Distance: 17.5 km (12.0 DOC hours) - Unmarked route, clear - Moderate terrain
Altitude: 28m to 471m. Gain: 1139m. Loss: 1130m . Gradient: 7 deg (Moderate)
Skills:

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

Primary, unmapped (2/5)
Route not on maps, but is principal access to hut or along range / catchment

Moderate (difficulty: 3/5)
Occasional moderate climbs

Moderate (difficulty: 3/5)
Low scrub in open or bush / river rocks

None (difficulty: 1/7)
No alpine skills required

None (difficulty: 1/6)
No unbridged river crossings

None (difficulty: 1/7)
No alpine skills required

A well-used but mostly unmarked route runs down the ridgeline / escarpment east of Lake Poteriteri between Slaughterburn and Poteriteri Hut. Times vary hugely from sub-5 hours to 21 hours with the majority in the 12-14 hour timeframe. It's hard to see why such variance - the unmarked route is through low-gradient, fairly open bush, so vegetation and terrain are not the issue. I suspect from hut book comments that the main delay is people seeking out 'the track', rather than following the terrain.

Poteriteri Hut to pt144

Follow the beach south from the hut, crossing the small creek on the walkwire. There is a thick scrubby marsh to your left. Where this abruptly ends and is replaced by more open forest, pick up a trapline marked with blue/yellow triangles. This follows the edge of the marsh 100m east before climbing south over pt112 to pt144, where it ends.

pt144 to pt292

This middle section of the route is not marked - good map & compass skills required.

From pt144 drop SE to the marshy saddle, avoiding small bluffs and windfall. Cross the saddle and the 1st branch of the small creek to its south. Climb the open spur ESE between the two branches of the creek on good game trails. Swing due south onto flat tops and locate the highpoint at pt475. Follow the escarpment above Lake Poteriteri SW from pt475 as it drops the the wide, featureless plateau below. About 200m along the escarpment from the foot of the descent off pt475 is a small clearing with good flat tent spots. A creek is 100m to the south.

From the clearing you can either follow the escarpment or take a compass bearing across the flat tops to the saddle between pt267 and pt316. Going seemed easier on the flat tops than the escarpment edge so I did the latter. The climb west to pt316 from the saddle is thick with fern and slow going.

From pt316 follow the now clearly defined ridgeline SW onto pt388 and then pt292.

Pt292 to Slaughterburn

A sparsely marked trapline follow the clearly defined ridgeline from pt292 down to the confluence of the Waitutu and Slaughterburn. The line is marked with yellow / pink triangles and has a good ground trail for all but the last 400m. The route takes you along the spine of the ridge over pt 292, pt246, pt139, pt149 before swinging west ad dropping to a low terrace just above the river. The walkwire over the river to Slaughterburn Hut is just below the confluence of the Slaughterburn and Waitutu rivers.

Sluaghterburn Hut is over the main river, 1km up the south bank of the Slaughterburn along a cut/marked tramping track.

5-12 hours

Note: Described in the reverse direction to your journey

A well-used but mostly unmarked route runs down the ridgeline / escarpment east of Lake Poteriteri between Slaughterburn and Poteriteri Hut. Times vary hugely from sub-5 hours to 21 hours with the majority in the 12-14 hour timeframe. It's hard to see why such variance - the unmarked route is through low-gradient, fairly open bush, so vegetation and terrain are not the issue. I suspect from hut book comments that the main delay is people seeking out 'the track', rather than following the terrain.

Slaughterburn to pt292

From the eastern end of the swingbridge at the confluence of the Slaughterburn and Waitutu, head north along the low terrace from the bridge. Soon (2-300m) a 20-30m high slope appears to your right: climb it. At the top you will find open bush and a good ground trail running north along the top of the escarpment, with occasional bait stations marked in pink/yellow. Follow escarpment / ridgeline / bait stations over pt149, pt139, pt246 and to pt292. The bait station line ends just north of the highpoint.

pt292 to pt144

This middle section of the route is not marked: good compass skills required. Just north of pt292 a saddle drops due west, leading to the continuation of the main ridgeline. Follow the main ridgeline generally NW over pt388. The saddle west to pt 316 can be tricky to find and has thick fern so can be slow - take your time and get it right. From pt316 the ridgeline is fairly clear heading due west to pt267 across an otherwise featureless plateau. Beyond pt267 the ridgeline vanishes, and I took a bearing of 40 degrees and continued along it across featureless boggy but open forest floor until I intersected the escarpment above Lake Poteriteri just before the climb to pt475.

A creek NW of pt328 gives the only water along the route, with good camping on a clearing on the escarpment overlooking Lake Poteriteri 100m north of it.

Follow the edge of the escarpment as it climbs to pt475 - there's a good ground trail. Head due north off pt475 and pick up the spur dropping due north before dropping NW between the two creeks. Again, locating the start of the spur can be tricky. At around the 100m contour the steady descent becomes gentler and a terrace leads north across the small creek and down to the boggy saddle with pt144. Avoiding the worst of the windfall and small bluffs, climb steeply onto pt144.

Pt144 to Poteriteri Hut

A marked trapline runs from pt144 to Poteriteri Hut. Markers are blue and yellow triangles. The line follows the ridge down over pt144, pt112 to the edge of the swamp south of the hut. Follow the edge of the swamp 100m west to the lakeshore where there is a good beach. The small creek is crossed on a walkwire. The hut is on the beach 300m beyond.

5-14hrs