Livingstone Peak

Livingstone South Peak
Crowsnest Pass, Alberta
September 1, 2019
Distance: 12.5 km (7.8 mi)
Cumulative Elevation Gain: 1022 m (3353 ft)

Taking a page out of Hiking the Historic Crowsnest Pass (long since out of print), we climbed the South End of Livingstone Range a second time. More recently, it became known as Livingstone South Peak.

When Dinah and I did it back in 2003, I wasn't meticulous about taking photos or notes, and this was a good time to breathe new life into an old web page. With thunderstorms threatening mountains west, we headed south to find surprisingly pleasant weather. Moreover, the long ridgewalk was more scenic than we remembered.

For the trailhead, drive down Hwy. 3 and turn onto the access road for Frank Slide Interpretive Centre. At the fork (right for the Centre) continue straight on a gravel road for 1.6 km to another fork. Keep left and drive 100 m to park at the bottom of a broad cutline.

Dinah and I, along with six others, hiked up the cutline road. At the bottom of a slope, we continued up the cutline to the saddle. This section turned out to be atrocious. Steep and covered with loose rock and dirt, we often slipped.

From the saddle, we turned north and started up the ridge. Soon we were picking out features. As far as I could determine from the muddled description in the guidebook, the reddish wall of rock on our left was “Dragon's Back.” Ahead, a black fin of rock ran across the ridge to create a barrier, although a big notch presented an obvious gateway. Beyond that, the ridge rose to a gray point of rock, our summit.

After going through the notch, we regained the ridge to find it narrowed. It was slightly exposed, although the traverse is eased by dropping below the crest on the right side. However, two people decided to turn back here.

All was easy after the narrow section, although the ridge loses 90 m of elevation before climbing to the summit. We spent 45 minutes on top enjoying the scenery before heading down. Our descent route differed slightly as we took advantage of features hidden from view on the ascent: a sheep track that bypasses the narrow ridge, and a concealed notch on the black ridge. We also took a road down from the saddle instead of the miserable cutline.

While the others returned to our cars, Jonathan and I took a side trip to view a ventilation fan house, a sober reminder of the mining industry that once dominated Crowsnest Pass a long time ago.

KML and GPX Tracks

Starting up the road to the saddle ahead