Frew Saddle Biv
(Frew Saddle Biv: Photo DOC 2004: Double click to get larger image)
Maintenance Status
Frew Saddle Biv and its access tracks and routes are fully maintained currently.
Location
Whitcombe catchment. Map BV19.
Grid Ref: E1444680/ N5228763.
Altitude 1285m. Frew Saddle Biv is located in the head of Frew Creek a couple of hundred metres from Frew Saddle.
It is part of the Frews Saddle - Toaroha Saddle circuit, a 4 to 5-day tramp of moderate difficulty.
The circuit was recently
included in Shaun Barnett's revised edition
of Classic Tramps.
A number of interesting tops trips that can
be done from the Biv, including a route over Mathias Pass into Canterbury.
Access
It is possible for a fit, experienced person to reach Frew Biv in 8-10 hours from the Hokitika roadend.
Allow four hours from the roadend to Frew Hut and another four plus to the Biv. The tracks were last cut in 2011.
The turnoff to the Biv is on the TL of Tom Creek 15 minutes downriver from Frew Hut. The track
climbs steeply up onto the river terrace and follows them for 30 minutes around into the
Frew Creek catchment. It then sidles up the TR faces of Frew Creek along the old Dobson bench track line,
which was constructed in the 1880's as part of a stock route over Mathias Pass to Canterbury. The
remnants used to be visible on this section, of an old
hut possibly built in 1906 by a Geological Survey team, or even earlier when the track was put in. There
are some deeply slotted side creeks on the sidle that are spanned by a couple of
ostentatious, and unnnecessary trestle bridges. At around the 830m contour the track crosses Frew
Creek to the TL sidles up a steepish section through the montane forest into the Creek's head. There follows a half hour
of boulderhopping and then a final poled section up a steep tussock face
to the Biv.
Access from Frew Saddle Biv to Bluff Hut is via the upper Hokitika basin.
Snow poles lead down the
steep tussock faces from the Saddle into the basin, and travel is open and easy here in both directions when snow-free.
In winter however, deep soft snow can make for a slow
plod, and its sometimes easier to walk in the River, rather than along the banks.
Head downriver from the Saddle to the 1040m contour, where
a marked track starts in scattered scrub on the TL bank.
Snow poles
lead from the end of this section up over a tussock
knoll and down to a track through the alpine scrub above a small canyon.
The track drops to the riverbed for a bit opposite Tub Creek, then climb/ sidles
out and up through open tussock and patchy scrub to the Hut. Allow 2.5 - 3 hours from
Frew Biv to Bluff Hut in good conditions. The tracked sections on this route were last cut in 2011 and will be recut in
the 2012/ 13 summer season.
Type
Frew Saddle Biv was the first of the NZFS B49 two-person designs to be built in central Westland.
The materials were
dropped in by fixed wing aircraft in the Winter of 1957, and Jock Fisher and Merv O'Reilly of NZFS Hokitika
needed two attempts to erect the Biv due to adverse weather.
During the second they camped and worked in the shell of the Biv while
a snowstorm raged around them. It was initially a flat iron structure, but a corrugated iron roof was
added further down the track.
The Biv is lined
with tar paper and chicken wire and has two very short wooden sleeping platforms with mattresses
on the side and end walls. There is small perspex window on the end wall and the Biv is held fast with
wire tie-downs.
It is slightly smaller than it's
successors, very pokey and
dim, but welcome in a storm. Five of us slept there once in the middle of winter with snow piled high around.
It was a tight fit to say the least. A small rivulet a few metres away provides drinking water. There is no toilet.
Condition
Frew Biv is in reasonably good condition currently. It was repainted and repiled in
2003/ 4 by DOC. Some idiot has shot a number of
bullet holes in the wall cladding at the end.
Routes
Sir Robert Hut can be accessed from Frew Biv
via the Hokitka basin. Head downriver for around one hour, cross to the TR and
head up the ridge on the TR of Steadman Creek. The route is marked as poled on the topo map,
but DOC has removed these. Access up onto Homeward Ridge is straightforward in good conditions,
Head down the Ridge to the drop-off point on the
the 1440m
contour line, around 1449130E/ 5231595N. Drop East off the Ridge down a steep
side-ridge into the Sir Robert catchment.
Around the 1250m mark the
side-ridge flattens briefly and a gut directly below provides a route down
into a tributary
of Sir Robert Creek. Ice axes and
possibly crampons may be necessary in winter and early spring to get down the side-ridge and gut.
The gut becomes a small ceek that passes through a band of mountain ribbonwood and
tumbles over a small bluff
into the main side creek. Downclimb this section in the creekbed.
Once in the main side creek, drop the remaining 200 or so metres into Sir Robert Creek, then
head up its TL for around 300m to the Hut. The entrance of the track up to the Hut
is cairned and cruise-taped.
Don't drop directly into Sir Robert Creek
from Steadman Saddle as it's very steep and unstable at the top.
Allow 4-5 hours for the journey from Frew Saddle Biv to Sir Robert Hut.
The route to Mathias Pass from Frew Biv is very straightforward.
Drop from the Saddle down into the basin and head upstream following the riverbed. At the 1320m contour
exit the basin on the TL and climb directly up the tussock faces 140 vertical metres onto the Pass.
The upper Canyon Creek basin is easy travel down to the 1000m contour.
The old bench track from here down the TL of Canyon Creek has fallen away in places and the best route now is
along the tussock benches on the TR. A gorge in the lower Creek can be walked down when flows are low.
Otherwise, head up the obvious side creek on the TR that leads up to the 1500 contour line
on the NE ridge of Monarch Hill. Drop down the ridge from here to the Mathias/
Canyon Creek confluence.
The Whitcombe Tops are traversable in both directions from Frew Biv. There is an
interesting and relatively easy fine weather
route to Bluff Hut over the Meta Range and down Conway Ridge.
Just head North from the Saddle
and follow the crest of the
Range all the way. It shouldn't take much longer than the route down the Hokitika basin in good conditions.
Access along the tops South of the Biv is up a scree
on the slopes behind the Biv. Cross the creek draining the Saddle and head directly up the scree, then
over the shoulder of the ridge onto a flat area at the 1640m contour. Drop into Harcourt Creek just East of point
1644m down some steep tussock faces and rocky guts. Head down Harcourt Creek and cross into the upper Vincent Creek basin
just above the confluence. A small amount of scrub bashing is required to gain access to Vincent Creek just above a beautiful
sculped mini rock canyon. Follow the Creek from here up to Kea Pass and beyond.
Access South along the crest of the range towards Mt. Freida is only OK as far as the dip
bewteen points 1860m and 1921m. The approaches to 1921m are vertical rotten rock and shouldn't be attempted without
serious gear and skills.
Repairs needed
A bit of sealing on the bullet holes. Maybe a toilet at some point.
Provisions on site
The ubiqitous DOC hearth brush and shovel. Can't remember what else.
