Routes
Huts / campsites
Roadends
Summits
Passes / crossings
Scenic features
Junctions
DOC Land
Altitude: 52m to 1515m. Gain: 5166m. Loss: 5056m . Gradient: 10 deg (Moderate)
Skills: Alpine weather (2/7) - Occasional rivers (3/6) Winter - Iceaxe/crampons (4/7)
Warning: this route segment has not been experienced by the author
Altitude: 52m to 1113m. Gain: 1655m. Loss: 594m . Gradient: 10 deg
Skills:
Maitai Valley campground to dun shelter
Altitude: 810m to 949m. Gain: 18m. Loss: 157m . Gradient: 4 deg (Gentle)
Skills: Winter - Snow/ice underfoot (2/7)
From Dun Saddle a poled route sidles south, soon entering low scrubby bush and becoming a cut, marked track. There are numerous roots to step around and the track is muddy, but it's an otherwise good route. Shortly before Rocks Hut a track branches off west signposted 'lookout'. The hut is 50m beyond along the main track.
Altitude: 284m to 818m. Gain: 13m. Loss: 539m . Gradient: 9 deg (Gentle)
Skills:
From Rocks Hut, a trampoing track heads south along the range before swinging SE and dropping steadily towards the Pelorus River. The track is well marked and well cut (this is Te Araroa) and the only annoyance is treeroots. 1km before reaching the river a signpost marks the turnoff to Roebuck Hut.
Altitude: 156m to 278m. Gain: 2m. Loss: 124m . Gradient: 8 deg (Moderate)
Skills:
From the Roebuck Junction, Te Araroa trail makes a brief steep descent to just above the river, before following a spur east, finally dropping to cross the Pelorus on a long swingbridge. Middy Hut is 100m downriver on the far bank.
Altitude: 200m to 325m. Gain: 304m. Loss: 380m . Gradient: 8 deg (Moderate)
Skills: - Streams (2/6)
The sidle track to Roebuck is a standard sidling tramping track - we are no longer on Te Araroa. The track is cut, but not benched and traverses steep faces as it heads upriver. Climbing and falling repeatedly it crosses two main side creeks and 3 more minor ones. Windfall was a minor issue when I visited - maybe half a dozen scrambles round large fallen trees.
Sidecreeks are not bridged and whilst small could become impassable after extreme rainfall.
Finally the track drops to the river upstream of Roebuck Hut, and crosses both branches on bridges before returning downriver to the hut.
Altitude: 221m to 1515m. Gain: 1579m. Loss: 285m . Gradient: 10 deg (Moderate)
Skills: Alpine weather (2/7) Winter - Snow/ice underfoot (2/7)
Good game trails head up the spur between Mates Creek and the Pelorus. After a brief steep section of low fern as you exit the creek, the ridgeline flattens and becomes open bush and a clean forest floor. Going is great as far as pt783. From here on though you hut intermittent sections of severe windfall where most major trees have fallen. The smaller branches have rotted away but you still must scramble over trunks. Probably 1km total of the 3km between pt783 and pt1040 has windfall.
Bush improves again from pt1040 onwards. A couple of rocky scrambles are required round the highpoints on the northern face, but nothing exposed to falls. Finally hit the bushedge at pt1495 - good open beech all the way to the tussock.
A simple kilometer across tussock tops follows over pt1495 (unless like me you hit deep snow) before dropping WSW to the saddle between pt1495 and pt1446. The saddle is of stunted beech - maybe 3-4m high. Low branches mean you are weaving a trail between trees, and pushing foliage out of your way, but it's not bad enough to be called bushbashing, and remains reasonable going to pt1446. From pt1446 a simple 1.5km walk south on low tussock tops follows before a final brief climb to pt1538 where the orange poled markers of the Southern Alpine Route are visible.
Altitude: 1357m to 1509m. Gain: 212m. Loss: 199m . Gradient: 6 deg (Gentle)
Skills: Alpine weather (2/7) Winter - Iceaxe/crampons (4/7)
From Ada flat the Alpine Route heads north across tussock tops, dropping to a bushy saddle before climbing to the open pt1538, topped by a crown of rock. Here a major spur joins from the NE (a rough route down to Roebuck Hut), and the Alpine Route swings WNW towards Slaty Peak. The route continues poled along an obvious ridgeline until just prior to Slaty PEak, where it cuts across the steep eastern tussock face (far higher than shown on the map) before descending to Slaty Hut.
The track is poled, and well used.
Altitude: 1187m to 1490m. Gain: 346m. Loss: 562m . Gradient: 11 deg (Moderate)
Skills: Alpine weather (2/7) Winter - Iceaxe/crampons (4/7)
From Slaty Hut, the poled route climbs slightly before sidling east to join the spur north of Slaty Peak at the bushline. A well marked, cut track drops through the bush, passing two low saddles with an intermediate peak, before climbing steeply to Mt Starveall. The bushedge is reached a few meters below the flat summit is attained. A poled route heads north across the flat top, before dropping steeply NNW down the spur towards Starveall Hut. A few minor scrambles down rocky sections of ridgeline are required, which make an ice-axe advisable if covered in ice.
Reaching a saddle, the track sidles scree on the southern face of pt1243 before arriving at the saddle where Starveall Hut is located.
Altitude: 255m to 1187m. Gain: 4m. Loss: 936m . Gradient: 11 deg (Moderate)
Skills: - Occasional rivers (3/6) Winter - Snow/ice underfoot (2/7)
A signposted track drops north from Starveall Hut, zigzagging down the face and paralleling the stream north. After about 4.5km the track drops into the Hacket Creek riverbed and ends. A further kilometer walking down the riverbed follows with 8-or-so mandatory crossings. Crossings were knee-deep with moderate snow-melt, but hut book reports the creek flooding in rain,
100m above Hacket Hut, a fixed bridge is reached, crossing the creek. A track runs down the true-right of the river from here to Hacket Hut, which stands in a large clearing on the eastern bank.
Altitude: 252m to 480m. Gain: 244m. Loss: 16m . Gradient: 7 deg (Gentle)
Skills: - Occasional rivers (3/6)
From the easternmost of the two Hacket Junctions, the track to Browning Hut head upriver, soon crossing to the northern bank (creek must be forded, ankle deep but could flood). An old benched track runs along the northern valleyside, but after 100m it has slipped away and you must either drop to the riverbed for 200m (4 crossing required), or climb a high, rough bypass route.
After passing the slipped section, the benched, cut, marked track returns to sidle the northern valleyside. Crossing the north fork of the creek, the track starts to climb steadily. A further 1.5km steady climb takes you to Browning Hut, in a large clearing on the northern form of Browning Stream.
Warning: this route segment has not been experienced by the author
Altitude: 203m to 682m. Gain: 789m. Loss: 1264m . Gradient: 16 deg
Skills:
Track