BOU AVENUE
Swansea Mountain
As a belated wedding gift to Kelly Bou and me, some friends of ours invited us to join them for a one-night stay at the luxurious Bighorn Meadows Resort in Radium Hot Springs, British Columbia on 22 September 2007.  Kelly and I arrived the night before (staying at the more affordable Columbia Motel) in hopes of doing some hiking in the area before checking into the resort.  The weather did not look very promising that morning, but worse, I had left all my maps and guidebooks at home.  Understandably, our enthusiasm for hiking began to wane, and we decided to make it an easy day by ascending lowly Swansea Mountain near the town of Invermere.  Using a free tourist map, we managed to find the rough road which leads to a trail head about a hundred metres below the top.  While the uphill drive took over twenty-five minutes, the hike to the summit took us only twelve minutes.  Peak-bagging does not get any easier than this!  Kelly and I spent about forty minutes at the top before returning to our car and heading into Invermere to kill the rest of the afternoon.
Or at least we think it was a PET SEMATARY... Kelly checks out a small pet cemetery near the beginning of the Mount Swansea Forest Service Road.
Actually, there are multiple branches all over the place, but they all lead to the same place. Kelly hikes up the easy trail leading to the lookout.
Nearby, there are some picnic tables and even a biffy with toilet paper! Kelly stands on the 1735-metre summit of Swansea Mountain.
Kelly is ready for take-off! The summit gives a commanding view of the town of Invermere to the west.
Like take off, eh? On the south side of the summit is this metal ramp presumably used for hang gliding and paragliding.
Despite the clouds, conditions were quite pleasant at the summit. Dramatic-looking clouds obscure much of the surrounding mountains in this view to the south.  Columbia Lake is visible in the distance.
Another one on my to-do list! Pinto Mountain (2550 metres) dominates the view to the northeast.