We left the cars just before 10:00am and crossed the Elbow river below the Beaver Lodge parking lot. The water was knee deep and cold but the air temperature was reasonable so our feet quickly warmed up once the boots were on. We had another shallow creek section to cross before reaching the start of the ridge.

Crossing Elbow river at Beaver Lodge

Second creek crossing

Some ascended the ridge through the trees where the moss was soft and gave good footing. There are bits of trail now through the trees. Others followed the coordinator to the ridge crest where a wrong turn resulted in a bit of scrambling that could have been avoided by going left instead of right. There is a well trodden trail up the ridge crest. At the end of the ridge we stopped for lunch before descending to a col and going up again to Swany's ridge.

View up Big Elbow from Iyarhe Ipan

The route down Swany's ridge is a mixture of animal trail and bushwhacking. We eventually reached the gas plant and followed the road back to where we crossed the river. It was a good day in relatively warm weather and enjoyable company. Thanks to the following participants for joining me on this hike:

Participants: Christine, Carmie, Yolande (c/s), Francisco, Bill, Sonja, Audrey, Gary, John, Jo.