Distance: 1.5 km (1.0 DOC hours) - Unmarked route, clear - Moderate terrain
Altitude: 519m to 943m. Gain: 425m. Loss: 1m . Gradient: 17 deg (Moderate)
Skills:

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

minor (5/5)
A viable route, not widely used

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

No description

Note: Described in the reverse direction to your journey

This route is a short-cut between Sparrowhawk Biv and Barlow Hut.

From the sparrowhawk track, at the broad flat section 500m WNW of pt952, cut north round the head of the east-flowing creekhead and pick up the spur dropping due east. This is beech with ferny undergrowth, but has reasonable game trails to follow. The spur drops gently for 500m then splits and starts to drop steeply at the 840m contour. At this point swing NE (50 degrees) and follow the sometimes faint spur towards the upriver forks. The last 100 vertical meters are of flaxy scrub, but good game trails provided easy access through this (2015). For the final 20m, drop due north down an obvious side-spur landing at the forks, as the main spur NE becomes very steep.