Distance: 11.5 km (7.0 DOC hours) - Unmarked route, clear - Easy-moderate terrain
Altitude: 859m to 1919m. Gain: 758m. Loss: 1062m . Gradient: 9 deg (Moderate)
Skills: Occasional scrambles (3/7) - Streams (2/6)

Unmarked route, clear (7/9)
Unmarked route, follows obvious geography (river, spur, trail, etc)

Secondary, unmapped (4/5)
Route not on maps, an alternative recognised access to hut or along range / catchment

Moderate (difficulty: 3/5)
Occasional moderate climbs

Easy-moderate (difficulty: 2/5)
Tussock / river-gravel / open bush / cut track

Occasional scrambles (difficulty: 3/7)
Tramp with some scrambles and exposure to falls

Streams (difficulty: 2/6)
Small streams, danger only in extreme weather

Unknown (difficulty: 0/7)
Not specified

No description

Note: Described in the reverse direction to your journey

Follow the Rankin valley floor upriver from Rankin Hut to the moraine wall of the lake. Going is easy over scrubby tussock and river gravel. From here the creek ascending to Rankin Pass is clear heading up true right side of the lake, due west, before swinging south towards the pass. The riverbed is navigable but rocky. Easier is the ridge immediately to the east of the creek, due south of the lake. Follow this main ridgeline and cut right to the pass. This ascent provides amazing views of Mt Ronald Adair and the glaciers descending into the Rankin, and also of the circular lake sitting over 100m above the valley floor, retained only by tall moraine walls. This is nothing, however, compared to the view from the summit down over the Huxley Glacier as it descends from Mt Huxley and runs down the upper reaches of the Cass valley floor.

From the Rankin Pass summit, keep to the true right of the stream and descend the series of terraces on that side until the valley floor levels out and becomes navigable. The creek now runs parallel to the Huxley Glacier for some distance, separated only by the lateral moraine wall to the right, with wonderful views from its summit.

On passing the glacier’s terminal moraine, travel becomes easier, less loose rock and more solid gravel / tussock. Follow the valley floor to the forks between the east and west branches of the Cass. The (private) Memorial and Birdcage huts lie 3km downriver from this fork.