Pickletooth & Dogtooth Mountain

On October 7 2025, Devan Peterson completed a traverse from the unofficially named “Pickletooth Mountain” to the more official, “Dogtooth Mountain”. His route immediately caught my interest. I’d first spotted Dogtooth when I scrambled nearby Pyriform (and Junction) with Wietse in 2018. I knew that the mountain was likely accessible from the east via Trap Creek and I’ve kept an eye out for ascents. “Pickletooth” is a play on the nearby Pickletooth Lakes and the jagged incisor-shaped rock formations along ridges in the area. I wasn’t as excited by Pickletooth but any time I can nab a twofer I won’t say “no”. 🙄

Wietse grinds his way up endless rubble on Pyriform Mountain on a hot August day in 2018. Dogtooth Mountain in the bg at left. This is when I first became interested.

Choosing a Route

The first modern era ascent that I spotted was in July 2020 by Michael Kurth. He wasn’t entirely clear about his access route other than that he biked quite far before tackling the SE ridge on foot to the summit. His route on Gaia didn’t help me out because it starts in a grassy field, seemingly at random. Although Michael’s route was intriguing, a few threads on Facebook kept me hesitant to repeat it.

In the latest discussion - started by Devan inquiring about that very same route, it became clear that landowners in the area would likely cause trouble. One of them seemed especially problematic - calling the RCMP on people who he deemed were trespassing. I won’t name him since he sounds very cranky and litigious but apparently he actively monitors the access road (that may or may not be public). Michael responded to Devan’s question that he received a $300 ticket that was eventually dropped due to a processing error. It’s unclear if that ticket was from his ascent of Dogtooth or a different trip in the area.

Adam Ess replied to Devan’s inquiry with details of a long and extremely rough bike route via Grass Pass, Wileman Creek and road and then Flat and Trap Creek. He emphasized over and over how shitty the terrain is on a bike - and he’s a pretty hardcore rider. Adam also posted about folks getting visits (i.e., tickets) from the RCMP after encroaching the 1 km off Hwy 541 after the end of August. Apparently the Buffalo Head Ranch doesn’t allow anyone access after this date. So nobody in the eastern front ranges is cool with folks crossing their land I guess… 🙁

Neither Devan nor I felt like dealing with RCMP visits, $300 fines and court date hassles so that’s why he sussed out his route from Pickletooth Mountain. Unfortunately for Devan, he didn’t have time to try the traverse on his first approach and was back only a week later to give it a go. Unfortunately for the rest of us, he reported back on a 4th class gully that he had to overcome off the summit of Pickletooth in order to make the route work. When Devan says “4th class”, most of us old Rockies scramblers retreat in terror. 😨 But something in his description made me wonder. He briefly mentioned that “there might be an easier line”. I decided to put that in my back pocket and give it all a go some time.

It looks much shorter and straightforward than it feels but the main sections are all indicated here.

“Some time” ended up being the day after a 110km cycle on the Legacy Trail and Hwy 1A in Canmore / Banff with a friend. He ended his day in an ambulance (you’ll have to track down that trip report separately but thankfully his injuries weren’t too severe). I made it home unscathed but after waiting around in the Canmore hospital for several hours and coming home late I wasn’t sure I was in the mood to get up on time and go for a lengthy, involved scramble the very next day. When I looked at the incredible forecast I couldn’t resist. I decided it was time for one more long, lonely wander in the hills before the winter snows hit in earnest. (This was the same exact excuse almost a year to the day earlier when I visited the exact same area.)

Following a Route

I left the familiar Lineham PRA parking lot at 0830 hours and settled quickly into a lovely fall day. I’d been up this rough trail a few times in the past few years including in 2023 up Trap Peak and 2025 up the Lineham Creek Peaks. I remembered the trail being very rough once it descended to the creek and indeed, this was the case. I think the area is getting more and more traveled because unlike my previous two times, this time I had no problems finding and sticking to a trail for 98% of the creek. The other 2% was when I lost it while not paying enough attention. There was only one crossing of the creek in the first 3 kms and my feet stayed dry for it.

The trail up Lineham Creek first ascends and then descends back to the creek.

At the junction, the trail rises steeply up an embankment on the far side.

At an obvious junction of two creeks, the route crossed the left hand creek (again, I stayed dry) before ascending a very steep embankment. I followed an obvious trail high above the creek I used on two previous trips before I got myself turned around a bit. I thought that there were two trails and I had to find the one going to my left (north). I had Devan’s GPS track which helped me stay on the right course. There is very little bushwhacking for the first 4.85 kilometers of this route so if you find yourself off trail you should make a correction to save your sanity.

The trail continues along an embankment towards Lineham North Twin.

The trail remains obvious and easy to follow.

That is NOT either of my peaks ahead but the trail will end soon.

After another very steep ascent on a dirt track I traversed a ridge top before finally running out of trail. Actually, the trail kept going to the north but I had to start NE into another side valley. The trail also became harder to follow here, thanks to an abundance of deadfall so I didn’t mind leaving it. A very short and fierce alder-whack across a flowing little stream ended the bushwhack and I found myself traversing boulder and rubble fields into a gorgeous little corner of the Rockies.

The trail ends with a short, fierce bushwhack across a small stream.

I stayed left to avoid trees as much as possible.

Just as on Phantasm Peak a few days previous and as I mentioned in my 2018 Pyriform trip report, it surprised me how remote this trip was starting to feel with each step I was taking. I’m sure the fact that I put over 100 kms of hard cycling on my legs the day before had something to do with it. There are a surprising number of little valleys and alpine meadows tucked into the Rockies front ranges and I was in one of them now.

Breaking into paradise. Pickletooth Mountain is finally visible in the far distance as a brown colored summit.

Dramatic overhangs and cliffs soar overhead.

As I finally broke tree line, the landscape turned dramatic. Huge walls of rock and “incisor” stone fins rose into a brilliant blue fall sky to my left and right. Pickletooth Mountain looked impossibly high directly ahead in the distance as I worked my way up a still-flowing watercourse between huge piles of rubble.

Pickletooth Mountain is still a long way off.

What is this place? Doesn’t feel like front ranges.

As I exited the piles of rubble I found myself staring at the endless - and if I’m honest - horrid looking SW ascent slopes. I had both of Devan’s ascent tracks and immediately gravitated towards a more easterly ascent line leading to the south ridge high above. This line looked like it might have more rock ribs under the rubble than the more northerly ones. Without further delay I made my way over and started up.

Looking ahead to a few hundred vertical meters of gain to the first summit - Pickletooth - rising at center. I decided to take the right hand slopes to the upper south ridge here. (I descended at center directly under the summit.)

Again I’ll say, for a relatively low elevation front range peak, it sure didn’t feel that way as I slowly put one foot in front (and above) the other to the upper south ridge of Pickletooth. As I broke onto the ridge I realized the biggest bonus of ascending this line was the view it granted towards a very distant looking Dogtooth Mountain.

A steep grunt up west rubble slopes to the south ridge.

Pyriform (L) and Dogtooth (R) are a long way off from the south ridge.

Just as I suspected, based mostly on gut feel from Devan’s report, I immediately spotted what looked like a much easier than 4th class descent line down Pickletooth’s east face. If this line worked it would bypass the gully that Devan used and potentially make this a moderate scramble rather than a difficult one.

From my top out on the south ridge, the double summit of Pickletooth Mountain at left with Pyriform and Dogtooth to the right. This is where I realized that I could likely by-pass Devan’s 4th class gullies using steep rubble and slabs dipping to the right of the south ridge here.

Of course it was all theory at this point, so I finished a short traverse to the double summit of Pickletooth first. A pink summit register sat between the two summit bumps and of course none other than Ephraim Roberts had placed it there in late October 2025. I was the next to sign after Eph - understandably this is not a popular peak despite its charms.

The summit of Pickletooth Mountain rises starkly ahead.

Summit views were amazing considering the placement and height of this peak. I could easily see Abruzzi, Joffre and many other peaks way off to the west.

Views west from the summit of Pickletooth Mountain. My approach at lower center. Junction Creek runs off at right.

Mount Abruzzi at right over the peaks of the Great Divide.

A wider view of peaks on the Divide including Loomis, Bishop, Horned, McPhail, Muir and many others.

I was having severely mixed feelings about the traverse to Dogtooth as I fussed around in a cool breeze atop Pickletooth. I was still confident that my east face line would work but damn that peak looked FAR! 😮 I estimated it would take at least 3-hours return to Pickletooth and possibly more. Of course I knew I’d give it a shot and so rather than whining about it, I started down Pickletooth’s north ridge before quickly plunging onto the steep, loose east face.

Views along the north ridge of Pickletooth towards Dogtooth. Junction Creek at left, Trap Creek at right. My descent route plunges down at bottom center right.

I knew from Devan’s track that I had to lose at least 200 meters of elevation down the east face before traversing back north to link back up with his route. Basically I would descend easier terrain before cutting back under his 4th class gully. From there I should be able to follow his 3rd class line up and over several intermediate peaks towards Dogtooth itself. It all seemed very exhausting but also reasonable. And indeed, it was both of those things.

My route down the east face (C) from the north ridge (L) that will by-pass the 4th class gullies at upper left. The unnamed intermediate summit is now looking rather high. 😐

I made my way slowly down easy (but very steep) east rubble slopes before starting a traverse north to intersect with Devan’s line. Wouldn’t you know it, but I ended up on a sheep track part way along and followed it to the bottom of Devan’s gully, looking very “4th class” as I skirted under it. I was happy to have found a reasonable line around this obstacle and made the huge mistake of thinking Dogtooth Mountain was “in the bag” at this point. Not even close my friends. Not even close.

My traverse to the SW face of the intermediate peak.

When I first analyzed Devan’s track from his Pickletooth / Dogtooth tomfoolery, I’d noticed that it had 1800 meters of total elevation gains. I thought that seemed very high for a set of front range peaks so I ignored it and chalked it up to the perils of digital topo maps and faulty software. It’s funny, isn’t it, how far our over developed human brains will go to avoid a painful truth? 🧠 Well, I’m here to tell you that the numbers weren’t lying. You’ll probably ignore it too, but you’ll realize it once you’re up there just like I did.

Looking up at the intimidating 4th class gully that Devan used.

Just as usual with these sorts of silly adventures, there were layers of moods and revelations as I slowly made my way towards Dogtooth Mountain. After the exhilaration of finding and following an obvious sheep track to the col under Pickletooth, I was faced with almost 200 meters of height gain to an intermediate summit between it and Dogtooth. There were height losses from the col too. The terrain was complex and finding easy to moderate lines wasn’t as easy as you might think.

From under the col there is a lot of gain to the intermediate summit.

Finally at the col with dramatic views through the incisors down Junction Creek.

It took me just under 1.5 HOURS to descend from Pickletooth and re-ascend the unnamed high point towards Dogtooth. That’s a long time to travel only 1500 meters of distance and is a good indicator of the care I was taking to stick to reasonable terrain.

I could have stayed low but I went up to the left.

Short slab section up the intermediate summit.

I erected a lot of cairns to guide me back along the various sheep trails that I found on approach. From the high point it was very depressing to look at what lay ahead. I still wasn’t even close. It was only now that I realized that Dogtooth Mountain is in line with Pyriform and is actually even slightly further east. This meant that I was traversing from Hwy 40 all the way out of the Rockies to the east today. Good thing I didn’t realize that when I woke up this morning. 😮🤬

Views along the endless ridge towards Dogtooth Mountain.

I wasn’t turning back now, so I started down the ridge towards Dogtooth. The weather was gorgeous as I navigated the many small cliffs and dropoffs first down and then up another - thankfully much smaller - intermediate high point.

The somewhat complex but also straightforward ridge leading towards Dogtooth Mountain. Pyriform at left. Dogtooth is further east than Pyriform is! Another intermediate bump ahead.

I was moving much quicker here since the route was a straight line except where I had to detour around steep dropoffs along the ridge. Despite looking huge it only took me around 40 minutes from the first high point to the summit plateau of Dogtooth.

Finally the straightforward ascent slope to the summit of Dogtooth Mountain.

Unfortunately there was no summit register that I could see in the giant mess of rubble posing as a summit cairn. I didn’t have the time or energy at this point to take the whole thing apart so I simply enjoyed the views and the accomplishment before turning back towards Pickletooth.

Views east from the summit of Dogtooth Mountain. Pyriform at left, Patterson’s Peak at right. Trap Creek at lower center runs off to the right. Highrock Ridge at center distance.

From the traverse back to Pickletooth (L) from Dogtooth (R) with great views past Pyriform down Junction Creek.

Ascending all the cliffs up to the intermediate summit was fun and much easier than finding descent lines had been.

The intermediate peak is just as high as Pickletooth.

I was very thankful for all the cairns I’d built on approach as I worked the complex terrain back to the east face of Pickletooth. I was also delighted to note that despite my earlier concerns, the face was much less rubble and more slab underneath (if looking for it) than I expected. It hurt, but it didn’t suck my soul out of my body the way I thought it might! 🧟🪦

Descending back towards Pickletooth Mountain. This is not a small or short day for obvious reasons. You earn these two peaks.

Looking back at some moderate terrain I descended on the traverse back to the Pickletooth / intermediate summit col.

Note one of my handy cairns guiding me back to the east face ascent route.

That’s a long way up! View up the east face back to the north ridge and summit of Pickletooth Mountain.

Just over 1.5 hours from the summit of Dogtooth, I was back at the summit of Pickletooth for a round trip time of over 3.5 hours. And although I wasn’t exactly racing, I wasn’t dawdling either. I would budget 4 and hope you beat it. I didn’t linger - I was already taking longer than planned and the wind was cold now. I also lost a very expensive Arc’teryx glove somewhere along the f’ing ridge behind me and wasn’t in the mood for cold hands… 🧤

A long exit awaits from the summit of Pickletooth.

So many interesting folds of rock along here.

There isn’t much to say about the rest of my day. It was lovely. I looked for a loose descent line off Pickletooth but kinda missed it. It wasn’t too bad.

The upper alpine valley was heavenly with autumn lighting casting long shadows through colorful foliage. I saw three larches as well - so this hike has Phantasm beat by 3x in that regard. 😀

Some interesting route finding brought me through the small stream and back up to the trail before I could officially turn my brain off and just enjoy the hike back to the parking lot. In a surprise to nobody at all, I didn’t see another soul all day.

The 2nd outing in a row where I was completely alone on a gorgeous fall hike simply because I was willing to forgo the idiotic attraction we all seem to have to the color yellow. 💛🌲

There’s yellow besides larches folks... Descending back into Lineham Creek.

Another Rockies hiking and scrambling season comes to a close. 🙁

So. Do I recommend this trip? Definitely yes and definitely no. For people who have done the other, much more accessible, trips in the Lineham Creek area and loved them, this is a great addition. Two peaks (arguably three) and lots of time by yourself in a gorgeous alpine valley tucked into the front range Rockies. On the flipside, Aunt Edna will lose her 💩 on this one, starting with the rudimentary track up Lineham Creek and continuing with the off trail navigation into the remote valley and neverending rubble and scree to the summit of Pickletooth. The traverse to Dogtooth would have her calling a 🚁 for a fast and furious exit. #dontbringauntedna