Waterton Lakes National Park Day 3

Day 3 arrives in Waterton Lakes National Park and we are up the creek without a paddle!  We had to check out of the hotel with no place to stay for tonight.  We had a plan in place though.  Last night we packed up our stuff and put it in the vehicle to assist with a quick get-away this morning.  We hit the road at 6:00 am with hopes of being early in the line up to secure a Sunday night camp site at the Campground.    I couldn't help it, I had to stop along the way to take a photo of the alpenglow  

We arrived at 6:15 am to find we were first!  Fifteen minutes after we arrived, a car left and the passengers deposited their receipt in the drop box which meant we had a campsite and a place to lay our heads tonight.  Even though, we still had to wait for the attendant to start work at 8:00am and assign us the site.  

We passed the time making coffee and breakfast and getting our gear ready for today's hike.

By 8:30am our campsite was set up.

Our intentions were to hike Linham Ridge but we ended up doing Linham Creek Trail instead. Thank goodness it worked out this way.  With today's blazing heat (already mid 20's by mid morning), it was not the day to be on the wide open Ridge.   We reached the trails end, had a snack, admired the flowers and the view and then did an about face and retraced our steps back to the trailhead.

We drove down the road and found a shaded spot by a creek to cool our feet and have lunch.

By late afternoon we were back at our campsite enjoying snacks and drinks, socializing with other friends then having dinner and more drinks, sitting by the campfire, then ending our day watching the stars come out.