Cinnamon Black Bear, Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta

Waterton Lakes National Park is where three friends (Anne B, Janet and Shirley) and I went the last two days, 11 and 12 June 2018. Part of Monday was spent travelling south to Waterton Lakes National Park, stopping at several places en route, including Lundbreck Falls. With no stops, it takes roughly three hours to get there. We stayed on Monday night at the Bear Mountain Motel in Waterton town. Tuesday morning, we drove around the Waterton area, hoping to maybe see more bears, and then made out way back north, reaching Calgary late afternoon/early evening. As it was, we were so lucky to see a gorgeous Cinnamon Black Bear, at first from a great distance and then unexpectedly close. Also spotted a Black Bear in among the blackened, burned trees that were near the edge of the road. It was very difficult to see and impossible to find an open spot through which to take photos - but it was our second bear.

"The cinnamon bear (Ursus americanus cinnamomum) is a color phase of the American black bear, native to Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Washington, Wyoming, Alberta, and British Columbia. The most striking difference between a cinnamon bear and any other black bear is its brown or red-brown fur, reminiscent of cinnamon, from which the name is derived.

Cubs weigh approximately 230 grams (8 oz) at birth, with adults weighing between 92.1 and 270 kilograms (203 and 595 lb). The life span for this bear is a maximum of 30 years.

Cinnamon bears are excellent climbers, good runners, and powerful swimmers. They are mostly nocturnal, though sometimes active during daylight hours. The cinnamon and brown bears of this country are simply color phases of the black bear, the blondes and brunettes of the family. The various colors are frequently intermixed in the same family; hence it is a common occurrence to see a black bear female with brown cubs, a brown and a black cub, or even all three colors. The bears hibernate during the winter months, usually from late October or November to March or April depending upon the weather conditions. Their scat resembles that of domestic dogs." From Wikipedia.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinnamon_bear

I had been hoping to someday get a chance to get down to Waterton, especially to see how it looked after the devastating Kenow wildfire that damaged or destroyed so much of the park in 2017. Most of the park is still closed, but the whole town site and Chief Mountain Parkway and area are open. To me, the park looked beautiful, with enough green areas to contrast with the dead trees on the mountain sides. Firefighters did such a brilliant job last year of saving the whole town, and a team of firefighters form Calgary had been given the task of doing all they could to save the historic Prince of Wales Hotel. There it still stands, untouched. One can see how close to the town and iconic Hotel the fire had come - right up to the very edge, where a sprinkler system had been set up before the fire got close.

This absolutely gorgeous adult Cinnamon Black Bear was first spotted when it was little more than a very distant speck in the meadow on the far side of a lake in Waterton Lakes National Park. We watched as it ambled along in the grass near the edge of the water, and then it climbed down into the water and started swimming. The sunlight on its fur made the cinnamon colour glow. It looked such a healthy animal. As it got that much nearer, we decided to drive further along the road and park and sit and wait. It eventually suddenly appeared, climbing over a concrete barrier on the far side of the road and, to our amazement (shock?), it calmly crossed the road at an angle, passing in between our car that had pulled over and another car. It never gave us a glance, just focusing on what it wanted to do. I didn't think I got a photo, and was surprised to find that I had pressed the shutter button. A poor photo, that I will post another time, but unexpectedly close. I was probably well zoomed in, just in case I could get a distant shot. Of course, these wonderful, wild animals are used to people, as Waterton is such a delightful and popular place to visit. However, people need to keep their distance, respect these creatures, and not do anything foolish. There is always the chance that any wildlife could be unpredictable. No photo is worth the risk of being attacked - and it is almost always the animal who ends up paying the price dearly.

Wild animals, plants and birds were seen. There were plenty of wildflowers, though I suspect we may have been just a little early for many species. I was so pleased to spot a small patch of what I thought might be Mariposa Lilies near the edge of the road that we were driving on. We stopped for me to check and, sure enough, my friends were able to see these unusual flowers for the first time. Chipmunk, Golden-mantled Ground Squirrels, Columbian Ground Squirrels and deer were seen. Not a huge variety of birds, but we were only able to look in such a limited space. It was great, though, to see two distant Sandhill Cranes and a distant Common Loon on her nest.

Apart from the most unpleasant, very strong wind all day both days, we were very lucky with the weather for our two days. No rain, thank goodness. The morning was chilly and so was the night. Yesterday, Tuesday, the temperature got up to 20C on our way home.