Because this section describes a collection of shorter walks rather than a long-distance trek, there isn't a route as such. However, if you want to spend five days exploring the Mt Cook area you could do a lot worse than follow the following itinerary, which combines mountain trudging and glacier hiking with a gentle introductory day.
| Day | Walk | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mt Cook Village to Hooker Glacier and back | 4 hours |
| 2 | Mt Cook to Mueller Hut | - |
| 3 | Mueller Hut to Mt Cook | 2.5 hours |
| 4 | Road End to Ball Shelter | 3.5 hours |
| 5 | Ball Shelter to Road End | 3.5 hours |
I didn't make a note of how long it took to climb up to the Mueller Hut, but please note that the descent time included a lot of sliding down snow drifts, and it took us a lot longer to climb up!
