Glacier Vacation
Saturday - Day 4

Saturday, August 24th

After breakfast in the dining room and checking out of the Prince of Wales hotel, we had a nice walk along th water's edge in downtown Waterton Park. Then at 10 AM made it over to the horse back riding place. It was actually a temporary operation they had set up at the edge of the golf course parking lot, because they had been burned out with the fire of 2017. We had a one hour ride down to the lake and back. I told Connie, that if I ever had a horse to name, I would call Yamaha because that's what I'd rather be riding. It was about 68 degrees, overcast and breezy. We had jackets on so we weren't cold, but sun would have been nicer. The kid leading us (we were the only ones doing just an hour, so we were our own group of two plus the guide) was going to be a freshman in high school. He was very young, but he could ride. He was very comfortable on the horse.

Drove up around the Waterton Park and up to Alberta's farm country. They were just harvesting wheat, and baling straw. Then we went over through Crowsnest Pass. On the way over there, we stopped at Franks Slide. That's where the mount slide down into the valley and wiped out part of the town of Frank. The amount of rocks that went into the valley and travelled maybe a mile was absolutely stunning. I can't imagine what it would have been like to experience that. The noise must have been frightening.

Then we drove down to Roosville to cross the border. Five or six cars ahead of us and we crossed the border in about 10 minutes. The CBP agent asked if we had anything with us that we bought and I said, "Only the food in our bellies." He laughed and then made some comment about, "the Canadians." Its the only time I've seen a border agent smile, let alone make a joke about the neighbors.

The drive took us through the Kootenai National Forest. At one point we stopped at the Kootenai Falls overlook. There was an icecream stand there, so we indulged. It was quite a hike over to the falls, including a high foot bridge across the BNSF railroad (two tracks).
We arrived in Coeur d' Alene about 5:30 Pacific Time, checked into the Hampton Inn and went to dinner at BarDeNay's just down the street (walked there).

Nothing like cowboys. Someone should make riding helmets that look like cowboy hats.

Frank Slide. This is a panoramic shot that didn't turn out so great. The magnitude of the amount of rock that was involved and how far it traveled is stunning.