Anklebiter Ridge to Bluemat Hill Route Map (see link in desciption - or click here - for interactive version).

From the Grotto Pond parking lot, we began by following the trail leading towards Grotto Canyon, but almost immediately branched off to our right, just before the first drainage. We hiked along the east side of the drainage, and quickly joined up with an obvious trail, gaining elevation up the ridge.

The ridge is only briefly covered in dense forest, and the views quickly opened up, as we reached rockier terrain.

Engagement Mountain and the connecting ridge to McConnell Ridge (Yates Mountain) stand out from this angle!

Pigeon Mountain's north face is quite impressive!

Heart Mountain's naming is obvious from this angle...

The parking lot is filling up fast!...No one followed us up here though. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Continuing up the ridge.

Gearing up (or more like gearing down), as we removed our microspikes for the hands-on scrambling ahead!

Looking back down the short, steep section.

Although just a short moderate step on a good day, the wind that so kindly cleared the snow for us, also had it's mind set on clearing us from the mountain! With the gusting winds throwing us off balance (even while on the safety of two feet), my dad opted to take an easier route, ascending a scree ledge on climber's left of the ridge crest.

Unique view back to Heart Mountain (left) and Mount McGillvray's north buttress, rising above the shapely Lac des Arcs!

After traversing below the crest for a short while, my dad's route followed easy scree slopes back up to the ridge.

Comprehensive view across the valley, from what should be called "Super Duper Windy Ridge"! :P

Uniquely warped tree! Wonder if we have the wind to thank for that too...

Continuing up the slabby crest. Photo credit: Dad

View back down another short, slabby section.

Once again, easier lines exist to climber's left...which my dad continued to follow.

Looking down yet another steep, unnecessary climb...

The story of this scramble revolved around me scrambling up steep, slabby terrain (sometimes sketchier than others, depending on if the wind was in a good mood), followed by me scoping out easier routes from above (often to climber's left), which my dad would then chose to ascend (much smarter).

The ridge consisted of steep climbs separated by plateaus. The lopsided trees say something about the conditions up here...

Wind Mountain, Lougheed 2 and 3, and Lougheed's more difficult first peak, rise dominantly to the left of the quite impressive Wind Tower itself!

Someone's a little bit tired of the wind :(

After a little sheltered nap, he slowly crawled out from under his tree (even though he really didn't want to), and we continued up the ridge. Stubborn patches of remaining snow and ice added some extra excitement along the way!

As we gained more elevation we found ourselves trudging through more than just "patches" of snow...

Looking across to Grotto's beautiful east face! The lighting really reminds me of when I got seriously sunburnt up there in May...not something I particularly want to remember...

The Three Sisters (Faith, Hope, and Charity) stack up to the west!

Nope, not the summit yet! I thought it might be, but just another steep climb to another plateau! Although it looks like it could pose difficulties from afar, a scree gully easily leads up, where the trees break through the cliffs.

Easily ascending the scree weakness.

There's the summit!...Again, it looks steep and slabby from a distance, but presents no difficulties :). Don't know if the same can be said about this deep snow ahead though...

My dad enjoys hiking up pleasant, solid rock to the summit...or should I say he would have enjoyed it, if he wasn't so mad at the wind...

Looking back down the ridge, on the final slope to the summit!

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em! Gotta find a way to have some fun with the wind if you don't want to lose your sanity!...Wanna know a secret? My dad's actually a Jedi, and is using the force to levitate his pole! :o

Here's me, plunked on the summit, so the wind can't blow me away! Haha, get wrecked wind :) Photo credit: Dad

One of the few summit registers we've found this winter!

Summit selfie!

My absolute favourite view of the day! A rare, uninterrupted view of the beautiful Mount Fable!

Hey look! It's Calgary! (distant horizon, center)

Yesterday's summit, Wendell East Peak is blocked by a wall of rock, consisting of South Ghost Peak, Cross Peak, Morrowmount, Old Fort Peak, and finally Goat Mountain (left to right)!

Mount McGillvray's true summit (sharp peak, center), rises beyond it's often more prominent north buttress!

Mounts Collembola, Allan, Bogart, and Wind Mountain, rise beyond Pigeon's "impressive side"!

Gap Peak looks so close!...Maybe just a ridgewalk away with the right skills and/or equipment!

Great viewpoint for admiring Grotto's vertical backside!

A window to Kananaskis! Mount Denny rises center, to the left of The Wedge, with Evan-Thomas East sitting more left!...Also check out the neat sky!

Wind Ridge sits quietly below Rimwall's sheer east face, with The Orphan to the right! Mount Nestor and Old Goat Mountain tower in the distance, all the way on the west side of Spray Lakes (to the left)!

McConnell Ridge (Yates Mountain) rises above Engagement Mountain, sitting right on the east edge of the Rockies!

Comprehensive view of the dominant Mount Lougheed!!

My dad, on the summit of Anklebiter Ridge, with Grotto dominating the backdrop!

Me, with my favourite view :) Photo credit: Dad

Looking down the ridge to Bluemat Hill (center-right), as we continue the traverse. Exshaw Mountain is the treed bump beyond.

For some reason, I was led to believe that once on the summit of Anklebiter, we could simply follow the ridge down to Bluemat without difficulties. But that doesn't happen to be the case...We began down the ridge, but almost immediately found ourselves staring down a significant drop...Although it may be scramble-able in summer, this downclimb had quite a bit of snow on it, and we did not feel comfortable trying to descend it. The only other option was traversing scree slopes to skier's left, and hope that we'd eventually find a weakness through the cliff band...

Luckily for us, we did! The cliff band soon peters out, and we were able to easily descend around it!

We then simply had to traverse this slope back to the ridge.

Looking back to our approximate route down from the summit of Anklebiter.

After the initial surprise, the ridge became much more tame, and we easily hiked down to Bluemat Hill.

This ridge may not look like much from afar, but the summit cliffs of Anklebiter are quite impressive from this angle!

As we reached more sheltered areas, we found ourselves in some deep snow! Luckily some previous trails did most of the work for us...

But I write my own destiny ;)! LOL. Photo credit: Dad

Talking about deep...

Looking across to Bluemat Hill. Unfortunately there's a dip in the ridge, and you actually have to do some climbing to reach Bluemat.

View back, from the other side of the dip. Note how the ridge doesn't follow a straight line from Anklebiter to Bluemat...so be careful not to stray too far from the crest and end up down a slope leading who-knows-where!

Strangely enough, the top of Bluemat Hill was free of trees, and we were able to enjoy some views!

Summit register...?

Another horseshoe loop, Heart Mountain to Grant MacEwan Peak sits to the other side of the highway, with Twin Towers rising beyond.

Similar views down the valley, towards Canmore, now just a couple hundred meters lower.

I think the birds like the wind more than us...

Our trip down the ridge resumed with snow...

...but we were soon descending steep, scree slopes to the south, wishing we were back in the snow!

Airplane race!!

A little ways down, it seemed as if we had lost the "trail"...so we began traversing to skier's right.

Looking back at the traverse. Although the sun was beating down, and this south facing slope was heating up quickly, the ground was still frozen and quite slick in hiking boots...Needless to say, we would soon be putting microspikes on!

After a short traverse, we gave up looking for a trail, and simply continued down, through the open forest, often following patches of snow that offered relief from the hard-packed, frozen dirt.

Pretty, evening light on McGillvray's north buttress.

Hey look! A ribbon! We initially thought we'd found the "trail", but soon found ourselves surrounded by many ribbons...After closer inspection, we discovered they were marking boundaries for some sort of pest control...I guess we didn't find the "trail" :(. The forest was never thick however, and we would soon emerge at the highway!

Once we arrived back at the road, we simply had about a 700m walk back to our car at Grotto Pond to finish the loop.

I had some fun capturing the bright evening sun through the bare branches on the edge of the pond :)

Looking across Grotto Pond, to the first highpoint of Anklebiter Ridge...the summit is still a ways beyond. Although the wind was quite taxing at times, it allows for this loop to make for a good off-season objective, offering unique views across Lac des Arcs and an uninterrupted view of Mount Fable! Just make sure you do the loop clockwise (Anklebiter first), so you're descending most of the deep snow on the sheltered traverse to Bluemat, not struggling up it (much easier when gravity helps do the work for you ;) )!