Horseshoe Basin and Lakeview Ridge

Today's hike was in the northern, seldom-seen part of the park and even though we did see lakes from Lakeview Ridge, some had disappeared after a dry summer (streams, too) and some were mighty low on water.

The trailhead is at the buffalo paddock - although we didn't see any bison.

A short way along the trail we got this glimpse of the Waterton townsite valley. We climbed into the aspen grove that still retained its leaves.

After climbing through the aspen we had this higher-up view toward Waterton Lake. Interesting cloud  formation.

A little further along we could see Waterton Lake.

At the top of the ridge, and before we turned a corner into a valley, we looked back and could see the road to the buffalo paddock and the trailhead. If you look carefully, you can see our car at the end of the road. (Click on the picture to make it bigger.)

This is Horseshoe Basin and like many valleys, we got to the end and wondered where the trail will go from there.

And, like many trails at the end of a valley, this trail went up one side of the mountain. We zig-zagged up the side of Lakeview Ridge and this picture is looking back down Horseshoe Basin.

Standing on top of the saddle between Horseshoe Basin and Oil Basin. Don't be fooled by Frederick's calm appearance. Once again, as I guess we should expect by now, the wind was ripping up and over the ridge top. Maybe you can see that the wind has blown Frederick's hat off of his head and it is hanging around his neck.

The view from Lakeview Ridge out over Oil Basin.

Mount Galwey anchors one end of the ridgeline.

The trail on top of the ridgeline.

We descended to the base of the ridge and entered the prairie. That's Lakeview Ridge and...

there's Lakeview Ridge - a little further across the prairie.

We walked quite a way across the prairie and...

all of a sudden we saw a moose looking like he was going to run right to us. However, fortunately he ran, quite fast, into a grove of trees. It was thrilling to see this magnificent animal.We have see moose before, but never running on dry land.

This was a loop trail and here we are, almost back to the car by the buffalo paddock.

Hike statistics:

Length - 13.33 miles

Elevation gain - 1870 feet (349 floors on the Fitbit)

Duration - 5 hours, 46 minutes