Altitude: 210m to 224m. Gain: 7m. Loss: 20m . Gradient: 2 deg (Gentle)
Skills: - Prolonged rivers (4/6)
Note: Described in the reverse direction to your journey
From Roebuck hut head up the track to the bridge, and drop to the river without crossing. Continue up the riverbed. 5 crossings were required to reach the Mates / Pelorus forks. Valleysides were steep and bluffy (and west face is scrubby too). Riverbed is rocky with steep slippery faces in places, and boulders in others. Travel was mainly in riverside rocks, low in the bush and in-river. Crossings were waist deep with moderate snow-melt. Pools were far deeper, but did not need to be entered. The confluence is obvious. The Peloris emerges from a tight gorde upri ver, and Mates Creek tumbles from a narrow valley to the west,