Howden Hut to McKellar via tops.

Thanks for that, Yarmoss, useful information to have if I'm looking at a quick round trip from the divide.

I definitely recommend it. The whole ridge is spectacular from Key Summit to 1543, and there’s a bunch of tarns to camp at too if you want to break up the trip or tack it onto a longer trip in the area.

I thoroughly enjoyed this Ridgeline trip! Navigation is definitely easier from McKellar -> Howden as there is an informally marked track from McKellar Hut up to the bush line, which could be quite tricky to pick up coming in the opposite direction. There is a cairn at the bush line from memory, but you need to know where to look. From McKellar, find the hut water tanks and follow the track that heads up behind them. In good visibility route finding is fairly straight forward, but in poor vis there's a few spots you'd need to pay close attention to the map. There's notes routes on http://routeguides.co.nz/routes/582