Griffin Creek Hut
(Griffin Creek Hut: Photo Mark Buckley 2004)
Maintenance Status
Griffin Creek Hut and the track to it from Harringtons
Creek on State Highway 73 have been designated as fully maintain.
Location
Taramakau catchment: Grid Ref:
E1467740/ N5260395. Map BV20. Altitude
665m. Griffin Creek Hut is located in the Griffin Creek basin 4-5 hour's
walk from from Harringtons Creek on State Highway 73.
The Hut is located in a small clearing on a terrace next to Griffin Creek.
Emergent pahautea (mountain
cedar) are conspicuous in the montane forest surrounding the Hut.
Griffin Creek forks into
several branches just upstream of the Hut, and downstream it drops
through an impassable gorge with waterfalls to the Taramakau River.
All the the routes into the Griffin require a climb of some sort.
Griffin received little official maintenance from the mid 80's until 2004,
however during this period it was adopted and maintained and decorated lovingly
by John Dainty and others from Invercargill. A cast iron bath tub was flown in
and a fire pit and chimney built for it by the river about 100m from the Hut.
Above the Hut Griffin Creek is negotiable for a short stretch with a picturesque
a small waterfall, water-sculpted rock, and amethyst blue pools.
Griffin Hut is a great spot for an overnighter and also provides a
starting point for a number of longer trips to other remote spots.
Access
The route into Griffin from
Harringtons Creek is getting overgrown, despite
regular trimming and marking the Peninsula Tramping
Club and others. Work has also been done
on the valley sections of Griffin Creek and
the track over to Rocky Creek, although this too is starting to overgrow.
It is possible to park your vehicle an old section
of road on the TL of Harringtons Creek bridge on SH 73 if you ask at the nearby farm house.
From here a track
goes up the TL of Harrington Creek for 20 minutes. It crosses the Creek where the valley
walls start to close in and a
large kamahi has fallen across and blocked the Creek. The track
climbs steeply up a face through hardwoods and tree ferns, eventually connecting with a
spur leading up onto the Griffin Range.
It follows the spur to the junction of the Griffin Creek
and Wilson Knob tracks at spot height 974m. A rusting 44-gallon drum in a small tussock
clearing in the alpine scrub zone marks the turn-off. The Griffin track
goes off at a right angle (due East) and
drops down a steep side-ridge into the Griffin Creek basin. The trail
is currently quite overgrown on both sides of point 974m and
is also easy to lose at a couple of points when descending back down to Harringtons Creek.
Once down in Griffin Creek it's an easy 45 minute amble upriver
to the Hut. At normal
river levels several easy knee-deep fords provide the quickest and most direct travel.
The track restarts
on the TR at the confluence of the creek
draining Rocky Creek Saddle and the Griffin. The Hut is 15 minutes upriver
from here.
The other route to Griffin Hut is via a track from Rocky Creek
Hut in the Taipo. The track has ceased being officially maintained, but has been kept
reasonably open thanks to the ongoing volunteer input from Frank King and Honora Renwick. In recent
times it has started to overgrow again, along with considerable wind damage from some storms in 2008.
Frank and Honora have started working again from the Taipo end and will hopefully get to the Griffin
Creek section of the route at some point.
From Rocky Creek Hut follow Rocky Creek up for around an hour to just
below the Saddle into the Griffin. The Creek becomes smaller and more closed-in
and the Saddle is visible from it with a large open
slip on its northern side. Don't go up the slip directly, but continue up the
Creek another 20 metres where a track starts and climbs up
a small gut through the bush for 10 minutes to the
Saddle. Once on the Griffin side it is a mix of track and creek travel.
Fresh windthrow and slips
from the 2008 storms may be problematic for some on this section.
Allow a full day to Griffin Hut from the Taipo bridge, or 3-4 hours from Rocky
Creek Hut.
Type
Griffin is a standard 4-bunk NZFS
design with open fire built in the 1960's. It was lined at some point.
Water supply is from a creek close by and there is a toilet and the bath.
Condition
Griffin is in good condition and was
stocked with gear and firewood in the years of official neglect.
It was repainted and resealed
in the Autumn of 2004 by DOC.
Routes
Day or side-trips to
Wilson Knob and the Griffin Range can be made
from the Griffin/ Harringtons turnoff on the access track.
There is a pre-world war I serpentine mine on the flanks of
Mt. Griffin. The track up to Wilson Knob is overgrown with flax
and leatherwood, but still followable according to recent reports. Alan Jemison
started re-cutting the bit through the scrub in December 2006 and plans to finish
it at some point.
Some great tops circuits are possible from Griffin Hut via Scottys Saddle and
the Tara Tama Range. Access to the tops is up the
second side creek downstream from Griffin Hut on the TR.
This creek is steep in its upper reaches with a few small waterfalls just before it
opens out. There is a short section of track through the alpine scrub on
the TR around the top fall.
Someone has attempted to make
a route around the TL of the fall. It goes up a spur, then sidles,
crossing a side creek onto a knob quite high up. From here it follows deer trails
back into the very upper portion of the creek.
It is cruise-taped intially but the tape runs out about three-quarters of the way
up and is a hard, slow bash compared to the TR route.
Above the fall it is a straighforward, albeit steep
scramble up to an unnamed saddle (E1469280/ N5259365) 200m South of Scottys Saddle.
It is cairned at the top, but not visible
when approaching from the North due to being tucked in behind a bump on the ridge.
The Griffin creek side of the true Scottys Saddle looks very steep and takes
you into a separate branch of the access creek. Scottys Biv
is a half hour descent from Scottys Saddle in an easterly direction down a series of
tussock benches (3+ hours from Griffin Hut to Scottys Biv).
In summer Tara Tama is a relatively easy couple of hours
Climb from Scottys Saddle.
Newton Creek Hut is about 3-4 hours from the
Saddle. The head of Newton Creek is accessible via the tussock faces below
an unnamed saddle (E1469052/ N5258585) between spot heights 1516m and 1751m.
The best travel through the alpine scrub/ montane zone of Newton Creek further down,
is on the TR.
Dunns Hut is 4-5 hours travel from the Saddle via the
Tara Tama range and Dunns Saddle, or a direct traverse of Tara Tama itself.
If using the Saddle route it may be best to head down via a large scree that drops
in a SW direction off the NW shoulder of the low peak of Tara Tama. Follow
the scree down and sidle back onto the main ridge just above
the level of Dunns Saddle. Ice axes are strongly advised for this section
in winter and spring.
A route to Top Olderog
Biv is feasible via the
Tara Tama Range, spot height 1572m, and the upper
Wainihinihi River basin. Although it looks quicker
on the map to go straight up and over Mt. Olson, the ridge
between Olsen and Top Olderog Biv is fairly nasty with a number
of exposed, vertical bits.
Lastly there
is a traverse of the range dividing the Scottys
and Rocky Creek catchments and a descent to the Taipo valley via an old NZFS tops track
that hits the River just downstream of the Seven Mile Creek. When descending from the tops,
the track enters the bush around E1473975/ N5261435. It was re-trimmed and re-marked with permolat and cruise tape
in May 2005 and is good travel. A ford of the Taipo is required at the end
of the journey, so this is a fine weather route only. There is no
reliable water source on the crest of the range from Scottys Saddle to a rusting water
drum at 950m
on the tops track. Time from Scottys Saddle to Seven Mile Creek = 5-6 hours.
I have read that Razorback Ridge in the head of
the Griffin is not traversable without ropes. It certainly looks interesting and aptly named.
Repairs needed
None currently.
Provisions
on Site
Billies, slasher,
axe, saw, shovel and lots more. Most of the gear
is John's but he's left comments inviting
people to make use of it.