Pfeifer Biv
(Pfeifer Biv looking over to Mt. Alexander: Photo Andrew Buglass 2008)
Maintenance Status
A brand new Pfeifer Biv was built in January 2008
to replace an old delapidated structure built by the NZFS in the 1960's.
The new structure will be fully maintained.
Location
Map BV20. Taramakau catchment: Grid Ref: E1490868/
N5260180. Altitude 1295m. Pfeifer Biv is located in a tussock basin on the Aicken
Range directly above Lake Kaurapataka. From the lip of the basin a small side branch
of Pfeifer Creek drops down a steep face into the main catchment. Pfeifer Biv is
an overnight trip of moderate difficulty that can be done from
SH 73 at the Deception River.
The Aitken Range is mostly easy travel and is dotted with tarns and plenty of good
campsites. There are
great views over the Taramakau
to Mt. Alexander and the Kaimata Range.
Access
The route to Pfeifer starts from the Deception River on SH 73. Cross the
Otira River footbridge and head
up the TR of the Deception for around 1km. Veer East from the River through patchy
regenerating bush
and gorse, to some open paddocks that are crossed to Paratu Stream. Follow the Stream up to around
560m altitude the river forks. Take the TR fork (marked with a couple of permolat
arrows and a cairn) and continue up the streambed to Waharoa Saddle. The Stream narrows to a
trickle in its head, drying up just below the Saddle. A track through the alpine scrub
from the Saddle
onto the Aitken Range was recut by Frank King and
Honora Renwick in 2007. Continue from the tussock bench with
tarn at 1364m up the main
spur to a rocky knoll on the 1460m contour line. Traverse the knoll
and drop into the large tussock basin East of it. Continue East
up the fault scarp
at the basin's lip over into the next basin where the Biv is located.
Fine weather and good visibility
are required for the tops sections of
this route. It would be difficult finding your way around the tops
in the clag without GPS, particularly if you hadn't been there before.
Allow 5+ hours for the journey
from the Highway.
Type
An original Pfeifer Biv built in the 1960's was
left unmaintained after DOC inherited it from NZFS in the 1980's.
It became steadily more delapidated, eventually
slipping from its piles.
The new Biv is lined, double-glazed, has two sleeping platforms with mattresses, and
a cooking bench. A large and ostentatious toilet, half as big as the Biv, stands
next to it. Water is from the creek and there are a couple of reasonable sized
tarns in the basin. There are or were goats in the vicinity of the Biv.
Condition
The new Biv is very well constructed and secured with tie downs. It has a spartan interior
that would benefit from the addition of few home comforts. Mountain gnomes have already added
coat hangers. Some book shelves and a clothes line would further reduce the dwelling's sterile
air.
Routes
The lower Aicken Range is easily traversable
and there are some good day walks possible from the Biv. Mt. Pfeifer
is a realtively easy rock scramble with great views, and it looks
possible to traverse all the way around the Whaiti Stream tops.
There is a good
route into pfeifer creek from the first basin East
of the Biv. Sidle from the Biv, climbing a short distance
to stay above the bluffs and scrub further down the spur.
Drop down to a small scarp running NE at the lip of the next basin.
The scarp undulates through patchy scrub to a scrub/tussock
bench. Two cairns at the top of a steep scree here mark the start of the route down. The scree
connects with another coming in from the TL and there is permolat marker here
for those coming uphill.
Continue down the scree to a small creek 40m above its confluence with Pfeifer
Creek. There is a red permolat marker on a tree in Pfeifer Creek just below the side creek.
Boulderhop down Pfeifer Creek to the Lake Kaurapataka
track.
It is possible
to drop down the NE spur of Mt. Pfeifer to the low saddle between
Lake Kaurapataka and the Otehake River. This route involves a fairly long
scrub and bush bash, and is rough going in places.
There is an alternative fine weather route back to the Deception road end via the Aicken Range,
Tutu Creek and the Deception River. Good visibility and weather conditions
are required for this route. Access into Tutu Creek
is down a large, steep scree
immediately South of spot height 1591m. The scree is vertical and unstable at its top,
but it is possible to drop down a tussock rib on its TL and sidle into the scree around
the 1500m mark, just before where the rib
gets too steep. The scree is narrow and steep intially with loose rock,
but becomes more stable lower down, and can be followed all the way down into the
Deception
River. It is an hour's boulderhopping down the Deception to the road end from the
Tutu Creek confluence.
Allow 3-4 hours to reach the Deception carpark from the Biv.
Repairs needed
None currently.
Provisions on site
One aluminium basin and a hearth brush.