We journeyed across the border Sunday, saying goodbye to the U.S. for a while and hello to Canada for the next 3 1/2 months. Waterton Park was our touchdown in Alberta, home-based just 5 minutes from the Waterton Lake National Park entrance to venture there for daily explorations. We immediately immersed ourselves in the unknown adventure awaiting, which ended up being the maiden voyage of the S.S. Magick Boat on beautiful Waterton Lake, followed by a day each of hiking and mountain biking, which included encounters with 5 grizzlies and more animal friends, giving us a well rounded experience of this beautiful area.

Our journey across the border was virtually uneventful other than a lot of questioning in different versions of whether or not we had firearms or weapons of any nature with us.

We said no to the creative rewordings of the questions and added we were vegan and choose a compassionate lifestyle without violence. The border patrol smiled.

So onward we went, shifting into a different energetic realm on the other side of this border.

To say the vistas were stunning is an understatement and we had a lovely view from our peaceful site for 3 nights once again, too.

Waterton makes up the other half of the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park and shares the beauty of Glacier, merging it with its own uniqueness.

So, after lunch on arrival we set off for the park and caught a glimpse of the whimsical Prince of Wales Hotel in its enchanting setting. So we decided to check it out after first stopping in the park along Waterton Lake.

The Prince of Wales Hotel is like a gingerbread castle amidst fantasy land.

Such a spectacular setting and view from atop the hill where it sits with panoramic views of Waterton Lake and surrounding mountains. And the views inside of this vintage hotel were equally stunning, as we explored the lobby where you can take in Afternoon Tea between 1 and 5pm with a reservation to enjoy tea, sandwich squares, and pastries for $30.

Although we did not end up eating at the Prince of Wales, we did check out the Royal Stewart Dining Room’s dinner menu to see what options are around for vegans and found a couple of vegan friendly menu items that sounded delicious, which included:

• Quinoa Chickpea Ratatouille: House made quinoa, black bean, and chickpea cake baked (hold the goat cheese they top it off with) Served on a bed of roasted root vegetables and balsamic tomato ratatouille with a bouquet of chef’s daily vegetables
• Pineapple Red Curry: Mixed vegetables sautéed in a coconut and curry pineapple sauce finished with fried tofu, grilled naan, grilled pineapple, served with a lemon thyme jasmine rice

After exploring a little inside the hotel, we went on the other side of the window view we’d seen from the Afternoon Tea lobby to see it from the outside.

The incredible vistas here continued and mirrored some of what we’d been seeing in Glacier National Park, which makes sense since Waterton is at the north end of Glacier.

It was a gorgeous and windless day so we decided on trying out our new kayak.

Since weather has been getting really nice, now that we’re further into summer and we’d be visiting a lot of gorgeous lakes and rivers, Dave thought it would be fun to have a little something to float and get around on the water with. I agreed.

We would now be taking our experiences onto the water to literally immerse with and flow on the waves of life rather than only connecting with them from land.

We didn’t feel at this time to invest in something major, plus we don’t have room to store a kayak since we already have a cargo box on our tow vehicle and no room anywhere else.

So Dave found us the best little inflatable kayak he could find and we both remarked how great and comfortable it was once we got it on the water.

For a limited investment and having one that we can deflate and store away in our cargo box, it was a great choice for us and made our day on Waterton Lake much fun.

The little kayak is an Intex “Explorer K2”, which I thought was cool given our RV is a Fleetwood “Discovery”.

Exploring and Discovering indeed we are. 🙂

But of course we had to name our new kayak and it was a simple and logical process – we named her the Magick Boat!

So we now have a Magick Bus and a Magick Boat.

And we took the S.S. Magick Boat on its maiden voyage across stunning Waterton Lake, beaching it twice to explore some little hidden beaches all to ourselves.

We remarked how quiet the lake was compared to our beloved Lake Tahoe at this time of year. It was like our own private lake and with a windless day, the water was beautifully still and of course mirroring the crystal clearness we have been seeing.

We also got to enjoy more magickal views of the Prince of Wales Hotel from the water.

A perfect first day in Waterton for sure.

On our second day we made 1pm reservations on the Akamina Hiker Shuttle to take us into the part of the park that was closed due to construction and only could be accessed via taking this shuttle to particular hikes available. This restricted the amount of people there and also took us further into the wild beauty.

We decided on Wall Lake as our hike, which is actually in British Columbia. This is a 6.5 mile hike that takes you to an Alpine lake in BC Provincial Park.

So you end up actually crossing the continental divide as you meander through the beauty dense and enchanted forest, across streams, and then across a field leading to the lake that is surrounded by a wall of mountains, hence the name Wall Lake.

It was gorgeous and peaceful and became our day of grizzly sightings galore with five total on this hike.

Remember in a previous post I mentioned how Dave had been wondering why we hadn’t yet seen any bears and I’d told him we would when their energy was important for us to encounter and their medicine and messages aligned with what we need. It was just a timing thing.

Then we saw the big black bear on our last day in Glacier and now on our second day in Waterton, 5 grizzlies.

I guess that bear energy was in full gear!

We’ve seen hundreds of grizzlies (VERY up close and personal) in Alaska (one of my most favorite places) on our amazing bear expedition we did by helicopter, dropping us in the middle of grizzly central.

You might remember the incredible photos from that experience: TLC, Resting With Angels On Cloud 9 & Rising Anew To An Even Lesser Traveled Road ~ I Love Alaska

I’m sharing that link so you can check out the incredible encounters and photos of the grizzlies we had, since I haven’t photos this time to share. More on that below.

Well, now we got to see them by “chance” just doing our thing hiking through the forest.

Our first sighting took place within the first ten minutes, as what appeared to be a young grizzly on its own, came down the path ahead of us. He wasn’t a cub and not a full grown, so likely about 3 in age since grizzly moms are known to rear their cubs for 2 – 3 years (keeping yearlings a bit longer with them).

It was an incredible experience, just like in Alaska. We realized after a few seconds that he had been wandering along the path, but then two women up ahead had caught glimpse of him and started making loud noises to alert and chase him off.

So he was getting away from them, but coming to us.

We just stopped, took a few steps back, stayed calm, and watched him, while I held the energy and also turned around to forewarn the two girls that we were aware were not too far behind us, so that they didn’t get frightened and do anything silly. We both said hi to him and made him aware of our presence.

He definitely seemed to want to get away from the noise the women were continuing to make even though he was away from them, which made him want to duck for cover and a little disoriented, so after seeing us and connecting for a bit, he then shuffled his way down the side of the path into the trees before the two girls behind us could see him.

Grizzly encounter 1.

We continued the hike, venturing through the beautiful enchantment of the forest.

And then at the end of the hike, not far from our first sighting, we got the chance to connect with a mother grizzly and her three cubs.

We came upon two girls – different ones – interesting each of the three sets of people around the grizzlies were two girls or women. Anyway, when these two girls saw us they were incredibly happy. I mean like life affirming, relieved happy to see us.

They told us that we were like life savers, as they had been petrified seeing a mother and her cubs ahead on the path. And so they had stayed where they were, basically paralyzed in fear and not wanting to go on, for a half an hour.

Curiously, we discovered they both carried bear spray, which is a powerful pepper spray.

The looks on their faces was like we saved them from near death, which made me glad we could be there to help them feel at peace, but also sad that we are so conditioned by fear to stop any enjoyment of things that could be incredible. More on that shortly.

Anyway, the mom and cubs had gone off a half an hour ago, but they were still too scared to move.

So we went on ahead of them and they scurried behind us.

Next thing we know, we hear them talking loud and things like “nice bear” and they hurry up to us.

The mom and cubs were off to the left of the path and the girls were in fear once again. Dave and I walk a few steps back and see them in the trees to the left just up from the trail. The girls tell us they’re out of there and make a bee line to the end of the trail, while Dave and I watched for a few minutes, again holding the energy, but peacefully.

There was a mom and three cubs and they were not in the least bit interested in anyone, nor feeling threatened, as they were playing in the trees. We got to see the little ones climbing the trees and them eating and just being a family together.

What a beautiful connection and sight, done safely and without need for bringing fear into the equation.

Since I haven’t any photos, I’ll share this one of a mom and three cubs that we saw in Alaska, which mirrors exactly what this little family here in Waterton looked like, but in the trees.

Amazing that now we’d seen two sets of moms with three cubs. Grizzlies can have 1 – 4 cubs, but average is 2 – 3.

Then we headed down and joined the girls and a few other hikers who had passed us, to wait for the shuttle back.

Grizzly encounter 2.

So here’s my take on this.

I’m very cautious and I always before ALL hikes send out harmonious and protective energies for us AND the animals.

I let them know we come in peace and that there is no need for defensiveness.

I intend and share that we can connect safely for the highest good of all of us.

And perhaps this is why I/we encounter so many amazing animal experiences and connections in ways most don’t.

I honestly feel that there needs to be healthy relationships with animals not based on fear. And that we need to get back to being in harmony and having that sacred relationship with them, the plants, land, elements, and Earth at large. Not to mention, with each other as well.

We are so conditioned by fear.

I know I carry my own like with sharks, which is something I have worked on and been able to shift immensely. I believe it can all be integrated and simply mirrors something within us that we aren’t willing to embrace. For instance, sharks carry such a potent primordial energy that embraces shadow aspects within that if transmuted can be extremely empowering to dance with that energy rather than fear it.

We have built in fears around “predators” and guess what? That carries through to our fears about people, others different than us, and so-called authority figures or even energies, beings, and people in “false” power that places us into victim mode.

We are only powerless and can be powered over if we allow it. But we can also rise up and be our own power that works in harmony with other energies rather than fights, fears, and flees it.

I feel we can integrate and work with those energies to shift things and change the collective dynamic.

That’s not to say that I think you should go out and do really dumb things and place yourself purposefully into a situation to try and prove something. Nor, do I feel that one is always aware of their underlying energies at work and so doing silly things may place you in danger.

But there is a healthy balance and there is also a call for us to become more aware of where these fears stem from, what they mean, and to be willing to work with them so that we can shift the dynamics at play.

Not just simply BE in fear and never do anything because of that.

Everyone we meet is always in panic mode about bears. This panic placed those two girls in a state of paralysis. Imagine how that trickles into one’s life beyond this experience.

Now, granted a mom with cubs can potentially be a worst case scenario to come up upon, given mom’s desire to protect her babies, but there are ways to more productively work with these energies in awareness and practicing centeredness and deeper sacred connection.

We need to be conscious, have our spidey senses on, not do stupid things, and take precautions, as well as know your limitations and your energies at work.

But also the fear is conditioned as animals don’t attack for no reason unless scared, provoked, or feel a need to defend. So keep your energies in check. I don’t advocate placing yourself in situations to test things, but if you know you have immense fears around something, it may just be of benefit to work with that to transmute it so that it doesn’t become a debilitating factor in more than just that area in your life.

There are amazing and beautiful experiences we can have in harmonious ways with the things we once feared. There is great alchemy there.

Imagine how much we miss out on because of fear limiting us. Some pretty profound and beautiful experiences!

I don’t purposefully put myself in a situation, but I do trust that when in one that I have the ability to do so in a way that is empowering and that I will be protected. I utilize my resources of energy work, telepathy, and draw upon my connection to Source, which we can all do.

I also trust that everything is in divine order and I love living my life fully and doing what I love, and know that that sacred dance with a return to natural harmony is my soul path and constant motivation.

So whatever takes place, I know I am living my purpose and being in essence. That matters most to me to do as long as I’m in this human body and beyond this form as well.

That was a little detour, but one I felt important to share.

But back to our time…the day and hike was beautiful and these experiences added to the sacredness and I learned, and deepened into my own soul growth, much more.

Upon our return from our day special day hike, we decided to stop at a local restaurant situated right on Waterton Lake to relax with a refreshment while taking in the views.

We immediately found a spot with an outdoor deck and decided to order the giant nacho plate (vegan style – so minus cheese and sour cream) along with our drinks. I had something called a Rocky Mountain Burst and chose a strawberry one, which was like a virgin margarita, as they added a little salt around the edge. Fun!

The nachos were huge, coming with a side of salsa and guacamole we quickly spread on top, and were mixed with spicy black beans, jalapenos, tomatoes, and olives. It ended up becoming our dinner. 🙂

The next day, our last day here in Waterton, we decided to go mountain biking on Snoeshoe Trail.

This is one of three trails in Waterton Lake National Park that you can bike, which begins at the Red Rock Canyon Trailhead (you can see why its called this by the red rock along the creek lots of people were enjoying) and is 10 miles roundtrip, climbing approximately 1148 feet (not so fun up, but weeeeee down).

It follows Bauerman Creek Valley and takes you to the Snoeshoe Cabin and Campground, which is a trail junction by a creek.

It was a beautiful area and very quiet once you left the people soaking in the warm day by the creek water. So once you crossed the bridge over that creek, you found yourself in solitude.

At the trail junction there was a lovely creek.

Lots of energies showed up here at the creek when I took photos. So I kept snapping away, enthralled by how the energies, light, and colors kept shifting frame by frame.

On the way up to the trail we saw a beautiful coyote and some lovely deer again (which we also saw in the village too), and then I saw two grouse at the beginning that crossed my path after Dave went ahead. I stopped to connect with them and one came close, talking away. Then two squirrels ran across my path playing back and forth. There were tons of butterflies and dragonflies on this trail too.

I didn’t have ability to capture photos for you of any of the animals except the coyote and a couple of butterflies when we stopped, as we were biking or in situations making it not possible.

And the same with the grizzlies, as I was so in the moment and being aware of energy, holding and keeping aware of surroundings and all, that it wasn’t possible. And when it did become possible, like with the cubs in the trees, it was too hard to capture them in any way a photo would show what we could see of them moving quickly behind the branches. So I only at the very end snapped one photo that caught a furry patch of cub in the trees. 🙂

Perhaps that patch of softness, mysteriousness, and simply a part of the surroundings as an extension of All That Is, is some of the message here.

All energies are part of wholeness and depending on your perception, you can turn something once judged, feared, and defined as one thing, back into the Source from which it came and experience the gentle mystery as beautiful perfection in the full tapestry of consciousness.

It was a perfect few days in Waterton, which ended in a bang, as upon return home we experienced a brief hail and thunder storm that passed quickly, turning into a crazy evening and night of wild winds.

Then a rainbow appeared from the mountains that were lit to our left.

Indeed a big time shift had taken place on this Full Moon in Capricorn day, but harmony restored and empowerment of ethereal essence and earthly humanness integrated further.

Today we are off to Calgary and to what ever’s next on the cosmic scene to embrace.