Jan 5 & 6

Bill and I lucked out and ended up being able to book the ACC hut in Waterton National park.  It sleeps 8 and is pretty much completely booked until April, but somehow we ended up with the cabin all to ourselves.  It took us about 2 hours to drive there from Nanton.  We were familiar with the beauty of the Park as we had spent a few days there on our last tour in 2010.   We stopped at the Park Warden’s office to let them know we arrived and to check the avalanche forecast.  They are always so knowledgeable and friendly. 

They told us about the hut and suggested some good ski routes for us. 

We started our drive to the trail head and spotted a few people ice climbing – we stopped to watch them for a bit – pretty incredible and something we don’t get to see at home.   Bill stopped to take a few photos and as we were walking back to our van we came face to face with 2 big horn sheep – Bill was able to catch a few photos before one ran right by us –

We got to our hut and it was so cute.  It was the old Warden’s office and was built in the 1930’s.  It had the basics -gas lights and a little furnace, so we were able to warm it up nicely.  It was so incredibly dark out there once night fell – the stars were absolutely stunning.  It was quite the feeling knowing you were out there all by yourself – cuddled by mountains.   

Day 1 we went for a ski/hike to Forum lake which was quite the climb – fun skiing out – we were pretty tired by this point and still had to ski back to the van in the dark with our headlamps to get our large packs with our food, sleeping bags & supplies – you know you are exhausted when you take turns counting steps -- we allowed ourselves to break every 200 steps -  

Day 2 we had a great ski to Wall Lake – the conditions were great – lots of fresh snow marked with every kind of animal print and the temperature was perfect.   The sun was peeking through the trees and creating glittery snowfalls – it was so pretty.  As we approached the Lake we were faced with this massive wall of mountain – It had a very powerful presence.   We stopped and had some warm soup and lunch right at the base. 

As we sat and enjoyed the view I couldn’t help but wonder is this what Heaven looks like?