With no school on Friday, I packed up TyTy and hit the road for Waterton. A day in the mountains was so needed! There is so much construction currently going on. When I pulled in, they were working on rebuilding the old Kilmorey Lodge at last, building a new cabin, redoing the townsite campground, and paving the Bertha Falls parking lot. There were construction people and equipment everywhere!
Just as I pulled in, Cat texted me that she was in Waterton going to hike Bertha Falls with her sister and I laughed at the timing and asked if TyTy and I could tag along. Hiking is always more fun with someone who chats back with you.
The main trail entrance was closed off though and we wondered if the trail was closed. Turns out, they closed the main entrance to prevent people from getting in the way of the construction crew. There was an alternate access to Bertha via a game trail that started at Cameron Falls.
It was a really pretty piece of trail that I didn’t know existed. There were patches of snow and only a few burned up trees from the Kenow Fire.
It wasn’t long before we hit the main part of Bertha and headed up the familiar trail surrounded by birches.
But the intact trees didn’t last very long, and before we knew it all the surrounding trees were charred remnants from the fire. It made for such a beautiful contrast though. The bright blue sky, the black trees, the green undergrowth, and white patches of snow.
We also had new views that were hidden by trees and brush before.
It was slow going as we had little Olly and Kev with us, but it’s so worth it to watch the world through a child’s eyes and see what captures their interests. Kev kept saying he was tired and at one point, Cat pulled him along the trail with a stick.
We came upon another family with two young kids and their youngest boy was very competitive. He didn’t like our group passing him, so he would huff it up the trail to stay a few steps ahead of us. Now, that’s a kid after my own heart! Ha ha!
Just before we reached the scenic viewpoint and the fork in the trail to head to the falls or to the bay, TyTy fell asleep.
We rounded the mountain and *whoosh* the icy wind hit our faces. No trees means no shelter from that fierce Waterton wind anymore. After a few minutes, I became concerned because TyTy’s very cute hiking outfit didn’t include a toque or hoodie that could cover his ears. I didn’t want the wind to give him an ear ache. I told the group I was going to turn around and Cat opted to turn around with her kiddos too. Her sister, Becky, continued on to the falls.
That is the second time this year I have attempted to get to Bertha Falls and didn’t make it because it wasn’t in TyTy’s best interests. Hiking mom life!
We picked our way down and saw a deer, stopped at a little waterfall, and chatted away.
The kids were tired and my back was KILLING me! TyTy is officially too big to hike with on my front, he needs to be on my back from now on. I’m sad about that because I love holding his hands and kissing his head as we hike.
And that concluded our day because I wanted to leave before he became overtired and grumpy.
This will be my hiking life with kids for the next few years, but it’ll be worth it to raise an outdoor loving child!
Awesome use of a no school day! Your kids are lucky to be exposed to nature and exercise so early – well done!
It’s so important we do it now while they’re little. Children today are being raised so disconnected from nature which has a negative affect on their health.