Distance: 3.9 km (2.0 DOC hours) - Unmarked route, clear - Easy-moderate terrain
Altitude: 1374m to 1685m. Gain: 346m. Loss: 391m . Gradient: 11 deg (Moderate)
Skills: Alpine weather (2/7) 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

Easy-moderate (difficulty: 2/5)
Tussock / river-gravel / open bush / cut track

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

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

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

Narrow, exposed ridgeline. Ice axe and crampons territory in winter ice/snow.

A ridgeline drops north from Te Hekenga, before swinging west over a series of sawtooths to reach the northern summit of Maungamahue. There is no marked route, but a fairly clear ground trail exists and the route along the top of the ridgeline is fairly obvious. Despite the narrow ridgeline, this is a tramp, rather than a scramble.

Note: Described in the reverse direction to your journey

A sawtoothed ridgeline runs east from the northern summit of Maungamahue towards Te Hekenga. There is no marked route, but a fairly clear ground trail exists and the route along the top of the ridgeline is fairly obvious. Despite the narrow ridgeline, this is a tramp, rather than a scramble. The route drops to a scrubby saddle at 1290m, before a steady climb of 400m to the Te Hekenga summit