From Maruia River Swing Bridge to Zampa tarn via unnamed stream
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Distance: 6.4 km (6.0 DOC hours) - Unmarked route, clear - Moderate terrain
Altitude: 715m to 1497m. Gain: 1057m. Loss: 324m . Gradient: 13 deg (Moderate-hard)
Skills: Occasional scrambles (3/7) - Prolonged rivers (4/6) Winter - Iceaxe/crampons (4/7)
GPX info source: Uploaded from GPS

On the TL, climb over the railing and descend to the river directly under the bridge. Note that a similar footpad can be found on the TR as well.

With at least 2 crossings (easy in normal flow), head upstream and around the bend to the unnamed stream - begin the relentless climb.

Full of rubble all the way, the stream narrows around 960m and short sections out of the stream channel are easier. At 1220m, several routes to the obvious saddle (Zampa saddle?) are possible but we decided to climb beside the scree slope on the TL. Although we started a climbing traverse from 1400m, better is to push on to the ridgetop before descending to the saddle (the traverse is more tedious than the additional climb).

Once the saddle is gained, an obvious footpad leads to Zampa Tarn and good sheltered camping.

Created by: Bernieq on 2020-04-01. Experienced: 2020-03-10
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