Razorback heartland
Date: 18 May 2002, The Press, Christchurch, page B5
Caption(s): A hidden world: Taramakau Valley from Mount Griffin mine.

FACT FILE Access: At Harrington Creek, about 1km west of Griffin Creek on SH73 (approx 13km west of Jacksons Hotel). Walk directly up Harrington Creek from the road, following it up to where cairns and markers indicate the track climbing out and up the spur, on the river right (east), about 1km from the highway. Cars can be either left at the road or 3km west at Wainihinihi. Times: Mount Griffin from road 5-6hrs up, 4-5hrs down. Grade: Difficult. Map: K33. * Source for historical data: DOC Hokitika, historical records (Ted Brennan).

Taramakau Valley in Westland is a hidden alpine catchment punctuated by silvery tarns and wide-open tussock basins.

Deep in the forest of Westland we trudge upward through windfall and over slip faces as morning shadows slowly dissipate with the rising sun, giving form and colour to the luxuriant montane forest cover of the Griffin Creek watershed.

The somewhat overgrown track steepens as we ascend a narrow rib from which occasional glimpses of dark ravines and sheer bluff faces confirm the vertical nature of the terrain through which we are passing.

Mount Griffin, 1516m, and Griffin Creek lie hidden far above SH73 as it wends its way to the Tasman Sea along the Taramakau Valley in central Westland. Yet those who venture here, especially on a fine West Coast day, will discover a stunning alpine catchment punctuated with silvery tarns and wide-open tussock basins set amid a backdrop of razorback ridges, and short craggy summits.

Here, indeed, is a hidden world of diverse scenery with sweeping views of river, mountain, and sea. However, it is not gained without some difficulty; a 1400m ascent and more than 5km of ridgeline must be covered to gain the summit trig.

A flawless mid-autumn day greets us as we emerge into the subalpine forest zone at a small knob 800m above the road. Here the track forks, the more defined path descending into the hanging valley of Griffin Creek and its small four-bunk hut, which I had visited some years earlier, while a rougher marked trail continues up along the ridge toward Wilson Knob, 1291m, and later Mount Griffin.

This route, though negotiable, proves a little tiresome by the presence of thick subalpine vegetation partially obscuring the track leading to Wilson Knob. Yet with some careful observation we manage to penetrate the more difficult sections and climb out above the scrub zone onto the knob, dripping wet and chilled by the heavy dew lying on the leaves and branches. The sun warms us here, and the broad swathe of the high alpine basin into which we emerge beckons us on toward the summit, still more than 3km away across the tops.

This portion of the route is breathtaking. On the northern and western flanks of the Griffin Range a 700m precipice, increasing to more than 1000m at the summit, gapes above a sweeping arch of the Taramakau River, bordered by high, rugged fortress-like ranges, as it journeys to the sea.

The cliff begins at ridgetop level, urging care when placing your feet, in stark contrast to the gentle, rolling tussock features to the south.

Residing among the hollows and herbfields are a series of sparkling tarns complementing the outstanding beauty of this elevated watershed.

There is history here, too. Before WW1 some enterprising Germans operated a serpentine mine from 1912-1914, at 1300m on the slopes of Mount Griffin.

They erected an aerial cableway, supported by steel pylons standing on the spurs and ridges above the Wainihinihi River. This cableway descended some 1200m over a horizontal distance of 1820m and was a major engineering feat at the time. The serpentine rock was then slung out over the precipice to the roadhead.

With the outbreak of war the group was interned and the mine closed. The cableway and pylons have since been dismantled, but parts remain in the basin near the mine site.

There are also numerous other relics of the mining venture to be found. These include the remains of the transformer building and blacksmith shop; the site of the mine house and various winches; rope drums, a blacksmith's anvil, and other scraps of ironware. Serpentine is a "green stone" used for decorative building purposes, like marble - see the doorway of the old state building opposite the tram stop in Cathedral Square, and various headstones in Hokitika cemetery.

Our climb to the summit ends with a short steep scramble through tussock and rock to the large flat top girded by extensive ledges beneath the peak to the south. The view is striking.

The deep gulch of Griffin Creek leads the eye out across the Taramakau Valley to the distant peak of Alexander and beyond into the Upper Grey Valley.

To seaward stands the ramparts of the Hohonu Range and south along the coast mounts Adams, Beaumont, Whitcombe, and Cook.

A jumble of ridges and summits fills the foreground backed by familiar Mount Rolleston and the western side of Arthurs Pass National Park.

The view is ample reward for such a stiff climb, and we relish the warm sunshine bathing the peak as noon turns slowly about the summit and a sudden coolness hastens us on, down to the tarns and shadows of the forest.