RIDE THE ROCKIES
An adventure on horseback through the stunning scenery of Waterton Lakes National Park
AN ADVENTURE ON HORSEBACK THROUGH WATERTON LAKES
When a ride begins with guiding your horse through a wildflower-filled meadow, you know it's not going to be an ordinary horseback trip. In the southwest corner of Alberta, Waterton Lakes National Park is home to some of the prettiest scenery in the Canadian Rockies and one of the best ways to experience it is from the back of a horse.
Last July, I signed up for a half-day guided ride up Vimy Peak to the Lion's Head, a rock formation that as the name implies, resembles the head of a lion.
There are only a few places on the planet where you can ride a horse to the summit of a mountain and Waterton Lakes National Park is one of them. Alpine Stables, a family-owned outfitter inside the park, offers half-day rides to the Lion's Head and full-day rides to the summit of Vimy Peak.
In both cases, you tie your horse near the top and hike the last bit to Lion's Head or the actual summit on your own steam.
Before 1917, Vimy Peak was known as Goat Mountain. In April 1917, Canadian soldiers fought the Battle of Vimy Ridge in France during the First World War. More than 10,600 Canadians were killed or wounded in the battle, but they captured the hill from the German army in what is Canada's most celebrated military victory. Vimy Ridge became a symbol of Canadian national pride and that same year, Goat Mountain was renamed Vimy Peak.
Conquering Vimy Peak is a battle without bloodshed — especially when you do it on horseback. Since the ride involves a river crossing, Alpine Stables can only begin offering it after spring run-off has slowed down and the river is less treacherous to cross. This usually happens in early to mid-July.
At the stables, just outside the Waterton townsite, I was introduced to my ride for the afternoon, a dark grey mare named Blue. When I patted her, she turned her head and nuzzled in. After I climbed into the saddle, my guide, Josh Watson, rode up and introduced himself. Watson is the grandson of Dee and Lorna Barrus who founded Alpine Stables in 1969.
Mid-July is past the peak time for wildflowers in Waterton, but the meadow near the stables was filled with them, nonetheless. Blue and I followed Watson along a wellused trail through the meadow and into a treed area near the river. It was a perfect day for riding and the afternoon sunshine made the river sparkle.
When we came to a place that appeared to be a bit shallower, we crossed the river. In mid-July, the river was still quite deep, and I had to take my feet out of the stirrups and lift them high to keep dry. It was the deepest river crossing I had ever done on horseback.
On the opposite shore, we rode through more rolling
meadows before we began climbing through the trees up the side of Vimy Peak. There was a steep drop-off at one point along the trail and we guided our horses well away from the edge. Every so often, I caught a glimpse of the Lion's Head through the trees.
After a few hours of riding, we tied our horses to a hitching post near the Lion's Head and hiked out to take in the view. There were wildflowers near the hitching post and all along the trail. We walked across a log anchored above a stream to make it to the viewpoint. The panoramic view from Lion's Head is phenomenal. I sat there for a long time soaking in the scene of the blue Waterton Lakes, the surrounding forests, and the rugged mountains. Watson said it never gets old — no matter how many times he rides there.
Eventually, we made our way back to the horses and rode down the mountain. I wanted to slow down and smell the wildflowers on the return ride, but my horse had other ideas. Blue picked up the pace as we got closer to the stables and the oats that were her reward for a hard day's work. Riding up Vimy Peak to Lion's Head is one of the prettiest horseback rides I've ever experienced, in part because it started and ended by riding through a meadow of wildflowers.