Crown of the Continent: The Living Heritage BIGHORN SHEEP IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT STEVEN GNAM GEOLOGIC GRANDEUR top a snow-dusted peak in October, a friend and I hear an elk bugle. Scanning meadows below with For millions of years, ancient sea- variety of plants and animals. Transboundary Flathead E-3 Triple Divide Peak F-5 d’Oreille Coyote stories, can be seen beds were twisted, folded, and lifted Unbounded by dams, dikes, or Get an early start for a long day-hike to in huge ripple marks in Camas Prairie. binoculars, I spot instead a silver-tipped grizzly bear, Crowsnest Pass D-3 diversions, this meandering flood- this three-faceted jeweled spire, divid- A by the tectonic crush of Pacific and Prepare for bracing winds at adjoining Mission Mountains Wilderness plain ecosystem is known as the ing Rocky Mountain waters among the fl exing its massive shoulder hump to excavate glacier lilies. North American plates. Successive lakes where clashing Pacific and Arctic Areas I-4 “This is his place,” my friend says. “He owns this country.” North Fork Flathead in Montana Saskatchewan River’s amble to Hudson ice ages then plowed through rela- air masses funnel through a mountain and simply as the Flathead in Bay, the Missouri-Mississippi’s slide to Rugged hikers scale ragged peaks Indeed, while we have eliminated grizzlies in so many tively soft limestone layers to carve gap along the Continental Divide, caus- British Columbia. Grizzly bears, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Columbia’s jutting 7,000 feet (2,134 meters) places, a robust population freely roams the Crown of the river valleys, leaving behind dark ing abrupt transitions in tree species, wolves, and wolverines radiate plunge to the Pacific Ocean. above valley floors in adjoining wil- forests and deep pockets of fresh wildflowers, and birdlife. Water from from this wild, remote valley. derness areas managed by the U.S. Continent, from mountaintops and plunging valleys to Two Medicine Dinosaur Center H-7 Crowsnest Lake flows east to Hudson Venture on these rough roads with Forest Service and Confederated water that endure today as glaciated See hatchling bones from a fossil nest fescue prairies and cedar rain forests. Bay. Adjacent Summit Lake empties spare tires and a patient attitude. Salish and Kootenai Tribes. Portions Think of these magnifi cent bears as wary sentinel of lakes. The prairie meets the moun- westward toward the Pacific Ocean. and join in active dinosaur digs along of the tribal wilderness are closed to tains at dramatic escarpments along The Nature Conservancy of Montana’s Rocky Mountain Front. humans when grizzlies congregate to change. For millennia they watched over people who Coal Mine Tours C-2 and D-3 the Rocky Mountain Front where Canada’s Waterton Park Front E-4 feed on alpine insects. Chill in the Bellevue Underground Mine Glacial Lake Missoula I-3 honored their power. The Ktunaxa called to the bear spirit THE CHINESE WALL, MT Prairie and mountain ecosystems ranchers and conservationists have STEVEN GNAM 1 During the last ice age, 13,000 where the tunnel’s breeze stays a con- clasp like fingers where ranches bor- Scapegoat Wilderness J-6 for guidance and protection, while Blackfoot traditions joined to protect vast expanses for to 15,000 years ago, an ice dam in a stant 7°C (45°F). Or visit enormous collapse that buried 90 sleeping resi- der the national park. A visitor centre The massive limestone cliffs of tell of the Medicine Grizzly who rescues and nourishes a restored populations of wildlife. narrow canyon in northern Idaho periodi- open-pit coal mines, still active in dents, drive the unpaved track through and nature trail at Waterton Springs Scapegoat Mountain anchor the cally gave way, releasing raging torrents young boy. Explorers David Thompson, Meriwether Lewis, Weather systems converge over Sparwood, B.C. the rubble, running west from the main Campground describe how cowboys and Chinese Wall, a geologic reef in the from a 2,000-foot-deep (610 meters) lake and William Clark learned the ancient wisdom of mutual these mountains—Pacific, arctic and Hillcrest access road. See the full pan- environmentalists conserve grasslands Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex. The Frank Slide D-3 in western Montana. The legacy of these continental—magnifying the value orama of the 1903 disaster from the for livestock and wildlife. Scapegoat was added to the “Bob” respect the hard way. After several violent confronta- For an intimate view of the mountain Frank Slide Interpretive Centre. floods, which are recalled in Salish-Pend through citizen advocacy in 1972. tions, provoked by nonlethal musket fi re, en route to these of many geologic niches for a great mountains, Lewis determined to live and let live: “I fi nd 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 2 EXPLORERS AND PIONEERS 22X 901 that the curiossity of our party is pretty well satisfyed with 116° K R 115° 114° 113° 11870 ft Mt. Assiniboine 2A E 3618 m Bo Carseland rispect to this anamal.” (Mokinists w CA 1 is Sis i) NA Decades before the appearance of [Elbow tachta DI Riv AN WAY From their silent perches, grizzlies witnessed the fi rst er] PACIFIC RAIL fur traders, missionaries and discov- K K trains cross Crowsnest and Marias Passes, followed by o 11175 ft S erers, their impact arrived as waves A o o 3406 m KMt. Sir Douglas he EOkotoks A t ep e settlers to populate the Rocky Mountain Trench, and o n 40 of disease decimated native popula- a EBlack y Lower Kananaskis Diamond Flathead and Elk Valleys. By the turn of the 20th century, tions on the plains and in mountain E t 24 C Lake o Radium Hot Springs l e Upper Kananaskis the bear’s outlook dimmed as wildlife was slaughtered valleys. Westside tribes tolerated u Lake O m E n 22 High River 23 early trading posts and religious b i 2 across the continent. Here, however, grizzlies persevered a C Frank Lake a K los E ed in E missions, although the Blackfoot Invermere 11250 ft Mt. Joffre w Longview into a new era of wildlife restoration, wilderness desig- 3429 m in y t nations were less accommodating er Lake Windermere Whiteway 541 Bar U Ranch National nation, and cross-border stewardship. Today, they are a K Historic Site McGregor on the east slopes. Military forces d Lake Windermere Lake 9128 ft o R Mt. Head 2782 m o C source of fi erce local pride and the namesake of many w O Columbia W played both sides of the new order, igh Wetlands a H B businesses and festivals. E O subduing pockets of Indian resis- Y Fairmont Hot Springs n B C T B As the great silvertip disappears into the forest that tance while restraining whiskey trad- R Courcelette Peak K A I g 9987 ft L TRANSBOUNDARY FLATHEAD, BC AND MT BORDER ers who exploited social breakdown. Columbia 3044 m ( GARTH LENZ bright October afternoon, I am the observer, humble and h i Lake e C s E 93 ’ k t Champion ( akisqn uk) l O o The wholesale slaughter of native N r grateful that such a place may yet be found. E i c Map Key 95 [Two Lakes] White T ( I r G N Travers F o R E wildlife, especially bison, and the E u 23 E o N Reservoir Cross-country ski area Canal Flats t r A T L e Whiteswan Lake T L d ) ttl A i i e Bow D i v — Steve Thompson, writer, Whitefi sh, MT introduction of cattle and railroads er (Ka intak) L E i I Historical site n s [no known translation] g V D i n s I Carmangay Josephine Falls D IV g solidified the transition to a new u E ID Museum ) s L A 3-km (2-mi) stroll leads to a 25-m (83-ft) E t 2 o P 112°W GRIZZLY BEAR society with a different economy. tumble of foaming water set in a secluded canyon K n Natural or scenic area DENNIS DONOHUE / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM o E e EClaresholm 50°N Elkford r 50°N Outdoor recreation BRITISH c W Barons E Bar U Ranch National Historic Site B-3 Tornado il K Oldman u l World Heritage site Mountain 10167 ft (Napiotsistachtai) o Keho L. The Bar U Ranch spills eastward from Elk 3099 m p w COLUMBIA [Old Man’s River] C i C (Mo kins sti) Tribal name C Top of the World (Natokiokos Sistachtai) re 36 LOCATION AND VISITOR INFORMATION the Rocky Mountains across the roll- n e 93 Provincial Park k ALBERTA Kootenay , [Two Medicine Lodges River] e E [Elbow River] Tribal name translation ing grasslands of Alberta’s Highway 22 95 (Wu u aqlsmaknik akinmituk) E Nobleford ld [River Water People] Granum O m L a w H n Adminstered by UNESCO, the World Heritage REGIONAL AIRPORTS TOURISM RESOURCES Cowboy Trail. Transport yourself to an (Sqlsewlk~ ) e i 118° Longitude West 116° of Greenwich 114° 112° s Valley v 3 List recognizes the most significant cultural E i b [Kootenai Waters] r 22 i Alberta Birds of E b12 E n Calgary International Airport Coronation Travel Alberta E o k Sunset Ridge l and natural treasures on the planet. E era when horse-drawn chuck wagons Wasa e Taber Innisfail Consort H g 3 Prey Centre e Ski Trails Y l 52° s Albers Conic Equal-Area Projection Kimberley Nordic r Kinbasket d b93 l s YYC travelalberta.com t Mud L.