Distance: 5.9 km (12.0 DOC hours) - Unmarked route, hard - Hard terrain
Altitude: 658m to 2321m. Gain: 389m. Loss: 2047m . Gradient: 25 deg (Steep)
Skills: Prolonged scrambles (4/7) - Streams (2/6)

Unmarked route, hard (8/9)
Unmarked route, no clear geographic features to follow

minor (5/5)
A viable route, not widely used

Steep (difficulty: 5/5)
Steep climbs of >1000m

Hard (difficulty: 5/5)
Thick scrub-bash / continuous river boulders, waterfalls, or gorges

Prolonged scrambles (difficulty: 4/7)
Scramble, frequently on exposed ridges, spurs, faces

Streams (difficulty: 2/6)
Small streams, danger only in extreme weather

Unknown (difficulty: 0/7)
Not specified

**WARNING** (JANUARY 2022): I followed the described route in January 2022 and would caution anybody else against doing so. Below the upper scree, the terrain is extreme and the route is very dangerous. I regret following it. There is no other clear, passable, safe route on the ground.

Original Post (2019):
Easy scree runs lead from Mt Alta down into the head basin of Starvation Creek. High sidles of either TL or TR are possible - I took the TL. Ideally it appears best to stay high and end up on the spur dropping NE to the head of the falls - I dropped to the creek which was passable but scrubby. Above the falls climbing west out of the creek onto the spur, crossing the slip beyond leads to a second tussock spur which descends all the way to the main Minaret valley.

The Minaret Burn track is intersected just above the main Minaret Burn. It is not maintained (2019) and not obvious. Slip Creek Hut is 2km downstream and Boil The Billy Hut 2km upstream along the track.

Mt Alta - Minaret Burn: 2.5-5 hrs

Note: Described in the reverse direction to your journey

No description