Starting from the gate which was open when we arrived, Zosia and I walked north on the gas well road for about a hundred metres until we reached three white pipeline signs.  Leaving the road here, we headed west and found the nice double-track used by McMurray for one of his descents off Blue Mountain.  This double-track led us to a T-intersection on the forested lower slopes of Blue Mountain's southeast ridge.  Had we turned left here, we would have easily gained the crest of the ridge without fuss.  Instead, we mistakenly turned right and soon ended up in a large clearing which is actually a dead end of sorts since access to the ridge crest is blocked by bushes and trees.  Too lazy to backtrack, we simply thrashed through the bushes--we startled a moose here--until we reached more open slopes higher up.  Once we gained the crest of the ridge, we simply followed it northward to the summit of Blue Mountain.  Some easy scrambling and route-finding are necessary to progress up the mostly rocky ridge, but difficulties are few.

	The gate along the gas well road is open, but it is imperative not to drive or park beyond here.
	This trio of pipeline signs marks the start of a double-track heading into the forest behind Zosia.  The southeast ridge of Blue Mountain is visible in the background.
	Zosia climbs up the double-track in the forest.
	After taking a wrong turn at a T-intersection, Zosia is faced with a bushy ascent up to the ridge.
	Sonny thrashes through a short stretch of bushy forest. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Zosia gains the crest of Blue Mountain's southeast ridge.
	Zosia gets her first clear look at the top of Blue Mountain.
	Zosia climbs up the final section before the summit.
	Sonny and Zosia stand on the summit of Blue Mountain (1719 metres).
	Screwdriver Ridge is at right in this view to the southwest.

After taking a short break at the summit of Blue Mountain, Zosia and I descended a semi-open ridge to the southwest with intentions of traversing to Screwdriver Ridge.  We had no significant issues until we crossed an old exploration road about halfway through the traverse.  At this point, we bushwhacked a bit to get around the south end of an intervening grassy bump before contouring northward to connect with a forested rib coming down the northeast side of Screwdriver Ridge.  This forested rib is a bit of a mixed bag with some easy terrain interspersed by scrubby undergrowth or toothpick deadfall.  With some good route-finding, we avoided getting too tangled up during our ascent, and after a final steep push, we popped out onto the open crest of Screwdriver Ridge.  We tagged all three distinctive bumps on the ridge crest before stopping for another short break.

For our return, Zosia and I descended the forested rib we came up, but we veered a little too far north and had to climb a bit to get back to our original track.  As we went back around the intervening grassy bump, we stayed further south and endured another short stretch of bushwhacking before climbing up the open west-facing slopes of Blue Mountain's southern outlier.  We eventually hiked over the top of the outlier before traversing with some difficulty across a drainage to get back to Blue Mountain's southeast ridge.  Once there, we descended past where we first gained the ridge crest and found the terminus of the T-intersection's left-hand fork that we had missed earlier in the day.  The remainder of the hike back to the gas well road was quick and easy.  Incidentally, the gate was locked shut when we returned to my car.

	Something on the ground catches Zosia's eye as she heads cross-country toward Screwdriver Ridge.
	After contouring around an intervening bump, Zosia heads right aiming for a forested rib coming down from the crest of Screwdriver Ridge.
	Sonny steps over some toothpick deadfall while ascending Screwdriver Ridge. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Zosia hikes along the crest of Screwdriver Ridge.
	Zosia relaxes on the high point of Screwdriver Ridge (1685 metres).

This is the view of Blue Mountain from Screwdriver Ridge.

 

Zosia climbs up a grassy slope on the way back to Blue Mountain.

Here is a look back at Screwdriver Ridge from Blue Mountain.

 

	Zosia hikes over the top of Blue Mountain's southern outlier.
	Sonny scrambles back up to the crest of Blue Mountain's southeast ridge. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak

Here is a close-up of some teeth on the bleached jaw bone of a cow.

 

	Zosia finds more bones scattered on the ridge.
	Total Distance:  11.0 kilometres Round-Trip Time:  6 hours 41 minutes Cumulative Elevation Gain:  977 metres GPX Data