2nd Oct 2005
In the footsteps of Bridgeland
Sunday 2nd October, 2005
Once again we attended Zums for breakfast. Its transpires that its their last day of operation for the season, so the whole lot were in there at 8 am this morning and heading for a party this afternoon.
Eight o’clock on a Sunday morning was a sharp start for them and us but it was fairly clear and although there's a biting wind, the day bodes well.
Met Rob at about 9.45 and went to have a look at a few re-take sites in the vicinity. Its amazing walking out on to this prairie grassland, dry and solid underfoot. What particularly struck me was the direct comparison of the Bridgeland Photos on site. Bridgeland was a Government surveyor and arrived at his survey points on horseback or as part of a wagon train; and there across his picture of 1914 is the sharp marks of a wagon trail into Waterton …. cutting across the flat bits of the landscape … and the marks are still there !
I thought they must signify an occasional Parks Canada track, but not so and they’ve had no-one along them certainly in the last 26 years that Rob has been at the site and probably further back than that.
They’re there with the depth of wagon wheel ruts and the slightly different flora associated presumably with more compressed ground and ground within which water would lie.
PC still send their wardens out on patrol on horseback, in fact on this day one of the seasonals was leaving for a two day back-country patrol to a remote hut … alone. Its all part of the job; they are expected to look after themselves and have a radio for emergency which ‘works in most places … though there are a few blank spots’.
Had lunch at the café in Waterton and then out to the Bison paddock for a look at another of Bridgeland’s views … and also a gander at the bison. Huge great brutes when you get along side them … almost better set in the massive view of the prairie with the Rockies behind.
After another session in the office looking through some of the imagery, we dropped back to the roadside area near the elk for a last look .. this time in glorious sunshine. We arrived at about the time when quite a number of people had the same idea so although we were along in the first five or so cars scattered along the road, every soon there were twenty-five. And then the show really began !
We had photographers with medium to long telephotos jumping out of their cars, slamming the door, hauling their gear out of the boot (slamming the door), dropping the legs of their tripods (clunk, clunk clunk) and then getting themselves to the most advantageous position … probably ten to fifteen yards apart and then talking to each other. Did you see that? Look at that light? Hey, have you metered off the grass or his ass? They were from Chicago.
But better was yet to come. A family arrived in a people carrier and decanted a shower of noisy children onto the road side, who then decided that they would try and stalk the nearest group of elk and started crawling towards it through the grass … I have to say that this caused me to get out of the car with my camera. There was nothing on earth that would have prevented me from getting a shot of one of these all American boys getting speared onto the end of sizeable elk rack. Disappointingly, parental responsibility intervened and they were noisily summoned back to the car after ten yards or so.
Had dinner with Rob and Carol as a farewell to Waterton; had a really great stay. As we were heading for a really early start in the morning, we decided just to head out of town this evening and start the process of the three hour drive up to Calgary and either get a room half way up the road or just crash out in the car on the way. Elected for the latter; ill advisedly as it transpired as it got very cold in the middle of the night and we had to run the engine a couple of times to re-heat!
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| 2nd Oct 2005 |
| Bison |
| ... against the mountains of Waterton |
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| 2nd Oct 2005 |
| Rob Watt |
| At the site of one of the Bridgeland photographs |
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