Serpentine Hut
(Serpentine Hut: Photo Andrew Buglass 2007)
Maintenance Status
Serpentine Hut was designated for removal in DOC's
2003/ 4 high-country review due to its inaccessibility (no extant tracks) and historical very low levels of use.
When some local kayakers expressed interest
in retaining the Hut for their use DOC put things on hold. The kayakers' interest appears to have waned
since then, and DOC is likely to revert to its original removal plan. If the Hut were to be retained it may
need shifting because of an encroaching active slip a short distance upriver.
Serpentine was one of the first huts built in the Hokitika in the mid 1950's. It is probably the least visited
by foot on the website.
Ironically, it is in pretty good conditon. It was repainted, re-sealed, and received
some basic
maintenance in 2004. Serpentine is not easy to access. The tracks that the NZFS put in on the TR of the Hokitika
ceased receiving maintenance in the mid-1970's and have pretty much vanished in most places. The valley above
and below the Hut is rugged and gorged. Most visits by foot parties over the last 20 years have been over the tops.
Even this is not exactly straightforward.
Location
Hokitika catchment. Map BV18. Grid Ref: E1443495/ N5235934.
Altitude 300m. Serpentine is located
on the TL of a
large unnamed side creek midway up the lower Hokitika valley.
With the tracks gone, and a series of impressive
gorges up and downriver, valley access is difficult and time consuming.
Gaps of 2-3 years between hutbook entries are frequent, with no recorded visits between
1987 and 1993.
Most of the visits in recent years are by fly-in kayaking parties who rarely stay overnight.
There was one foot visit in 2009 and one in 2010, a busy time for the Hut.
Access Routes In and Out
In is possible that bashing up the lower Hokitika to Serpentine from the Whitcombe junction
would take a couple of days now. I don't know of anyone who has done it since the tracks
went West, so this can't be confirmed.
Travel upvalley to and
from Frisco Hut is less difficult,
but a wilderness experience nevertheless. Serpentine
is not visible from the river if approaching from the upstream end.
A short section of track up to it from the riverbed was recut and marked in 2007.
The route up
Serpentine to Frisco Hut
is via the riverbed as far as Nogo Creek, then up the old NZFS trackline on
the ridge on the TL of the Nogo. The section of original NZFS
track from Serpentine to Nogo Creek on the TR is gone, so don't bother trying to follow it.
At normal flows travel up the riverbed is straightforward and it takes around an hour to get
up to the Nogo.
A ford to the TL is required on the way
to avoid a waterfall in
an unnamed creek downriver from Bonar Creek.
This is done at the bottom
end of a small gorge downstream from the fall where River veers East, around E1443912/ N5235376. The water here is normally
waist-deep, but slow moving.
Continue from here up the TL until adjacent to Nogo Creek, then recross.
The old NZFS track up the ridge on the the TL of Nogo Creek is still followable up to around 910m altitude.
Its entrance was cleared in 2007 and the permolat made more visible. An NZFS survey
line from 1986 overlays on the original trackline, so there is a reasonable
amount of permolat to follow. Dense pole stands of hardwoods and windthrow
make for slow progress initially.
The trail opens up a bit in the montane zone and the ridge becomes better defined.
Around point 910m the spur flattens and the track vanishes in rolling terrain
and dense sub-alpine scrub. The odd open patch and wallow hole provide respite from the scrub, and the
track can be relocated with a bit of detective work in a gully
close to where the spur steepens again. It climbs a short distance to a turnoff to an old tops
track. The main valley track sidles from here across the bush faces
to the Hut.
This last bit has a reasonable amount of permolat which can still be followed with
a bit of care.
Allow at least six hours for the journey from Serpentine to Frisco, plus a couple
in case track relocation activities are required.
There was once a tops track up the ridge directly behind Serpentine. An NZFS survey
line was overlaid on this in the mid '80s. I was found the top entrance of the track in 2007
when crossing
the Diedrich Range
from Mullins
Basin, but lost it a short distance further down in the alpine scrub band.
There was a bit more permolat
on a knoll in the montane zone, but this vanished fairly quickly
and it was a rather unpleasant
bush-bash from here down to the River.
Another access option from the Diedrich Range tops is
down Serpentine Creek and back upriver to the Hut.
You'd be able to get to Serpentine Hut in a day this way from Gerhardt Spur Biv
or Mullins using this route. There are good campsites in the upper basin
of Serpentine Creek. Travel down the Creek
is rough however, with some
waterfalls that need sidling around through steep bush.
From Serpentine Creek
up to the Hut it is mostly boulderhopping with one small detour up into the bush
around a small gorge. If the river is low you can drop straight back down to the
River after the gorge and wade back onto the riverbed.
Serpentine can also be accessed from Mt. Inframeta
via an old NZFS tops track that branches
off the Frew Saddle track at around E1440915/ N5232014. Glenn Johnston and John Hutt recut this
very overgrown trail in early 2011 and remarked it with a mix of the original permolat
and cruise tape.
The track emerges at the tussock
around E1442808/ N5232655, at the SE corner of the Inframeta tops.
Travel from here to Mt. Inframeta is straightforward. Access down into
the Hokitika is via the creek between Inframeta and point
1342m. A scrub-bash is required to get into the creek
which is scoured out all the way down, entering the Hokitika,
a half hour upstream
from Serpentine Hut. An alternative route down is via an an untracked ridge with a permolatted
survey line that drops NE
from a point just North of the summit of Inframeta. A short, steep scrub-bash
leads down into more open alpine forest where the survey line can be picked up.
A ford of the Hokitika is required for the Inframeta routes. This is usually
possible in fine conditions, but can't be guaranteed due to the rough and ever changing nature
of the River. Allow 5-6 hours from Frews Hut
to Serpentine Hut.
The is (was?) also an old
NZFS track up onto Inframeta from the Hokitika Whitcombe junction, a
route of value possibly only to masochists now.
It starts from the old Frews track above the site of the old Hokitika cableway,
a short distance above the Hokitika - Whitcombe
Junction. It is quite easy to walk up the TR of the
Hokitika from the Rapid Creek cage, and the River itself is usually fordable at
normal flows opposite the track start, which will be harder to locate now that the cableway is gone.
The lower section of the Inframeta track went up a broad face, and if followable at all now,
is likely to
be a serious bash
now through dense quintinia and other hardwoods.
Further up the ridge becomes better defined and the track may be
easier to stay on. A long section through the alpine scrub is likely to be very overgrown now
with areas of subsidance above the big slip that wiped out the original Frews track in 1975. Allow
a full day plus for this route.
Type
Serpentine is an older style 4-bunk
NZFS design built by Dave Tiller and Jock Fisher in the mid 1950's. The
materials were dropped in by fixed wing aircraft. The
original hut had its fire
replaced by a wood burner in the early 80's. Water is from the river.
There is no toilet.
Condition
Serpentine had its exterior repainted
and resealed, and some of the less solid
framing replaced in the summer of 2003/4 by DOC.
The hut is in very sound condition for its age, and given the low-levels of maintenance
over the years.
One of the piles on the west side and one
on the uphill side are getting a bit dozey. One of the floorboards is a bit spongy.
Repairs needed
The two rotting piles will need to be replaced in the medium term,
and possibly some additional underfloor bracing.
Provisions on Site
One axe, two buckets (one plastic, one aluminium), two basins
(one plastic, one aluminium), and one broom.
There are a couple of rolls of No. 8 wire under the Hut.
