Distance: 4.8 km (4.0 DOC hours) - Unmarked route, clear - Moderate-hard terrain
Altitude: 851m to 1455m. Gain: 865m. Loss: 946m . Gradient: 22 deg (Moderate-hard)
Skills: Alpine weather (2/7) - Occasional rivers (3/6) Winter - Iceaxe/crampons (4/7)

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-hard (difficulty: 4/5)
Continuous moderate climbs

Moderate-hard (difficulty: 4/5)
Tall, walkable scrub / large rocks, occasional waterfalls or gorges in rivers

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

Occasional rivers (difficulty: 3/6)
Occasional rivers - impassible after heavy rain

Iceaxe/crampons (difficulty: 4/7)
Ice axe and crampons required in winter

Avalanche conditions unknown - not assessed

The first (westernmost) fork in the head of the Waikiti provides good access to the Elizabeth Tops and over to Top Trent / Lagoon Hut. The fork is small and located 100m downstream of the more obvious 3-way forks where the river flats end.

Head up the small stream draining the western fork of the Waikiti - heading for Mt Elizabeth. A couple of small waterfalls are visible where the stream drops from its hanging valley - aim for those. Scramble around the first two falls on the true left, and then cross to the true right where a clear deer trail climbs the spur on the true right (south) of the creek. This climbs through 200 vertical meters of scrub before emerging into tussock. Follow the spur up, watching for where steep bluffs on your left cede to gentle tussock faces at around 1350m. Sidle due south, climbing slightly where required to reach the saddle with the Trent.

Small tarns south of the saddle provide good camping spots.

A creek drops south from the saddle - it is impassable and leads to high waterfalls. Instead, head east from the saddle and climb past an initial layer of bluffs to pick up the spur dropping south parallel to the creek, and east of it. Follow this spur south down to the Trent, being careful not to drop into the side creek. Once you reach the main valley flats, cut back to the side-creek well below the last falls and follow it to the forks with the main Trent. The Trent-Elizabeth track is 50m beyond through thick scrub.

The creek is small at this point but will be impassable after extreme rain (as I have found to my cost).

Top Trent Hut is located 1km further east along the track, 200m beyond the lagoon that gives it its name.

2-4 hrs

Note: Described in the reverse direction to your journey

No description