Pa Butte - Livingstone PLUZ - Alberta, Canada

2024-05-26 - We first got a good view of "Pa Butte" when we hiked and scrambled up McGillivray Ridge and Ma Butte a couple of years ago. "Pa" sits directly south of "Ma" and it looked like it could be a worthwhile adventure either on snowshoes or the spring. It has excellent access with a dirt road passing below it that is popular with hikers, bikers and OHV enthusiasts.
Usually by the end of May Melissa and I are looking for more significant peaks to scramble but we had a particularly wet spring and snow was still lingering deep in the higher altitudes. So, we decided to literally lower our expectations and find a more modest peak. Fortunately there are a lot of little peaks in the Livingstone PLUZ that we still need to get to and "Pa" was high on that list.
We followed the same route as described by Dave McMurray in his Peaks and Streams blog (link below). We biked along the dirt road for about 4 Km before stashing our bikes in a clearing. This is the easiest ascent slope. Regardless of where you start going up hikers will have to cross McGillivray Creek. The creek was flowing fast but there were significant log jams and debris and we quickly found a way over. From there we bushwhacked through light forest. Fortunately, the deadfall is not thick at this point. After traipsing up the steep forest we came onto the talus slope. This was a challenging and steep slope with lots of loose talus or shale. Fortunately, the slope is not really foreshortened and we got to the summit quickly.
The views from the summit are amazing especially of Crowsnest Mt. (Omahkai'stoo miisták) and Seven Sisters mountain which loom high overhead due west. We were surprised to find that the summit top was crawling with ticks! After we flicked a bunch off of our clothes and packs we decided to make a hasty retreat and rather than return the same way we opted for a direct descent to the west.
This was difficult going and steeper even than the ascent slope. Even the forested section was steeper. It was shorter in distance but it took us longer in time to get down than it did to go up mostly because we were trying not to twist our ankles.
A wonderful wet and cool day to be in the mountains!
References:
peaksandstream...
Music
"This Beautiful Life" by Ocie Elliott
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"I Just Love You" by Roo Panes