Distance: 5.4 km (5.0 DOC hours) - Unmarked route, clear - Moderate terrain
Altitude: 813m to 1145m. Gain: 678m. Loss: 613m . Gradient: 14 deg (Moderate)
Skills: Alpine weather (2/7) - Streams (2/6) Winter - Iceaxe/crampons (4/7)

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

Secondary, unmapped (4/5)
Route not on maps, an alternative recognised access to hut or along range / catchment

Moderate (difficulty: 3/5)
Occasional moderate climbs

Moderate (difficulty: 3/5)
Low scrub in open or bush / river rocks

Alpine weather (difficulty: 2/7)
Tramp on open tops, exposed to alpine weather

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

Iceaxe/crampons (difficulty: 4/7)
Ice axe and crampons required in winter

Ice-axe was handy in winter. Didn't need crampons with snowline at ~1100m, but is snow/ice was below 1000m they;d probably be handy.

From Upper Windley Hut, cross the creek and climb the spur opposite to the bushedge. Scrubby low down but good going further up.

From bushedge, sidle and climb south to the shoulder of the ridge, and then drop east into the next valley. Good descent on tussock and open beech. Climb opposite valleyside and sidle above the bush at around 1100m, dropping back to the valley to the forks above the last of the bush.

The valley floor is scrubby and hard going. Climbing east from the fork and sidling the northern face to the pass at ~1080m is a far better option.

From the pass, drop into the creek 1km above Islands. The valley is scrubby and not worth trying, so cross and climb the face opposite and follow good tussock terraces at around 1000m until you hit the spur dropping to the hut. Follow this down into the beech and find Islands Hut just back from the river.

All streams were small - the Windley was the largest and 3m wide / ankle deep.

Note: Described in the reverse direction to your journey

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