Distance: 5.0 km (6.0 DOC hours) - Unmarked route, clear - Easy-moderate terrain
Altitude: 583m to 1535m. Gain: 131m. Loss: 1078m . Gradient: 14 deg
Skills:

Unmarked route, clear (7/9)
Unmarked route, follows obvious geography (river, spur, trail, etc)

Primary, unmapped (2/5)
Route not on maps, but is principal access to hut or along range / catchment

Unknown (difficulty: 0/5)
Not specified

Easy-moderate (difficulty: 2/5)
Tussock / river-gravel / open bush / cut track

Unknown (difficulty: 0/7)
Not specified

Unknown (difficulty: 0/6)
Not specified

Unknown (difficulty: 0/7)
Not specified

Descend ridge and enter bush just past the tarn. Descend directly to Haast Pass following good game trails.

Note: Described in the reverse direction to your journey

A carpark at the pass summit gives access to the Lookout Track which gains you the 1st 100m of altitude via a series of zigzags. About 30m before the lookout platform, obvious game-trails branch off north skirting the edge of a scrubby clearing before swinging west and entering mature beech forest. Once in the forest, travel is easy and obvious with the game trail well defined on the mossy forest floor, but sections of clearings can be harder to navigate.

Breaking out of the beech forest at 1100m, a brief climb on tussock faces leads to the broad ridgeline, where a series of tarns would make a great campspot.

Once on the ridge the hard work is done. A 3km gentle climb takes you up the remaining 400m to the summit of Mt Cross.