Poukirikiri/Travers Saddle Route

Poukirikiri/Travers Saddle Route is an 8.4 km point-to-point stage from Upper Travers Hut to West Sabine Hut, crossing the alpine saddle between the Travers and Sabine valleys. The official time is 6 to 9 hours depending on weather and snow. This is an expert alpine day with an unformed route and a very steep descent, so plan a full day. The hut-to-hut direction from the Travers side is the easier way across the pass. The 8.4 km is the one-way stage, not the roughly 80 km Travers-Sabine Circuit.

Neither end is road-accessible. Reach Upper Travers Hut on foot through the Travers Valley, then continue from West Sabine Hut along the Sabine Valley tracks; this is not a roadside out-and-back. Upper Travers has 24 bunks and West Sabine 30; DOC requires bookings at both. Their tap water is untreated, so boil it before drinking. No food service is listed, so carry food for the crossing. Dogs and other pets are prohibited in the national park; certified disability assist dogs are the exception under DOC rules.

At the hut the formed track gives way to a pole-marked route. Cross the Travers River near the hut, then follow poles through dense alpine shrubs and a boulder-strewn valley. The climb steepens into zigzags across scree and eases as the saddle approaches. The pass is about 450 m above Upper Travers Hut and roughly an hour and a half from it. It has panoramic views into both valleys; frame a cairn and the tall snow pole against the ridges to show the scale of the pass.

From the saddle, the descent is steep across tussock and scree, then briefly enters stunted beech before dropping through a steep gully on zigzags. The formed track resumes at the valley floor. About ten minutes farther on, a bridge crosses the deep East Branch Sabine chasm; the track sidles around its edge, descends to the West Branch valley and heads upstream to West Sabine Hut. The Sabine forks lie about 1,000 m below the saddle, so expect sustained downhill and rough footing through the gully.

October to May is generally the most favorable period, but snow can persist into late November in some years and freezing conditions are possible in any season. DOC says ice axes and crampons are needed in winter and well into spring, and identifies the Sabine side as particularly avalanche-exposed. Check current avalanche advice before setting out, carry the equipment required for the conditions, and do not stop between marked avalanche paths.