Koropuku (Big Tops) Hut
(Koropuku Hut: Photo
Stephen Grossi 2008)
Maintenance Status
Koropuku (Big Tops) Hut has been designated as minimal maintenance.
Location
Otehake River.
Grid Ref: 2406510E/ 5820930N (according to Freshmap).
Map K33.
Altitude 850m.
Koropuku Hut is located in the sub-alpine zone in the upper Koropuku Creek in Arthur's Pass
National Park.
The Koropuku flows into the Otehake, which in turn flows into
the Taramakau River. The upper Creek is ringed by tops, including Mt. McRae to the East,
and there are
views downriver to the Pfeifer Range.
Korupuku Hut was informally adopted some years back by Frank King and Honora
Renwick of Christchurch. They kept the Hut maintained and homely, and the
access track open and useable during a long period of zero maintenance by DOC.
DOC came to the party in 2002, but the years of volunteer input were
integral to the
preservation of the hut and the route.
Koropuku gets 6-10 visits per year. Deer and chamois are regularly encountered
and on rare occasions Kiwi have been seen or heard near the Hut.
Access
The access track from the Otehake
footbridge to the Hut probably won't be officially maintained. Frank and Honora
did some more maintenance work on it in early 2010, including making the
the entrance more visible at the Otehake end. The route to
Koropuku starts at Aikens corner on state highway 73, the
start of the Taramakau Valley track.
Head over the stile and cross the farm paddocks for 500-600m following the markers.
Go through small gate and drop into Otira riverbed. There is a large orange marker on opposite side
of 1km away. Cross the Otira at a suitable place, usually mid-thigh depth at the wider spots.
(If the rivers are high you can cross at the Deception Footbridge further
up SH 73 towards Otira and use the flood track down the TR of the Otira.
Its condition is probably poor judging by recent reports, and would add approximately 2hrs to the
trip).
From the large orange marker head past the shelter, either following
the markers directly up the Taramakau, or staying close to the River on the 4WD track.
The routes merge a little further on. After about 1hr up the flats head off the 4WD track
onto a marked track about 100m before the confluence of Pfeifer Creek and Taramakau River.
There is a large wooden sign (not quite visible from the main valley track) indicating
that this is the way to Lake Kaurapataka.
The track crosses Pfeifer Creek, heads up its TR for 45min, crosses Lake Creek,
and swings SE to the Lake. Halfway along the length of the lake is a small cairn in the
middle of the track indicating the turn off to a marvelous lakeside camping spot. From
here the track continues along the lake for 30min to the turnoff to the Otehake Valley and
hot pools.
Continue up the Taramakau Valley track which drops down a steep creek bed to the Otehake
River. Follow the track up the TL for about 100m and ford (if the river is high you can use the
swingbridge with the track to it directly below in the riverbed). Just downstream of the ford
on the TR is a large orange marker, behind which is a small clearing. The start of the track is
behind here and lead to the base of the spur.
The track continues up the spur to bush edge and is fairly well marked with old red permolat
markers and the occasional newer white one. The transition from forest to open tops is rapid,
due to the rocky nature of the terrain with little in the way of alpine scrub. There is no water
from the river to the 1150m level, so carry some with you. Once in the open (around the 1050m mark)
there are commanding views of Lake Kaurapataka, and Mts. Alexander and Pfeifer.
There is cairn and an old dried up tarn, from which a cut path travels South along a bench
for a short distance before heading up a series of small terraces marked with cairns and
and a couple of posts. At around 1150m (E2405370/N5822140) there is a good sized tarn
(marked on map). The route along the top from here is easy and marked with regular cairns.
From the tarn it is almost a straight line to some more tarns marked on the map just east of spot
height 1259m, about 1km away.
Follow the cairns from the southern end of the largest tarn to the head of a scree gut
and creek which drops steeply into the Koropuku valley. By keeping to the TR until past a
large rock outcrop you'll avoid a particularly steep section. Continue down the creek bed
to the head of a series of waterfalls. A marked trail enters the bush here on the TL and continues
down a steep dry gut before joining up with the stream again. The track eventually leaves the
stream bed and follows down its TL through beech forest. At around 850m a
message scratched onto a permolat marker advises you to sidle upstream to the Hut.
Do this for 300-400m, dropping a little onto flatter terrain, until a clearing affectionately
named "The Orchard" is reached. The last 150m of track to the Hut starts on the upriver side of the
clearing.
Time from Aikens corner to Koropuku Hut 9 - 11 hours.
Being in the APNP, no commercial
chopper flights are allowed in to Koropuku.
Type
Koropuku Hut is
your basic NZFS 4-bunk design, built March 1964 by D. Green and W. Johnson of the NZFS.
There is no fireplace. A new long drop toilet has been put in by DOC. Water is from a small stream near the
Hut and Koropuku Creek is not far if you want a cold dip (there are some
nice pools). The Hut is lined with ply and the inside painted a pleasant custard yellow. Two
new sheets of clearlight in the roof (replaced Mar 2004) let in a lot of light.
The hut was painted and a small door porch added in 2002 to protect the entrance from the
prevailing elements. There is a nice lush front lawn with room for up to 3 tents.
Behind the hut there is a small fireplace against the side of a large boulder.
Condition
Good. Piles appear to be original and untreated with no concrete, but sound. The bearers and
joists are in excellent condition. The SW corner of the Hut has had some minor repairs in past,
a short section of bearer removed, and 2 or 3 floorboards replaced.
The floor at base of west wall shows signs of a little water getting in somewhere, but there
is no visible damage. There is a small rat hole chewed in bottom of door.
Routes
A popular round trip is via the tops from Townsend Hut, dropping into the
head of the Koropuku Valley. The upper Creek looks like it makes for easy travel most of the
way.
For the more experienced it is possible to travel down through the Koropuku Gorge
to the Otehake track, however the creek needs to be reasonably low to do this.
There are some waterfalls that need to be sidled around and it is pretty slow going in places
More deatiled route notes can be found at www.tramper.co.nz.
It looks like there are a number of nice tops routes from Koropuku Hut
further up the Taramakau, or into the Minchin or Poulter valleys.
Repairs
None presumably, currently.
Provisions on Site
3 billies and 2 lids, a 1 billie hanger, 1 aluminum
wash basin, 2 plastic buckets, 2 bench seats, 2 seats made from wooden crates with
sacking for cushions, a small kitchen table made from leftover hut materials, 4 metal
DOC issue candle holders, an old first aid kit and manual, a plastic brush and shovel,
a hearth brush and shovel, 1 Forest service food bin, 1 axe plus spare handle,
1 broom plus spare handle, 1 spade, 1 slasher, 1 flat file, 1 rasping file, a large
shovel handle, a makeshift ladder, 1 spare louvre glass, an assortment of nails, half
a roll of malthoid, a handful of white permolat markers, a bottle of something (paint?),
a small handmade food safe, a full sized wall mounted info map of APNP, a few dish cloths,
teatowels and scotchbrite pads, a clothes line, metal coat hooks, a wall mounted can opener,
1 potato peeler, 1 plastic coffee mug with lid, a small wall mounted mirror, a 4-slice
toasting rack for fire, 1 cheese grater, 1 egg beater, a wooden spoon,
emergency underpants, 1 game of tiddlywinks, a small library of reading material,
and a working guitar. Under the Hut there is some spare iron and roof flashings, 1 sheet
of clearlight, 5 lengths of decking timber, 2 lengths of 100 x 50 H3, and various offcuts.