Day 2: Calgary to Glacier

Head-Smashed -In Buffalo Jump
Prince of Wales Hotel afternoon tea
Glacier National Park

This was a very long day of traveling with some wonderful experiences interspersed. About two hours after we left Calgary with our guide Tanya sharing Canadian history, music, fun facts and more, we arrived at our first stop in the gruesomely-named Head-Smashed -In Buffalo Jump.

This is a very unique UNESCO World Heritage site in the middle of territory owned by the Black Foot indigenous tribe. It tells the story of the “ buffalo hunt”— usually a once a year event. This was an ingenious method of hunting bison without the aid of horses or advanced weapons that sustained the Blackfoot people for 7000 years. The buffalo was intrinsically linked to their culture and way of life, and they understood even the most subtle aspects of its behavior fully.

The entire tribe would work for weeks to first figure out how many buffalo the tribe needed to sustain themselves for the coming year, then to prepare the grass to lure the Buffalo to a certain grazing area (including things like managed burning), and finally to guide only the precise number of animals ended to sustain the tribe along a path where they would basically stampede off a cliff, falling to there deaths 20 or so meters below.

Then the tribe, men, woman and children would completely strip the carcasses , using literally every part of the animal. Besides the hides, organs, hooves, etc., most of the meat was made into “pemmican”, a kind of preserved substance consisting of pounded meat, berries and fat. This was their main source of food and would last well into the next year.


Our host, Kendall, a young tribesman, was extremely knowledgeable and articulate. He shared so much information about the Blackfoot, their respect for children and elders, and the details of “ the hunt”.

After an introductory movie recreating the process, Kendall led us up to the actual site of the buffalo jump. What was amazing was how the tribe reverently respected every part of the process!

From there, we drove a couple more hours to the Prince of Wales Hotel in Waterton Lakes National Park, a sister park to Glacier which together are referred to as the world’s first Peace Park, spanning national boarder (I.e. bear and moose don’t need passports to cross between them :)). We had just seen our first up close view of the Rockies and the view from this place is also spectacular. It reminded me so much of the Norway fiords.

The Scottish influence seems to be prevalent here, not only in this hotel, but our lodges as well.



But this stop was just for lunch— a British-style high tea, served by costumed waiters. After a ridiculous amount of delicious food, we wandered outside to catch the views before boarding the bus.

Our final destination was still a bit ahead, but worth the wait as we drove through a quick stop at US customs, then into the first of our hotels inside Glacier.




Many Glacier Hotel was a bit rustic ( we were repeatedly warned about this) but as it is said, it is “a view with a room”. We had an outside balcony and room overlooking the most beautiful mountains, a few glaciers and craggy peaks. Like the Tetons and others, you just can’t stop taking pictures. Wendy did the “Monet Cathedral of Rouen” thing and tried to take the same view at several times during the day.

We had time to try one of the short hikes near the hotel before we went to dinner and saw more and beautiful views as well as a couple of animal friends before heading back.

The dining room was rather quirky, and probably very understaffed ( maybe some of the wait staff went back to school already), so we had a wait. Food was plentiful with gigantic portions but incredibly salty. Best thing was a smoked trout dip appetizer.

Sitting out in the diminishing light on our balcony looking out at these views was relaxing and calming. After this long, but interesting travel day, we fell into bed.