Routes
Huts / campsites
Roadends
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Passes / crossings
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Junctions
DOC Land
Altitude: 217m to 547m. Gain: 709m. Loss: 471m . Gradient: 9 deg (Moderate)
Skills: Occasional scrambles (3/7) - Occasional rivers (3/6)
An infrequently cut track sidles the faces of the Waikiti River from the roadend to the flat containing the hut. The track starts from the road on the true right of the river, crosses brief flats prone to windfall, before climbing and sidling the true right valleyside. The face is steep and it is slow going but this section seems farly stable so slips & windfall are less of a problem here.
About half way to the hut a swingbridge crosses the river to the true left, requiring a descent to near river level. Beyond the bridge the track climbs from the bridge and then resumes its sidle. From the bridge upstream the track is rougher and more prone to windfall. Soon after the bridge the track crosses a large slip and the continuation of the track beyond is hard to locate. If in doubt head up the next spur upriver until you intersect the track line. Eventually the track drops to flats near the river, emerging onto shingle / grass flats 800m below the hut. Cross the river 300m upstream of the forks where a doc triangle marks the start of the short track through scrub to the hut.
The river crossing is on good shingle flats and posed no problems in persistent light rain when I visited. It could be impassable after heavy rain.
3.5-7 hours.
This track is now cleared and well marked all the way from the road to the hut and all wind fall has been cleared, a ladder has been installed at the rock face exiting the last creek before the bridge, this work was completed on the 21st March 2019 by Permolat members and the Over Forties Tramping Club, refer to the remote Huts site for confirmation, I organised the work. The walking times now would be 5 to 7 hours, unless you were running it could not be done in 3.5 hours with rests stops as stated above.