Distance: 2.8 km (2.5 DOC hours) - Unmarked route, clear - Moderate terrain
Altitude: 623m to 1067m. Gain: 323m. Loss: 473m . Gradient: 17 deg (Moderate)
Skills: Alpine weather (2/7) - 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

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

Alpine weather (difficulty: 2/7)
Tramp on open tops, exposed to alpine weather

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

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

Head directly north from the fire dam / reservoir (towards the river) and pick up a narrow, tape-marked route through the scrub. This soon comes out in a mud basin where you cut to your right (east) and pick up the cut track again down the ridge. The track heads down the ridge and is narrow but well cut through the manuka scrub. As the slope steepens, the track come out to the top of a long slip running down the remainder of the ridgeline due north to the river. At the base of the slip, pick up taped markers and a cut track again and sidle left (west) before dropping ot the river just below the forks.

The track up the far side begins 80m upriver, just above the forks and is marked at its lower end. The bush here is open beech, and markers soon stop, but head up the spur to the ridgeline.

An old benched track or road follows the ridgeline west to Iron Whare Hut. This is overgrown where it passes through manuka, and can be a bit scrubby, but is easy to follow. Occasional markers provide reassurance, if not much help.

Iron Whare is on the now-obvious track soon after the start of the mature beech forest,

Note: Described in the reverse direction to your journey

The route of an old benched track or road heads down the ridge from the hut, passing the longdrop. On satellite photos this track/road is clear, descending all the way to the forks east of the hut. On the ground, however, it quickly become overgrown on leaving the beech, though frequent marker tape helps for a while after which you are left to follow the ridge. Abruptly the ridge stops and drops. On the forementioned satellite photos the track appears to zigzag down the northern face to the forks. For the best route, however, turn south to pick up a side spur heading towards the base of a long slip on the opposite face. The spur is well traveled and marked at it’s lower end with tape– reaching the river just upstream of a small sidestream joining the river from the south. 50m downstream of this confluence, flagging tape again marks a good clear, cut, marked route up the opposite face. This follows the ridge for a bit, then cuts east to the base of the slip. It’s a steep, hard climb at first, the ice-axe again proving useful on slippery clay. As the slope lessens, the clear clay is replaced with scrub, but a cut marked route continues up the ridgeline, exiting the scrub at the fire-dam just west of pt1083.