More of Our Canada – July 2019

W

aterton Lakes National Park

is where the Prairies of

southern Alberta abruptly

meet the Rocky Mountains.

With its abundant wildflowers and wild-

life, Waterton is one of my, and my partner

Brian’s, favourite destinations to hike.

On a clear, crisp morning in late June,

our selected hike of the day was to Bertha

Lake along a multi-use trail shared by

equestrians and hikers. It ’s a moderate

day-hike up to a picturesque lake nestled

in between Mount Richards

and Mount Alderson,

with rushing

waterfalls

and

sweeping views of the Waterton townsite.

Our hiking style is not a quest for the

summit—a four-hour hike will usually take

us eight hours. We prefer a meditative walk

among the trees, where we commune with

nature, take in the crisp mountain air and

appreciate all the small—or large—surpris-

es that nature has in store for us.

After climbing a particularly steep

grade, about one hour into the hike, I was

already splayed out on the ground taking a

macro photo of a wildflower. Next to me sat

an older couple catching their breath on a

well-placed bench, when movement down

the trail caught our attention. At first

glance, I assumed the dark figure coming

up the trail was a horse; it soon came out of

the shadows and what materialized was a

bull moose!

The hiking trail was extremely narrow in

this section, with a steep drop in elevation

to the left of the moose and a rock wall on

the bench side. The moose couldn’t turn

around; he would have to back down the

trail to make an escape. Not knowing what

the terrain would be like on the trail ahead,

we collectively made the decision to scale

the rock wall, above the bench.

During all the commotion, the moose

stood there calmly and appeared to be

waiting for us to move. Then, he made his

intentions clear by lowering his head and

lifting his front hooves, in a piaffe-like mo-

tion (a stationary dressage movement that

horses make). In a panic, Brian and I as-

sisted the older couple up the wall. After

Appreciating an unexpected natural encounter

by Holly Howat, Saskatoon

Moose

on a Mission

22 More of Our Canada JULY 2019