Coffin, Livingstone, Saddle, Hornecker, Windy Peak (Livingstone Traverse)

May 30, 2009, livingstone range, kananaskis country

Summit
2422 m
Gain
1700 m
Distance
18 km
Round trip
10 hr
Technical
OT3 YDS (Hiking)
Activity
scramble, hike
Quick 'n dirty
Class 2 - you fall, you might sprain something
Difficulty
Easy scrambling and hiking on loose scree with some route finding.
Route
GPS trackMap

On Saturday, May 30 2009, Wietse, JW, Naomi and Keith joined me on a 5 peak day in the Livingstone Range of the Alberta Rockies. Wietse came up with the plan to hike / scramble the 5 peaks after reading trip reports from Bob Spirko. The 5 peaks (in the order we hiked them) are:

  1. Coffin Mountain
  2. Mount Livingstone
  3. Saddle Mountain
  4. Mount Hornecker
  5. Windy Peak

Our first peak of the day was Coffin Mountain. In order to facilitate a car-to-car traverse of these peaks, we drove two vehicles to the area. Wietse left his car at the end of the traverse, near the entry for Windy Peak and we all piled in my car for the short drive to the Coffin Mountain trail head. Apparently we didn’t read the instructions very good because the access road to Coffin was a bit more of a bush road than we were expecting! Wietse was very nervous as my car scraped bottom a few times on the way up. His car is much lower than mine and he wasn’t convinced his car would even make it up this road at the end of the day when we came back for mine! Thankfully this logging road isn’t long and soon we were parked in an open meadow and gearing up for Coffin.

The Livingstone Traverse Route Map
The Livingstone Traverse Route Map

Coffin Mountain

The morning had dawned clear and beautiful and thanks to another one of Bob’s reports from a week earlier, we knew that we wouldn’t have to worry about snow on this trip, even though most of the Rockies were still wearing a very white coat this day. With light packs and scrambling boots on (for the first time this year) we set off up the lower slopes of Coffin. I briefly wondered if I’d left my car lights on, and even asked the rest of the group if I turned them off but they didn’t look like they were on and I didn’t remember the car beeping at me so I shrugged off the feeling and kept going. (Obviously they were on or I wouldn’t be mentioning this information but it’s important for later.)

The lower slopes of Coffin are littered with the detritus of logging activities and some burnt lumber.
The lower slopes of Coffin are littered with the detritus of logging activities and some burnt lumber.

You have two choices for ascending Coffin. You can go around to climbers right or left from the meadow. The right hand side is a bit difficult at first because of dead fall but soon it leads to a fairly solid ridge. The left side is a bit easier but soon leads to loose scree. We went climber’s right on the way up and skier’s right on the way down and this worked well. I felt good and led the group quickly upwards. My recently sore back was holding up great and after only 38 minutes we had already gained 400 meters vertical elevation! Considering Coffin is only around 620 vertical meters total, we were doing very well.

Looking north towards our next objective - Livingstone Mountain.
Looking north towards our next objective - Livingstone Mountain.
Keith approaches the summit of Coffin.
Keith approaches the summit of Coffin.
JW approaches the summit of Coffin with Livingstone and Saddle in the bg.
JW approaches the summit of Coffin with Livingstone and Saddle in the bg.

Keith, JW and I were soon standing on the summit, 1:05 from the car. Obviously this is a short scramble and you should combine it with either a really long summit nap or another peak for a full day trip. Wietse and Naomi joined us after about 15 minutes and we all enjoyed a great morning view on our first peak of the day. Hardly a cloud in sight and only a stiff breeze, which served to cool us off in the rapidly warming temperatures.

The lower descent scree slope. You can spot the ridge we ascended on, high above the scramblers on the skyline.
The lower descent scree slope. You can spot the ridge we ascended on, high above the scramblers on the skyline.
Almost back down to the col between Livingstone and Coffin.
Almost back down to the col between Livingstone and Coffin.

We descended a steep scree gully, skirting between two cliff bands and coming out right between Livingstone and Coffin at a small pass. As we got lower on Coffin I could see that another car was parked beside mine - I didn’t expect to see anyone else on this obscure scramble! Soon we were all ready to start up Mount Livingstone but we decided to wait a few minutes for the newcomers and their dog to catch up for a quick chat.

Mount Livingstone

After hiking up and down Coffin Mountain in just over 2 hours, we were feeling pretty good about our chances for a 5 peak day. As we waited for the people we spotted in the parking lot to catch up to us I noted that the sun was started to feel very hot. The climb up Mount Livingstone was looking like it would have us sweating, especially with no wind in the trees and the sun directly on our backs! As the couple and their dog approached I thought they looked vaguely familiar. Then JW asked me if that was JP and sure enough, it was! JP and his wife greeted us and Pablo (their dog) also did his best to be friendly. JP remarked that he was just as surprised as us to see someone else in here! We chatted as we hiked up Mount Livingstone, especially about JP’s recent ascent of Mount Columbia.

Once up around 200 meters you get a good view of the rest of the route to the summit. As you can see, we had beautiful weather on our outing.
Once up around 200 meters you get a good view of the rest of the route to the summit. As you can see, we had beautiful weather on our outing.

JW had a brilliant moment when he told me that I should ask JP to drive my car out to Wietse’s car at the end of their day, since they were only planning on ascending Livingstone and would surely be done long before we were. I thought this was a fantastic idea and JP had no problem with it either! Wietse was relieved that his car didn’t have to drive up that road and we would be saved at least an hour at the end of our day. (As it turned out, we actually owed JP and his wife a lot more than we realized. Remember the lights that I suspected I’d left on earlier in the day?)

JW takes a break in the hot sun on the way up Livingstone. Coffin Mountain's routes and summit are clearly visible from here.
JW takes a break in the hot sun on the way up Livingstone. Coffin Mountain's routes and summit are clearly visible from here.
You can barely spot JW and Keith coming over the 'hump' on Livingstone's ascent ridge.
You can barely spot JW and Keith coming over the 'hump' on Livingstone's ascent ridge.

The smart way to scramble Mount Livingstone is to take the treed ridge on the way up and the scree gully on the way down. We took the treed ridge and it worked out fine. Parts of it really reminded me of the scramble route on Limestone Mountain. Unfortunately there were also hitchhikers on both Coffin and Livingstone - thanks to the myriads of sheep in the area. I pulled a total of 5 wood ticks off my pants and even as I type this I think I may have missed 1 or 2… (!!) Somehow we never encountered any more after Mount Livingstone.

Looking back along the south ridge to Coffin.
Looking back along the south ridge to Coffin.

Once again, we enjoyed a fabulous 20-30 minutes on top of Mount Livingstone, tucked just off the summit to the east, out of the stiffening breeze. The climb up had been very warm and the day was turning out to be a fantastic mix of sun, clouds and a cool breeze - perfect weather for a long traverse! It felt good to be done 1300 vertical meters already and the remainder of the traverse looked dry and fun from the summit of Livingstone.

Views west to the High Rock Range. Coffin at left and Sentinel at right. Monad, Isola, Monola, Pasque, Cabin Ridge and many others in between with Tornado, Gould Dome, Beehive, Lyall, Gass and many others beyond.
Views west to the High Rock Range. Coffin at left and Sentinel at right. Monad, Isola, Monola, Pasque, Cabin Ridge and many others in between with Tornado, Gould Dome, Beehive, Lyall, Gass and many others beyond.
Views east to the prairies with Saddle at left and Sheep and Coffin at right.
Views east to the prairies with Saddle at left and Sheep and Coffin at right.
Leaving the north summit (and its HUGE cairn) of Livingstone.
Leaving the north summit (and its HUGE cairn) of Livingstone.

Soon we trekked over to the huge cairn on the lower north summit and then bid JP and company good bye as we made for my 200th mountain summit, Saddle Mountain.

Saddle Mountain

My 200th summit!! OK - not a very impressive summit but it’s a milestone that I’m quite proud of. Not many folks get up 100 summits in their lifetime and I was about to stand on my 200th! In order to get 200 summits you have to burn a LOT of calories, walk a LOT of kms and take a LOT of extra breaths! It’s also been a lot of adventures and a lot time spent pondering life and it’s many aspects. Without climbing I think I’d be a mental and physical mess, so mountains have impacted my life in a way that’s hard to explain. Back to the mighty Saddle Mountain. The descent from Mount Livingstone to Saddle Mountain was probably the ‘worst’ part of the trip. It’s not terrible as far as descents go, but there was slushy snow, hot sun, thick trees etc. It was just a bit nastier than I was expecting, but short. Eventually we came up against a barbed wire fence and followed it out until we were gazing up at Saddle Mountains double summits.

Leaving the north summit of Livingstone traversing to Saddle Mountain.
Leaving the north summit of Livingstone traversing to Saddle Mountain.
Traversing towards Saddle Mountain.
Traversing towards Saddle Mountain.

JW, Keith and I figured that we needed some extra exercise (!!) so we bagged the lower south summit first. Probably the only real scrambling of the day was coming off the south summit, but it was too short. Soon we were laboring up the 3rd summit of the day and then I was standing on top of peak number 200!

Looking back at the false summit of Saddle Mountain from the dip in the 'saddle'.
Looking back at the false summit of Saddle Mountain from the dip in the 'saddle'.
From L to R, Sheep, Coffin, Livingstone and Hornecker.
From L to R, Sheep, Coffin, Livingstone and Hornecker.

There was some great photo ops on an outcropping of rock near the summit and after a quick break (the wind was getting stronger and cooler as the day progressed), we were on our way to Hornecker.

Mount Hornecker

Due to route choices, JW, Keith and I actually did about 75-100 extra meters of height gain on this small peak. Ironically we were trying to avoid bushwhacking and JW and I ended up in some very thick and thorny trees! We dipped all the way down to the col between Windy Peak and Hornecker, instead of cutting climber’s left much earlier. Wietse and Naomi were smart and ended up saving themselves a lot of time and more importantly, effort. Oh well. We needed bushwhacking experience anyway. No? Hornecker produced no issues, we contoured around to climber’s right and Keith found an interesting cave. Wietse and Naomi went climber’s left and they managed to get up too, so pick your line and go for it.

Traversing to Mount Hornecker. Windy Peak at distant right.
Traversing to Mount Hornecker. Windy Peak at distant right.
Traversing to Mount Hornecker.
Traversing to Mount Hornecker.

We once again enjoyed great views from the top, but the stay was again, short due to a stiff, cool wind. 

On the summit ridge of Mount Hornecker - Saddle Mountain at left.
On the summit ridge of Mount Hornecker - Saddle Mountain at left.

On the way back down there was a great opportunity to boot-ski but JW and I somehow missed out on yet another shortcut and were on scree the whole way. We were all starting to feel the elevation gains and distance but everyone was in good spirits for the final ascent of the day, Windy Peak.

Windy Peak

After descending Hornecker we were staring at the steep south ascent slopes of Windy Peak. We grunted up the slope and were soon battling very strong wind (what did we expect right?!) to the 5th summit of the day. Windy Peak is just a hike, but we had great views of some cloud formations coming over the Rockies to the west and a little bit of wind wasn’t ruining our day any!

Cool shot of JW and Keith nearing the expansive summit on Windy Peak.
Cool shot of JW and Keith nearing the expansive summit on Windy Peak.

After a very short summit stay we descended the north side of Windy and after some bog ballet across both South and North Twin Creeks we were back at the cars. Yes, I wrote ‘car’ with an ‘s’. There was a note on my seat from JP. It explained that my lights were left on and they had to boost my car. They ran it for 20 minutes but apparently it wouldn’t start after they parked it again. I found the keys and tried starting it. Thankfully the car started no problem, so I think they weren’t pushing the clutch far enough in.

Trees can't grow on the west side of the ridge thanks to the wind up here! Plateau Mountain ahead here.
Trees can't grow on the west side of the ridge thanks to the wind up here! Plateau Mountain ahead here.

Imagine if they hadn’t boosted my car and drove it out for us though? Wietse’s car wouldn’t have made it all the way in, so we would’ve walked at least .5 km to my car at the end of the day only to find the battery dead. Then we would’ve had to either push my car out to Wietse’s car, or risk damaging Wietse’s car by driving it all the way in. All of this fooling around with cars would’ve cost us at least 1-2 hours! I’ve indicated to JP that I will carry 2 beers up any mountain of his choice for him and his wife!

A final glance back towards Windy Peak as we complete our 5 peak day on the Livingstone Range.
A final glance back towards Windy Peak as we complete our 5 peak day on the Livingstone Range.

I highly recommend this traverse as an early season warm up. I would recommend a truck or 4x4 for the access road to Coffin Mountain but if you’re lucky and it’s dry, any high clearance vehicle should make it.