Swansea Mountain Ashby Ascent and Loop
In late May, we attended a meeting of the Summit Trail Makers Society. The mostly elderly members of this society build and maintain trails in the East Kootenay region. A number of the original members were being honoured at the event. John Ashby was one, the first president of the organisation who that position for a number of years and a role in the society for 19. Now, he was not a young man as he retired in 1998 and started the Society in 2001 so he was well into his 80s when he accepted this award at the ceremony. Bottom line, we felt we should make the ascent. Stats - 12.6 kilometers - Elevation gain - 877 metres. Trail - Of moderate difficulty except for the Ashby Ascent which is very steep. Dusty in places where bikes and hikers shared trails. Fortunately, not many bikes on the trail. The ascent is steep and long, at least for us. The descent was long and my toes were feeling the forward squish on every step. Vegetation - Near the top, some of...