Honeycomb Peak (+ Cyclamen Ridge)

Summit Elevation (m): 2672
Trip Date: September 21, 2024
Elevation Gain (m): 1000
Round Trip Time (hr): 6
Total Trip Distance (km): 16
Quick ‘n Dirty Rating: Class 2 – you fall, you sprain your ego.
Difficulty Notes: No difficulties other than a river crossing at the start and some routefinding around east-facing cliffs if you miss the sheep highways.
Technical Rating: SC5
GPS Track: Gaia
Map: Google Maps

“Honeycomb Peak” is an unofficial summit lying just SE of the much higher Beehive Mountain along the Great Divide in the High Rock range. It is mentioned in David P. Jones’ Rockies South Climber’s Guide on page 527. It’s been on my list as an easy 2nd-class option when conditions might not be conducive to larger or harder objectives. I found myself in just such a situation on  Saturday, September 21 after a dump of snow over the Rockies the day before. The crux on this peak was going to be getting to it. The Oldman River Road can be a beast depending on conditions, but I suspected that after fresh rain / snow and after a long summer of (over) use I should expect a pretty rough 18 kms of driving once leaving the much larger forestry trunk road (hwy 40).

It was pretty clear to me soon after leaving hwy 22 down the #532 connector towards #40 through Windy Gap that the area had received much more rain than forecast. Uh oh. Hwy 532 was a bit of a mess and driving here was worse than I remembered it the last few times I’d been on it. Thankfully hwy 40 was in very good shape but as soon as I turned onto the Oldman River Road things deteriorated significantly. The next 18+ kms were very rough. Ironically the road past the Honeymoon Creek PRA improved somewhat, but not by much. By the time I finally parked at a pullout just upstream of the Oldman River Falls I felt like I’d already scrambled a mountain. I find driving on backcountry roads in bad conditions stressful for some reason. I’m not mechanically inclined and it’s tough to get AMA out here! It was obviously hunting season in the Rockies – there were trucks parked everywhere at sunrise.

I wasn’t entirely sure where the Cache Creek Trail started but I knew I had to cross the river. A path led straight down to the shallow crossing and continued up the other side. I followed it and it seemed to be going in the right direction so I continued. First hurdle solved. Soon I came on an unexpected sight (this is why I love hiking new trails). A cozy little cabin stood in a clearing along the trail. I half expected an old woodsman to be smoking a pipe on the front porch but nobody was home. I wonder how old it is and who it belongs to? The trail continued on the other side of the clearing and I proceeded to follow it.

As I hiked a wide and obviously maintained trail, I noticed white paint markings on trees along the route. I’m not sure this has anything to do with the fact that it connects with the Great Divide Trail but I suspect it might. The trail narrowed as it ascended alongside Cache Creek but stayed very obvious. Other than a few very muddy sections it was also quite dry considering all the rain that obviously fell not so long ago. Morning fog obscured any views and I felt very much alone as I hiked up a tight little forested valley along a lively stream. There was lots of bear yelling, I assure you. There’s been two recent bear attacks in the Rockies and I wasn’t taking any chances on surprising a bruin on this solo venture.

At some point I lost the trail on some gravel flats but picked it up again. It seemed a bit smaller at this point but I realized on return that the main trail crossed the creek here and I managed to save two water crossings on my approach by sticking on the smaller trail climber’s left. I’m surprised there’s two trails up the same creek but there obviously is. In less than an hour from the truck I intersected the GDT at a great campsite along Cache Creek. As I started up a cutline into thick morning mists I came across fresh bear scat and the yelling continued. This area felt lonely for some reason. But mostly in a good way.

Until this point I hadn’t gained much height, but as I turned off the wide cutline onto a narrower track in the forest that changed very quickly. The trail cut back and forth up open forest, getting me up several hundred meters as the fog slowly burned off in the valleys below. I crested a low rocky ridge to my first mountain views towards my objective with the Elevators and Beehive Mountain also visible.

From the rocky ridge I knew the trail descended before rising again under NE cliffs of Honeycomb. Sure enough – after losing more elevation than expected, the trail wound its way back up. Two hours from the truck I found myself staring up snow covered east slopes and cliffs off the GDT and the easy part of my approach was over. Or was it?

It didn’t take long from the GDT to find a sheep highway right where I needed one. I slipped and swore my way up 50m of snow-covered grass from the trail and then, presto! There was a track! Nice. I was pretty stoked as I followed it up and around the east end of Honeycomb, nicely staying under cliffs above and over forest below. Honestly, it couldn’t have worked out any better, and it kept going all the way around to the south.

As I continued on the sheep trail (I could see now that there are a LOT of them in this area), I ran into a troop of about 25 of them. All ewes and lambs – the rams were all avoiding the hunters at this time of year. They cautiously approached me before racing just under my position. I felt a little bad, they only had to wait 3.5 minutes and I’d be over them but sheep aren’t very intelligent this way. I can’t really blame them. Of course there’s always a few extra dense members in any family and this one was no different. 3 sheep refused to get close to me and I continued to chase them around south slopes of the mountain. 

Speaking of the south slopes. After following trails through a gully or two, the south slope opened up above me and the cliffs I’d been traversing under, vanished. I decided it was time to ascend and made short work of puffing my way to the scenic east ridge. 

Most of the morning clouds were now gone and views of The Elevators, Apis Peak and Beehive Mountain were incredible. Despite a dusting of snow, it wasn’t an issue for me and was quickly melting despite the cool air temperatures. So far this was the perfect objective for today.

A short traverse of the east ridge and I was standing at the cairned summit. I was hoping for a register but there were none to be found. After snapping a few more photos, I descended loose scree slopes directly under the summit rather than the more slabby terrain I’d ascended. This worked beautifully and before long I was traversing back to my approach track on – you guessed it – another sheep trail!

The sun was warm as I quickly rounded the south and east cliffs and traversed back to the GDT. As I popped out on the trail I was startled to see a young man leading two horses towards me. We chatted for a bit and he mentioned that a group of dirt bikes had passed him just below and continued on the GDT. This was concerning. Motorized vehicles have no business up here and I really hope that this isn’t a new trend. I know there is a group of Albertans who think they are above the rules but they need to give their head a shake grow up like the rest of us. Apparently they begged ignorance when the cowboy asked them if they knew this was off limits to dirt bikes. Yeah right. They literally rode right past a sign lower down indicating this is a NON-MOTORIZED trail. It’s also very clear from publicly available information on the Beehive Natural Area that this is not a designated off road vehicle area.

As I descended the trail that was now surprisingly torn up from 8 dirt bikes followed by 2 horses (not the horses fault – they came afterwards), I pondered humanity for a bit. The riders couldn’t have picked a worse time to ride the trail. It was snowy and wet after a previous nights storm and they knew very well that this isn’t a trail designed for motorized vehicles. The trail is way too narrow and even has sections that they dragged their bikes through the forest to get up and around. They just didn’t give a shit. Why are humans so selfish? I know I’m not perfect but I try to follow sensible rules at least. After a while the sounds of chirping birds, chattering squirrels and dripping vegetation lured me out of a funk with no answers.

Returning from the camp along Cache Creek was fast and warm in noon sunshine. I stayed on the main trail this time, crossing the creek 3 times plus the Oldman River at the end. A group of young folks were enjoying a fire at the pullout and I explored Oldman Falls before deciding that the day was too nice to go home so early.

I drove a few hundred meters back down the road before hiking the comparatively unimpressive and if I’m honest, uninspiring Cycleman Ridge. Don’t get me wrong! It was a gorgeously warm afternoon in the Rockies in late summer – never a bad thing to experience and good for the soul. The issue wasn’t so much that I was experiencing a beautiful day, it was that I wasn’t actually enjoying it. I was here for one reason and one reason only. To bag another peak. I wonder how many others find themselves in this situation? Peak bagging, like any accumulation-hobby, is full of pitfalls.

The interesting dilemma that most humans have, is that when we do too much of the same thing we start to be unfulfilled by it. It’s like my OMAD fasting clearly demonstrates. Salad never tasted so good as after a 23-hour fast! 😉 Depriving oneself a little is the best way to experience a smidgen more pleasure in life. Strive hard, for less – this is one key to contentment, and I should have followed this code myself today. Ah well. Always learning!

I enjoyed Honeycomb Peak more than I thought I would to be honest. The approach trails are all in very good condition and the sheep highways are icing on the cake! Views are always great along the Great Divide and this was no exception. Let’s just hope that the dirt bike crowd stays away, they are not welcome here. I can’t say I regret hiking Cyclamen Ridge either, but I can say that this is not a worthwhile summit to chase for its own sake. My advice is to enjoy the lower south ridge until the trees close in on the views and the trail becomes hard to follow. Stop there and enjoy your day – nobody on the planet cares whether or not you stood on the highest point of this thing except you. And you might want to ask yourself why you care so much.

Less is often more.