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DOC Land
Altitude: 569m to 1462m. Gain: 1148m. Loss: 1671m . Gradient: 22 deg (Steep)
Skills: Prolonged scrambles (4/7) - Streams (2/6)
A partially marked route leads over exposed tops from Lake Morgan to Top Crooked Hut. The descent to Top Crooked is extremely steep.
From Lake Morgan Hut, follow the poled route back onto the ridgeline where the poles end. The normal route is to sidle onto flats on the true right of the outflow of Lake Morgan and follow the eastern bank / shore to the head of the valley. Alternatively you can climb to pt1343 and follow the ridgeline south to the next saddle, from where a gentle sidling descent takes you to the head of the lake.
Two steep guts climb from the head of Lake Morgan to the ridgeline. I took the easternmost gut - a mixture of grass and large rock-scree which provided an easy climb to terraces 150m above the lake and 50m below the rugged ridgeline. Follow the terraces west until you reach the spur climbing from pt1422 and follow that sur up to pt1489. From here a gently descending ridgeline runs south-west - rocky at first but later easy travel on short grass.
Pick up poles swinging south into a large basin just before the climb to pt1539. These sidle the face south to join a broad spur dropping into the Crooked. The route is lightly poled to the scrubline. A large DOC triangle on a pole on the cliffedge marks the start of the steep descent into the crooked.
Just left of the spur, 10m left of the triangle, an incredibly steep gut of hardpack, loose gravel & scree drops in a straight line towards the valley floor. Occasional small triangles reassure you that this is indeed the route. The first 300m is sheer and unbroken - take care as a fall would be hard to arrest. Below the bushline the gradient lessens to merely very steep, and there are a few branches to cling onto. My honest recommendation is to take an ice-axe - mine got a lot of use bracong and anchoring the descent on hard but loose gravel.
The track emerges onto the Crooked River flats opposite and downstream of Crooked Hut. Cross the brief band of scrub to the southern branch of the river and head upstream 50m to find triangles marking the 30m route to the hut.
The river is small at this point, and unlikely to pose problems except in extreme conditions.
3-5 hrs