Distance: 11.0 km (10.0 DOC hours) - Unmarked route, clear - Moderate terrain
Altitude: 221m to 1515m. Gain: 285m. Loss: 1579m . Gradient: 10 deg (Moderate)
Skills: Alpine weather (2/7) Winter - Snow/ice underfoot (2/7)

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

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

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

Snow/ice underfoot (difficulty: 2/7)
Snow/ice likely on track

I hit deep snow on the western faces of pt1495 and 1446 - slow going. The scrub between pt1496 and pt1446 was also painful when leaves / branches were holding several inches of snow. That said, it was a good winter route in snow, and never got steep enough to require either ice-axe or crampons, though the former would eb a good precaution in case you hit icing.

No description

Note: Described in the reverse direction to your journey

Good game trails head up the spur between Mates Creek and the Pelorus. After a brief steep section of low fern as you exit the creek, the ridgeline flattens and becomes open bush and a clean forest floor. Going is great as far as pt783. From here on though you hut intermittent sections of severe windfall where most major trees have fallen. The smaller branches have rotted away but you still must scramble over trunks. Probably 1km total of the 3km between pt783 and pt1040 has windfall.

Bush improves again from pt1040 onwards. A couple of rocky scrambles are required round the highpoints on the northern face, but nothing exposed to falls. Finally hit the bushedge at pt1495 - good open beech all the way to the tussock.

A simple kilometer across tussock tops follows over pt1495 (unless like me you hit deep snow) before dropping WSW to the saddle between pt1495 and pt1446. The saddle is of stunted beech - maybe 3-4m high. Low branches mean you are weaving a trail between trees, and pushing foliage out of your way, but it's not bad enough to be called bushbashing, and remains reasonable going to pt1446. From pt1446 a simple 1.5km walk south on low tussock tops follows before a final brief climb to pt1538 where the orange poled markers of the Southern Alpine Route are visible.