Alta is short for Alberta that is the second most western provice of Canada.
Alberta is directly north of north west Montana,Idaho,and north east Washington.
Wow!! you're goin all the way up to Great Bear Lake?? That is a long way up there from where I am.
Great Bear Lake is 3 times as far north from me(city of Edmonton,central Alberta), as I am north of Montana. The temp up here is warming up-slightly above freezing-snow is melting and ice all over. I still ride my motorized bicycle.
The weather up here is great for the winter nice and clear and warm,but the rest of Canada is just getting hammerd by weather bombs. The people up here in Edmonton are not complaining