Clarkes Pass

From Griffiths Stream climb moderately-angled loose gravel and eroding bedrock, avoiding steep guts
and loose rock and picking a line through a steep band at about 1500 metres. The pass itself is a dry
boulder field, with more stable and smoother rock outcrops among tussock to the south-west. About
30 metres above the pass, at J34 676996 / BV19 576 380, there is a small tarn about one metre across.
To descend directly to the Kokatahi from Clarkes Pass follow the creek down towards the 1000-
metre contour, keeping to the true left lower down. Pick the best looking line across to the ridge on the
true left of Clarke Creek then follow the spur down. The scrub bashing here is exquisite ; neither you
nor the leatherwood will emerge unscathed. Alternatively, from the scrub edge, follow a steep gully
to the spur and descend an overgrowing slip down to the Kokatahi. Both these routes are arduous.
P Phipps, B Cropp and two dogs ( first crossing, west to east), December 1934