Distance: 8.8 km (7.0 DOC hours) - Unmarked route, clear - Moderate terrain
Altitude: 457m to 1119m. Gain: 694m. Loss: 699m . Gradient: 9 deg (Moderate)
Skills: Alpine weather (2/7) - Occasional rivers (3/6) Winter - Snow/ice underfoot (2/7)

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 (difficulty: 3/5)
Occasional moderate climbs

Moderate (difficulty: 3/5)
Low scrub in open or bush / river rocks

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

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

Snow/ice underfoot (difficulty: 2/7)
Snow/ice likely on track

A reasonable tops route with a brief scrubby start provides access between Oreti and Lower Windley Hut. The eastern end is tracked.

From Oreti Hut, climb the clearing behind the hut and follow the bushedge uphill until bush ends at scrub. Nose around for a good deer trail and follow it due east, climbing through manuka scrub. At the 600m contour scrub thins and interconncted clearings lead NE to the base of a beech forested spur climbing to the unnumbered peak 1km north of pt1119. Going is straight forward through mostly open beech forest with occasional patches of pole-beech which can be avoided.

Once on the tops head south dropping over pt 1119 to pt1114. From pt1114 drop east down the obvious spur passing a small tarn to reach the bushedge. Continue ESE down the spur until you pick up the remains of an unmaintained ATV/quad track. The track follows the spur ESE before dropping to sidle the southern face where the spur splits to run SW towards Lower Windley Hut. The track zigzags south down the face picking up the minor spur adjacent to the sidecreek in the valley below which it follows to the forks at Lower Windley Hut.

Crossing the Windley (knee deep in moderate flows), the hut is located at the rear of clearings on the eastern bank.

4-8 hrs

Note: Described in the reverse direction to your journey

No description