Goat Haunt Backpack

As I walked back into my campsite at Akamina (2 miles) it started pouring rain. By the time that I reached the campsite I was pretty wet but the rain had stopped. I decided to check out Forum Falls and Forum Lake to dry my pants and jacket out before I settled down. I stopped in and saw the ranger on the way. I let him know that I paid for two nights in US dollars. He hadn't even realized that I hadn't paid the evening before. Akamina is comparatively cheap - $5 per night. It is actually in a British Columbia provincial park bordering Waterton National Park. They provide fire wood and a place to store your food. It was a great little place.

It was quite cold that night and the next morning. My fingers were numb by the time I finished packing up. I felt warmer after the two mile walk back to my car. I then drove to a picnic area and sorted my gear for an overnight backpack to Goat Haunt. Deer were all over Waterton townsite - even mothers and fawns and they showed no real fear of humans. There were signs about keeping your dogs away because apparently the deer have killed a few curious dogs while trying to protect their fawns.

The hike out to Goat Haunt turned out to be over nine miles. For some reason I thought it was supposed to be much less. It was pretty with views of Waterton Lake along the way. It was interesting to cross the border. There were two boundary markers with different dates. It would have been interesting to know a little more about that. At one point I came across alot of fur on the trail. There was also a skull. It was an obvious kill of a bear or cougar. I was a little nervous after that as the trail was overgrown. I was calling out quite often to let the big carnivores know that I was coming.

From Goat Haunt Backpack

At Goat Haunt I had to go through customs as it was in the USA. This was only showing my passport. I dried out my gear for an hour or so and then headed out to check out Olson Mountain, Olson Creek and Lake Janet. I was tired but it was a beautiful walk. There were lots of oddly shaped mountains. I would really like to explore that area more sometime in the future. On the way back to camp I went up a trail to Rainbow Falls. This was totally uninspiring. However there was a muddy area on the way were a deer was sucking at the mud. It turns out that they get minerals of some kind from this area.

The next morning I headed back to Waterton. It was a still beautiful morning and I got some great photos of mountains reflected in the lake. There was no immigration process here. The ranger was really nice and made sure I knew that there was a Mt Olson and Olson drainage.

From Goat Haunt Backpack

I was calling out again on the way back but at one point I rounded a turn and saw a huge brown rump. My heart stopped but I soon realised that it was a moose. This wasn't too bad but they can be dangerous too. I pondered what to do. I called out and made noise but it kind of hung out on the trail for a while. Eventually it moved off and I edged down the trail. No problems.

After I finished walking back to Waterton I drove down to East Glacier. The Chief Mountain Hwy was fantastic. I really hope I can check out the Belly River region that is along there.

Full size photos here or see slideshow below.