Summer gets busy: Tilinghast, short style Columbine, Canadian Rockies, Blackleaf

A wall of limestone cliffs on Tilinghast Creek

Katie at the U.S.-Canadian border at the Police Depot Provincial Park

Chief Mountain towers over a small wetland at Police Depot Park

 

 

 

The uppermost Southfork Lake at Castle Wilderness Provincial Park

At Waterton Lakes National Park

Mount Frazier in the Front's Blackleaf Canyon

 

 

 

 

The isolated and rare short stem Columbine

 

 

 

 I've been so busy hiking I haven't had an adequate opportunity to post.

So here's the trips:

•  A gorgeous hike on Tilinghast Creek in the Little Belt Mountains with a half-hearted approach to Big Horn Mountain
• Another trip into the Little Belts in search of the rare and isolated  short style Columbine
• A four-day trip into the Canadian Rockies where we finally made it to Barnaby and Southfork Lakes in the Castle Wilderness Provincial Park in southern Alberta near Pincher Creek.  We also hiked in Police Outpost Provincial Park adjacent to the Montana border south of Cardston.  We hiked Miners' Path city park in Coleman, Alberta near Crowsnest Pass, where we also visited the Frank Slide Museum that explores the history of the slide at the pass off Turtle Mountain that buried more than 80 people. 
• When we got back from Canada, Katie had us hike to the divide between Blackleaf Canyon and the East Fork of Teton River

Which of these was my favorite?

I think the Barnaby/Southfork lakes trip because it was challenging and the last time we tried this three years ago we got turned back by fierce winds and I lost my expensive Garmen GPS device.  (No, I didn't find it)

This time the weather was perfect and we enjoyed the 8+ miles hike with a 2,500 feet elevation gain.  There were extremely steep sections of slippy gravel.  I was sore the next day from bracing myself.

This hike offered incredible views of the Canadian Rockies just north of Waterton National Park into the Crowsnest area and beyond to the north.  There must be dozens of Glacier Park quality areas in the Canadian Rockies.

We were charmed by the Police Outpost park out on the prairie on the Montana border.  It was once a spot that policed the border.  The area offers remarkable views of Chief Mountain, the north end of Glacier and south end of Waterton parks.  There are several shallow lakes in wetlands along the way.  Outpost Lake, though, is quite large and fishable, and there's an island with a bridge to it that can be hiked.  The prairie flowers were outstanding.

We enjoyed walking through a small gate through a barbed wire fence to the U.S. border where there were warnings to return to Canada.