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DOC Land
Altitude: 828m to 1481m. Gain: 680m. Loss: 717m . Gradient: 5 deg (Moderate)
Skills: - Occasional rivers (3/6)
A well used and marked route - a section of Te Araroa - runs from Double Hut to Comyns Hut vie Clent Hulls Saddle.
Follow the 4WD track 1km downhill west of Duble Hut to the signposted junction with Te Araroa. A well poled route runs north from here, crossing the small Swin Burn North Branch and climbing into the small dry valley of Mellish Stream which climbs parallel to the Swin Burn. The route soon encounters a fenceline which it follows to a saddle back into the Swin Burn. From here the route and fenceline cross a number of sidecreeks, remaining high on the western valleside of the Swin Burn, first on tussock faces and later benched onto scree.
From Clent Hills Saddle the poled route becomes vague and less well marked, dropping through tussock faces and following the small stream north of the saddle down to the forks with Round Hill Creek. Travel down Round Hill Creek is on the valleyfloor and sparsely marked - just follow the creek down and cross where required. Crossings were simple - ankle to knee deep, but numerous.
Below the forks with the North Ashburton River, the remaining 3km of river travel to Comyns Hut are trickier. The river is now larger and swifter and rocks on the riverbed slimy with algae. In normal flows the route is fine with knee deep crossings and some form of support on slipper rocks recommended. Some of the crossings could easily become impassable after rain - though a steep high-route over pt 1253 looked ok.
A poled rote leads north from the end of the gorge the reaming 100m to Comyns Hut.
4-6 hrs