Distance: 10.4 km (9.0 DOC hours) - Unmarked route, clear - Moderate terrain
Altitude: 1272m to 1617m. Gain: 984m. Loss: 909m . Gradient: 11 deg (Moderate)
Skills: Occasional scrambles (3/7)

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

None (difficulty: 1/6)
No unbridged river crossings

Unknown (difficulty: 0/7)
Not specified

A good ridgeline route runs from the head of the Crow down the eastern ridgeline to Mt Gomnorrah. Two tricky points exist around Mt Star and Mt Sodom both of which require steep descents that may be tretcherous in icy or wet conditions. Following the ridgeline rather than sidling these sections would be a rock-climbing / mountaineering proposition.

From pt1497 follow the eastern ridgeline (Arthur Range) south over a low highpoint and up to pt1622. Travel is easy on short-cropped snowgrass on gentle gradients on a broad ridgeline. A small tarn in a hollow west of pt1622 provides water / camping opportunities.

Easy travel continues south to pt1633. South of pt1633 the ridgeline becomes narrow, rocky and steep. Short impassable sections can be sidled high on the eastern face, or it would be possible to drop onto terraces above the eastern bushline just south of pt1633 and reascend to Mt Star, avoiding the entire narrow section.

Descent south from Mt Star is not possible (not as a tramp at least). A steep gully descends west about 150m north of Mt Star - look out for clear goat tracks headed that way. This drops steeply onto the western face of Mt Star just south of the prominent rib visible on map contours. The descent was iced up in July (2020) and required an ice-axe to descend in winter conditions. Once below obvious bnluffs at about 1360m, sidle faces of tall tussock to Hough Saddle.

Short snowgrass is replaced by rolling tussock south of Hough Saddle and progress is slower. The ascent ot pt1458 is straight forward, as is the descent to bush at Skeet Saddle. Reasonable game trails cut through the two bushy saddles and ascend the scrubby ridgeline towards Mt Sodom.

Sodom cannot be crossed directly. You mnust either make a long descent to the eastern creek from around pt1377 (safer) or make the steep, high sidle / scramble detailed below. To sidle to the Sodom/pt1541 saddle, follow good game trails up the ridgeline towards to Mt Sodom summit. At around 1450m a shoulder an gentler faces are reached on the eastern side of the peak and game trails deviate onto them. Sidle east of the Mt Sodom peak at 1450m-1400m, descending gently as bluffs / steepest faces push you down - aiming for the height of the saddle and keeping above a lower tier of bluffs. An impassable spur is reached 100m short of the saddle. Either drop the very steep snowgrass chute through the lower layer of bluffs (iced up in winter) or proceed carefully to where the upper and lower bluffs meet, blocking your way. A straight forward 5m downclimb on good rock si possible here to drop to gentle snowgrass slopes below which can then be followed 100m to the saddle with pt1541.

Crossing of pt1541 is simple, though still on rolling tussock, followed by a gentle ascent to Mt Gomorrah. A fault-line just west of the ridgeline holds small tarns that may dry out in dry conditions. The basin between Mt Gomorrah and it's unnamed SW peak also holds 2 small tarns and good sheltered camping with views over Nelson.

The Gomorrah Track joins the ridgeline from the east at the trig'd highpoint of Mt Gomorrah.

6-10 hrs

Note: Described in the reverse direction to your journey

No description