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DOC Land
Altitude: 362m to 1482m. Gain: 1311m. Loss: 191m . Gradient: 14 deg (Moderate-hard)
Skills: Alpine weather (2/7) - Streams (2/6)
From the Scott Creek car park on the Routeburn road cross the stile over the fence and follow a couple of snow poles across farm land under trees up the hill. Cross a second stile and follow a ground trail straight up the ridge line, entering thick bracken fern and scrub. The trail leads through the fern to trees and climbs parallel Scott Creek. Scrubby bush is past through, the track veers away from the creek at one point and its easy to miss the change here. If you find yourself at the edge of the creek then you have missed it! The track clears the scrub as it climbs higher passing through open beech forest. After about 3 hours you skirt by the edge of the 2 small clearings on the topo map (camping here) and then climbs up beside (and actually in at one point) Scott Creek to the bush edge at the floor of the Scott Basin. The track stays on the true right the whole way up and doesn't cross to the true left like the map says. There's camp spots at the bush line. Continue to follow the creek around to the south and cross it beside a patch of bush. Climb up the true left of the creek skirting the edge of the bush. Above the bush patch, follow ridge lines of firm scree as you climb higher, between Scott Creek and the stream draining the upper Scott Basin. Follow Scott Creek all the way up, around the east side of Peak 1552, past swampy terrain and up onto the rolling Scott Creek/Kay Creek Saddle. There's great camping to be had at Point 1344 which is easily reached by climbing to the east on the way up.