Manystick Peak

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Manystick Peak

On 3 October 2026, Bob Spirko, Zosia Zgolak and I climbed unofficially-named "Manystick Peak" located in the Oldman River region of Alberta's Livingstone Public Land Use Zone. The peak is the highest point on the southern half of a longer land feature officially known as Cabin Ridge (the true high point is on the northern half and called Twin Peaks which Bob and I ascended in 2007). A mostly off-trail ascent route for Manystick Peak was posted on peakery.com in 2021 by Alison Sekera, and we would more or less follow in her footsteps.

From Highway 22, turn west onto Maycroft Road (2WD gravel) 47.3 kilometres south of the junction with Highway 533 or 24.0 kilometres north of the junction with Highway 3. Drive 21.6 kilometres to the junction with the Forestry Trunk Road (SR 940) and turn right. Drive 11.1 kilometres and turn left (west) onto Oldman River Road. Drive 5.9 kilometres to a bend in the road (49.97272, -114.46761). Park here.

Despite the presence of an obvious trail just south of our parking spot, Bob, Zosia and I elected to start our trip by wading into the forest to the north. The bush is fairly light here, and we were soon climbing past stands of aspen trees on a partially open ridge. Shortly after, we stumbled onto a good trail and followed it as far as a deactivated road cutting across the ridge. Past the road, we continued off-trail up the remainder of the ridge with few difficulties. The ridge ends on a rocky knob with a view of Manystick Peak's summit. From the knob, we turned eastward and descended into a short dip before resuming our upward progress. We ran into a myriad of roads--some intact, some deactivated--between the dip and the summit ridge. For the most part, we just pushed uphill wherever we could without worrying too much about trying to follow the roads. Although not marked as such on most topo maps, the actual high point is on a scenic promontory at the north end of the summit ridge. We stopped here for an extended break to eat lunch and send text messages to Dinah Kruze.

For our descent, Bob, Zosia and I retraced our steps down the mountain with only a few minor variations. When we regained the good trail below the deactivated road, we followed it all the way down and eventually ended up on Oldman River Road about two hundred metres west of where we parked. The trailhead here is unmarked and easy to miss from the road, but it would perhaps be a better way to access our ridge of ascent.

	Starting from the parking spot along Oldman River Road, Zosia and Bob simply head into the forest.
	Not far in the bush, Sonny and Bob come across a curious old artifact which is likely some sort of animal trap. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Bob and Zosia climb past a stand of aspen trees with Sugarloaf Lookout visible in the distance at left.
	Bob and Zosia pick up a good trail along this open section of the ascent ridge.
	The open section of ridge grants this view of Tornado Mountain to the west.
	Bob scrambles onto one of several rocky outcrops along the ridge.
	Bob and Zosia cross a deactivated logging road partway up the ridge.
	The ascent ridge ends at this rocky knob with the first clear view of "Manystick Peak".
	Zosia and Bob cross a dip between the ascent ridge and the main mass of Manystick Peak.
	The final approach to the top entails several crossings of a deactivated road.
	As marked on topo maps, this is supposed to be the summit of Manystick Peak (MS1; 2324 metres), but it is not. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Zosia and Bob head toward an open promontory further north.
	Bob and Zosia find a golden larch on their way to the promontory.
	This is looking back at MS1 from the promontory.
	Bob, Zosia and Sonny stand atop the promontory which turns out to be the true summit (2326 metres) of Manystick Peak.

Lotsa interesting ridges here for possible future hikes...

Here is the view to the northwest from the true summit.

	Here is another perspective of the cliffs guarding the west side of Manystick Peak.
	Bob and Zosia make their way back along the summit ridge.
	"Old Dutch Man Peak" is visible to the south (left) as Bob and Zosia descend the good trail they stumbled upon earlier in the day.
	Total Distance: 9.1 kilometres Round-Trip Time: 5 hours 32 minutes Cumulative Elevation Gain: 715 metres GPX Data