Clifton first showed me this loop trip a few years ago and I repeated it with Arnold after that. Despite their good mentoring I did start, incorrectly, going up a drainage shortly after leaving Grotto pond! This was, however, quickly corrected and we headed up through the trees following bits of trail and flagging. At treeline we had a break during which we saw some sheep on the open slope above us.
Sheep moving out of our way ....
After finding routes around (climbers right for the first, climbers left for the second) there was a bit of a scree grunt to regain the ridge after which there is easy scrambling to the summit.
Final ridge to summit Gap peak
Temperature was fairly pleasant for lunch at the summit just after noon with the wind gusts cooling things down occasionally. From the summit ridge we could see the drainage of our planned descent route had a surprisingly large amount of snow. On my previous trips the descent of this slabby drainage had been the crux of the trip so, given the large amount of snow, I was a little apprehensive what we would find this day. The group all agreed to give it a go and it was the right decision. The boot punchable snow covered in rubble made the descent the easiest I have ever done on this trip.
Descending "canyon" below Gap Peak, Carl on over metre of rubble covered snow
Descending rubble covered snow below Gap peak
. We traversed out of the drainage towards "Anklebiter ridge" to find the goat trail we had seen from Gap summit ridge. Upon finding the goat / sheep trail there was a convenient bench for three folks.
Three wise men .... and Brian?
Another break at a little cairn on "Anklebiter ridge" (a name on the latest Gem Trek map Canmore and Kananaskis village).
Mountain lovers looking at and disccussing mountains
The descent along the ridge seemed longer than I remembered it and Brian found the best route on the slabby, but grippy, rock staying right on the ridge. So yes, despite my earlier photo caption bit of fun, Brian is just as wise if not wiser than the rest of us! Thanks to Carl, Jack, Brian, Evan and Michael from John for an enjoyable, fun day.
