Distance: 9.0 km (8.0 DOC hours) - Unmarked route, clear - Hard terrain
Altitude: 823m to 2071m. Gain: 1179m. Loss: 1313m . Gradient: 16 deg (Steep)
Skills: Occasional scrambles (3/7) - Streams (2/6)

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

minor (5/5)
A viable route, not widely used

Steep (difficulty: 5/5)
Steep climbs of >1000m

Hard (difficulty: 5/5)
Thick scrub-bash / continuous river boulders, waterfalls, or gorges

Occasional scrambles (difficulty: 3/7)
Tramp with some scrambles and exposure to falls

Streams (difficulty: 2/6)
Small streams, danger only in extreme weather

Unknown (difficulty: 0/7)
Not specified

The hardest of the three passes from the South Temple to Ahuriri, due to scrub and steep faces on the Temple side.

Head 1km upriver from the Top Hut and pick up the spur to pt2142. This is a reasonable 1100m climb on mainly rock and grass/tussock. From the highpoint, head north to the first saddle/shoulder and drop east into the basin to pick up a good route into the head of the South Temple (middle branch).

At first, good moraine flats lead downriver, but 2km from the Temple hut first thick scrub is encountered. Bashing through this near the river leads to beech. However, the valley steepens and gorges and the river becomes impassable. Sidle the steep, windfall-ridden north face at 1100m, gently dropping to 1020m to hit the plateau due west of South Temple Hut. Here things improve and a good trail leads down the spur to the hut.

Note: Described in the reverse direction to your journey

No description