Distance: 8.6 km (9.0 DOC hours) - Unmarked route, clear - Moderate terrain
Altitude: 920m to 1879m. Gain: 1078m. Loss: 1138m . Gradient: 15 deg (Moderate)
Skills: Occasional scrambles (3/7) - Streams (2/6)

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

Unknown (difficulty: 0/7)
Not specified

No description

Note: Described in the reverse direction to your journey

From Lawrence Biv, head 1.5km upriver on gravel and boulders to Butler Stream. Butler Stream is short and steep. It has a narrow, gorge-y section just above the Lawrence confluence, but this is easily bypassed with a sidle on the TL on steep scree and scrub.

Continue up Butler Stream and, at each of two forks — at about the 1260m and 1320m contour lines — follow the branch on the right (TL). (The left hand branches were nearly dry in mid-summer and each appeared to disappear into the rocks a short distance above.) Follow this rightmost branch of Butler Stream as it climbs and curves further to the right before it, too, disappears into the rock.

From this vantage in the upper reaches of Butler Stream, although you are only about 350 vertical meters from Butler Saddle, boulders and moraine hide much of the head of the valley from view, including the saddle itself. The obvious gravel pass that is visible on the ridge during much of this part of the climb is not Butler Saddle — it is actually the unmarked col just west of Pt. 1966. This unnamed saddle appears to be a straightforward climb. But I was hesitant to try the mystery saddle, incase it had concealed hazards on the other side. Continuing on, Butler Saddle eventually swung into view for the final push.

The view from Butler Saddle is breathtaking: the deep gorges of Reischek Stream, the glittery Rakaia, Whitcombe Pass, Meins Knob, Lauper Peak, Mt. Whitcombe, Mt. Ramsay and the Ramsay glacier — pure mountain sublime.

From the saddle, to descend to Meins Knob, you need to get over the ridge that runs NNE from Pt. 2030 and pick up a spur that runs down to the knob. To reach this ridge requires first sidling west from Butler Saddle on steep scree slopes above bluffs. The sidle is somewhat exposed, and, as you approach the ridge below Pt. 1966, the scree gives way to larger rocks and bluffs. Three long, bluff-y ribs of rock extend down from Pt. 1966; you can either scramble over them or do an 80m downclimb via a steep scree chute, sidle below the bluffs, and re-climb after. I opted to scramble over the first two (moderately exposed), but the third rib was taller and more exposed, so I ended up climbing down via a long, rocky gut that led to a scree chute. Thankfully, at the bottom, I found an easy path up and over the northern ridge of Pt. 1966.

On the other side of that ridge lies a small, pleasant terrace retained in the basin between Pts. 2030 and 1966. In benign conditions, it would be a beautiful place to camp, with snowgrass-covered flats and a burbling stream. Continue sidling via these terraces towards the ridge NNE of Pt. 2030. This ridge is rocky and has some short exposed scrambles, but is nowhere near as challenging as the ridge on Pt. 1966 with the three long bluff-y ribs. I gained the ridge at about the 1840m contour line, climbed along ridge to avoid some bluffs immediately below on the other side, and then descended on gravel down into an easy basin on the northern face of Pt. 2030.

I noted as I made my way over towards the spur that the nameless saddle I'd spotted during my climb up Butler Stream would have made for a shorter and easier route — that saddle would have put me out on top of the pleasant terraces, and I would have only had to get over the ridge of Pt. 2030 to reach the spur. It would have saved me the scree sidle on top of bluffs below Butler Saddle and the complication of the three bluff-y ribs. This unnamed pass appears to be a perfectly viable route, and, for parties heading to Meins Knob rather than Reischek Stream, more direct than Butler Saddle. In future I will try it.

Once you are over the ridge and on the northern face of Pt. 2030, there are two spurs that lead down to Meins Knob. I took the left one as it looked marginally better, but in retrospect they seemed quite interchangeable. The descent was straightforward, first on scree, then tussock, then some scrub and a lot of spaniards. An unmarked (and in February mostly dry) creek bed aided the descent. The top of Meins Knob is studded with tarns, which make a good target to aim for.

The poled route over Meins Knob can be picked up easily from the spur. Note that the route has been re-marked; the GPX line reflects the current route, which descends through thick scrub and then a very tedious boulder field, then puts out on the riverbank about 300m away from Lyell Hut. The turnoff to the hut from the river is marked with a cairn and a sign.

Lyell Hut is beautiful, modern, and weather-worthy, with a large picture window that offers a stunning view of the peaks surrounding Ramsay Glacier. It has solar-powered lighting and a battery system with a USB-A output for charging devices; in early 2026, several cables and adapters (USB-A to USB-A, USB-A to USB-C, USB-A to micro-USB, etc) had been left in a small pouch next to the hut battery. Water is from a nearby stream and there was a convenient 20L tank you can fill and lug back. There was a considerable amount of food staged at the hut as of February, 2026, stored in thick plastic bins, but thankfully no signs of vermin incursions since the building was gut-renovated in 2021.