadians must not use gas in their cars. We drove for maybe 45 minutes along a heavily populated area without seeing any type of commercial business. No gas stations, no supermarkets, nothing at all.
Google told us that there was a Petro Canada Truck Stop at the intersection of our highway and Highway 1, the Trans Canadian Highway. So we were excited to visit. We showed up and it was amazing. It was a cramped little gas station with a gravel road on-ramp back to the highway. It was a disaster. What is Canada doing?
Petro Canada Truck Stop
Truck Stop on-ramp to Highway 1
Once we checked into our condo in Canmore, the groups did various things such as going out to grab a bite to eat, go for a drive, and visit the hot tub on the top floor of the condo. It was a laid back evening.
Hot Tub in Canmore
As we have wrapped up our Glacier portion of the trip, it is important that I share the words to a song that Mallory created as a public service announcement. This song was written to raise awareness to the leading cause of death at Glacier National Park. Please heed this information as you prepare for your next trip to Glacier.
The Glacier Song
We’re here in Glacier National Park
What could we be doing?
Looking at the water, the glaciers, the brewing
I’m going to sing you a song
Can you guess what the leading cause of death could be?
It’s not bears!
It’s not forest fires!
It’s not falling off a cliff!
Can you guess?
I’ll give you a couple more guesses
It’s not getting struck by lightning!
Is it dehydration?
It’s not dehydration!
It’s not bleeding to death!
It’s not any of those those..
It’s drowning, it’s drowning
It’s none of those things, it’s drowning!
Here at Glacier, falling off a glacier
Into the roaring river and drowning