Rocky Creek Hut
(Rocky Creek Hut: Photo Andrew Buglass 2004)
Maintenance Status
Rocky Creek Hut is designated as minimal maintenance.
Although the access tracks to it from the Taipo River and Griffin Creek are no longer officially
maintained, volunteers have managed to keep them reasonably open and useable over the past few
years. Hopefully this will
continue, although they are starting to overgrow again, along with additional
wind damage from the winter storms of 2008.
Location
Taipo catchment: Grid Ref: 2379880E/
5823550N. Map K33. Altitude 600m. Rocky Creek
Hut is more an oversized biv than a hut. It is located on the
TR of Rocky
Creek, a small tributary of the Taipo River. The surrounding forest is predominantly rata-kamahi
with a pleasant deep-bush ambience. Rocky has never had high levels of visitation and
numbers dwindled to trickle over the 80's and 90's with deteriorating tracks.
While no offical trackwork has been done for a couple of decades, remote hut enthusiasts
have worked regularly at keeping the track
marked and open.
Access
The track from the Taipo valley to Rocky Creek starts on the
TL of the River around 1/2 an hour up from the Bridge on SH 73, the
entrance just
past a small creek at 2379550E/ 5826180N. it climbs up onto a terrace intially,
then sidles above the Taipo and around into Rocky Creek. Volunteers worked on
the first section of this in
2009. The trail descends towards Rocky Creek and after crossing an active slip it is
drops into the creekbed.
Boulderhop from here up to the where some cairns mark the entrance of the route
up to the Hut. Follow up a small side creek here for around 50m.
A permolat âTâ marks the entrance of a short section of track that sidles around to the Hut.
Allow 3-4 hours from the Taipo
Bridge to Rocky Creek Hut.
The the other main route to Rocky Creek Hut is from the Griffin Creek catchment
via a low bush saddle. From Griffin
Creek Hut head downriver to the side creek
that drains Scottys Saddle. Follow this up a short distance
up to where permolat markers on the TR mark the start
of a section of track leading over into the next catchment, which drains the Rocky Creek saddle.
There is some
windthrow on this bit from the 2008 storms.
Follow Rocky Saddle Creek up to a fork in its mid-section. Take the
TL branch for a short stretch to where a track exiting on the TR leads back over into
the TR branch. This avoids a small waterfall just above the
fork. The entrance here is getting harder to find, but the track itself is OK.
Once back in the TR fork continue upstream. Fresh
windthrow and slips on this section may slow progress.
Nearer the Saddle the scrub closes in and the
creek becomes quite small. The
track up to the Saddle starts on the TR near the creek's headwaters. It is a 10 minute climb
to the Saddle and from here the track drops steeply down into Rocky Creek.
An hour or so's boulderhopping downstream will get you to the Hut. Permolat and a cairn
mark the entrance of a short section track leading up to it.
Allow around
3.5 hours from Griffin Hut
to Rocky Creek Hut.
There is an overgrowing clearing next to the Hut where
a helicopter could probably still get in. It may need a trim however.
Type
Rocky Creek is a small two-bunk hut built by the
NZFS in the mid-1970's. It is lined.
There is no fireplace, woodburner, or toilet, and the water supply is the Creek.
Condition
Rocky Creek is well constructed and remained in good
condition during a considerable period of zero maintenance during the 80's and 90's. In 2004
DOC resealed it and painted it inside and out. The door was replaced and other
minor repairs made.
Routes
The saddle over to Griffin Creek is around an hour's boulderhopping
up from the Hut.
It is visible
from the Creek and has a large open slip
on its northern side. Don't go up the slip. The saddle track is 20 metres
further up Rocky Creek, its entrance marked by a plastic bag in
a tree.
There is a rough route to Scottys Biv
from the headwaters of Rocky Creek.
Continue past the turnoff to the Saddle following the Creek.
It veers SE after a short distance and climbs steeply up the faces of
Scottys Range. There are a number of small cataracts
to negotiate, all fairly easy, and further up the creek peters out on a
steep scree. Climb to the top of the scree and push through a narrow band of alpine scrub,
mainly hebe and spaniard, and not too difficult going.
This provides access a tussock face just below the crest of the range.
It is a short steep climb from here onto the ridge followed by a straightforward 20
minute descent in
a SE direction down to Scottys Biv (2-3 hours
from Rocky Creek Hut to Scottys Biv).
Repairs needed
None at last report.
Provisions on Site
In January 2004 there was some paint (including roof paint and metal primer),
billies, a slasher, an old hand saw, a shovel,
crowbar, a grubber, some flat files, a box of small nails, some red and white
permolat, a hammer head, two long pieces of tongue and groove, a broom, 2 aluminium buckets,
some No 8 wire, and methylated spirits. It is quite probable
that DOC removed some, or all of this stuff when they did their maintenance in 2004.