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DOC Land
Altitude: 698m to 1285m. Gain: 517m. Loss: 885m . Gradient: 9 deg (Moderate)
Skills: Alpine weather (2/7) - Occasional rivers (3/6)
From the Boyd Creek bush line cross tussock tops and angle around above the head of Dunton Creek. A ridge climbs towards Pt1561, but steep scree slopes higher up can be avoided by sidling through the tops of the gulleys that drop away into Dunton Creek. The 4th stream on the topomap draining Pt1561 lies in a massive ravine. You can climb up above it, or do as I did and descend to the southwest until snowgrass slopes are reached which drop to the floor of the ravine. Cross the stream and climb the much smaller eastern side out onto gentle terrain which leads onto the spine of the Dunton Range, south of Pt1561.
The Dunton Range is followed south over interesting terrain, especially south of Pt1225. Pt1378 can be bypassed on its eastern side, dropping down to the stream on the topomap which flows south and then surprisingly swings west to cut across the range and become the Redford Stream.
Steep unstable scree leads down into an unnamed stream which drops into the Upukerora valley, grassy flats reached 100m below. Downtream of the flats, follow the stream, mainly on the true right. Unfortunately the stream is full of windfall meaning you need to spend a lot of time sidling through the bush. Finally down at the 800m contour open grass is reached which descends into the Upukerora.
Terraces on the true right of the Upuk make for pleasant travel down the upper flats, with abundant camping, until the bush closes in at about the 700m contour. There is an old track down the true right which heads to the lower flats and Army Hut, I followed bits and pieces of it. But with river levels low it is far easier to stick to the river bed south.