Distance: 4.9 km (3.0 DOC hours) - Unmarked route, clear - Easy-moderate terrain
Altitude: 676m to 1179m. Gain: 14m. Loss: 503m . Gradient: 6 deg (Moderate)
Skills: - Streams (2/6)

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

Primary, mapped (1/5)
Formal route, on maps, principal 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

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

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

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

From the Otore clearing, a bearing of due north crosses the low Otorehinaiti Saddle through mature open beech, and drops to an (unmarked) fork in the head of the Otorehinaiti River. There is some flagging tape here marking the way, but a bearing of due north would suffice.

The river is small and unlikely to pose problems in all but extreme conditions. For the 1st 1km, the gradient of the valley is moderate, and there are no river flats, but it is still good open beech forest, and easy walking, sidling the valleyside. Below that, the valley soon opens up – good tramping down river flats and terraces, beech leaves and moss underfoot. Navigation is simple – follow the stream. A short tight section exists just above the confluence, but nothing tricky.

Good campspots exist on terraces on the southern bank of the Oamaru River. The Oamaru tracks in 100m north of the river (knee deep in normal conditions), and easy to spot if you head that way.

Note: Described in the reverse direction to your journey

The Oamaru is knee deep at the confluence in normal conditions, and easily crossed.

There are good, well-used campsites at the Oamaru/Otore confluence. Ignore old permolat markers heading east at the confluence – they appear to sidle terraces on the south side of the Oamaru, heading downstream. The Otore valley is narrow at first, but soon opens up – good tramping up river flats and terraces, beech leaves and moss underfoot. The river is small and unlikely to pose problems in all but extreme conditions. Navigation is simple – following the main stream to where it swings due south towards the saddle. The gradient increases 1km from the saddle, and the flats disappear, but it is still good open beech forest, and easy walking, sidling the valleyside. 500m from the saddle, there is a final fork, not shown on the map. We climb the mossy slip between the two forks, heading due south towards the saddle, emerging onto a wide plateau of beech which rises gently to the saddle itself. There is some flagging tape here marking the way, but a bearing of due south would suffice.

The Otore clearing is open – a mixture of marsh and tussock. The small Otore Biv is tucked away on the south-west side.