Distance: 6.5 km (5.0 DOC hours) - Unmarked route, clear - Moderate terrain
Altitude: 808m to 1399m. Gain: 650m. Loss: 652m . Gradient: 12 deg (Moderate)
Skills: Occasional scrambles (3/7) - 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

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

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

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

Head upriver from Upper Windley Hut. Great going through beech and flats with plenty of good deer trails to follow. On leaving the bushedge the valley becomes increasingly scrubby - 500m of tough going, mainly in the creek. Then, 500m before the spur to pt1412, good deer trails lead to terraces on the true right with open tussock.

Climb the spur due south of pt1412 to the summit. Steep going, but ok in good conditions - plenty of tussock to hang on to - but if you slipped in icy conditions - it'd be all the way to the bottom.

Dropping north from the pass you enter a large basin with several tarns. Pick up wide tussock terraces leading north past two creekheads and onto the prominent, broad ridgeline beyond. Follow this ridge down to where Ashton Hut sits nestled against another island of beech, 100m above the valley floor.

Note: Described in the reverse direction to your journey

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